Do I have to take the Maryland general contractor exam if I'm licensed in Virginia?

No. The trade exam is waived on this path.

Do my Virginia work hours count in Maryland?

No. Maryland does not credit out-of-state hours on this path.

Does it work the other way, from Maryland to Virginia?

Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Maryland to Virginia, the mechanism is endorsement.

Virginia to Maryland: general contractor license reciprocity

No credit· Start overVerified September 17, 2026· 15 sources

Maryland gives no credit for a Virginia general contractor license. You qualify from scratch.

Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.

Everyone buys the same annual construction license; an out-of-state contractor license transfers nothing

Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.

A general or commercial contractor licensed in another state gains nothing from that license in Maryland and is held back by nothing for lacking one. There is no examination to waive, no experience to credit and no reciprocity or endorsement route, because Maryland sets no competency standard for this tier at all: Title 17, Subtitle 6 of the Business Regulation Article contains no examination, experience, qualification or financial provision, only a definition, a licensing requirement and a fee. Maryland is not one of the state agencies that accept the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors, and holding that credential changes nothing here. The steps are the same for a contractor arriving from Virginia, from California or from across Baltimore. Register the business with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, including foreign qualification and a resident agent for a company formed elsewhere, then apply to the Clerk of the Circuit Court for a construction license, or a nonresident construction license if the business is incorporated or headquartered in another state. A nonresident applies in the county where it first does construction business; a Maryland-based business applies in the county of its principal place of business. The statutory fee is $15, or $40 in Baltimore City and Baltimore County and $30 in Cecil County, and clerks add a small issuing fee. The license year runs from May 1 to April 30, so it is renewed annually no matter when it was first bought.

No Maryland county licenses commercial or general building contractors on competency. Montgomery County and Prince George's County each license new home builders only, and those licenses stop at new residential construction. Baltimore County's New Commercial Structure or Shell permit requires sealed plans from a Maryland-licensed design professional but names no contractor license, and Baltimore City asks for a contractor's name and registered license only for category III interior demolition, not for commercial or residential new construction. Local building departments still review plans, issue permits and inspect the work, and a city or county may charge its own business taxes and fees, so check the permitting office in each jurisdiction before bidding. Clerks' offices publish their own counter procedures and issuing fees; Carroll County, for example, charges the $15 statutory fee plus $2 to issue. Using a construction license to do home improvement work is an offense that can carry fines up to $5,000 and two years' imprisonment.

At a glance

Trade exam: Waived
Law / code exam: Not required
Out-of-state hours: Do not count

What you must already have

A business that is incorporated in another state, or has its principal office in another state, must take a nonresident construction license rather than an ordinary construction license, and must hold it in addition to any other license required by law.Bus. Reg. §17-602(b) and §17-601(d). The nonresident license is issued by the clerk of the county where the business first does construction business in Maryland, and §17-603 charges the same fee for it as for a resident license. §17-602(d) makes either license good for construction business anywhere in the state.
Nothing about the applicant's history is examined. Title 17, Subtitle 6 contains no examination, experience, education, character, credit or financial responsibility requirement, so an out-of-state license, a NASCLA examination transcript and thirty years of commercial building all carry exactly the same weight, which is none.Confirmed by reading §17-601, §17-602 and §17-603 in full, and against the Comptroller's and the Department of Labor's descriptions of the license. Maryland does not appear on the list of NASCLA participating state agencies.
A construction license may not be used for home improvement work. Home improvement is excluded from the definition of doing construction business, and a contractor holding an MHIC home improvement license is not required to hold a construction license.Bus. Reg. §17-601(c)(2) and §8-317. A contractor whose work spans both will normally hold the MHIC license for the residential remodeling side and the construction license for new and commercial work.

What you'll do to get licensed in Maryland

1Business license. Obtain a business license ($15). Construction license, or nonresident construction license for a business incorporated or headquartered in another state, from the Clerk of the Circuit Court. The statutory fee is $15 in every county except Baltimore City and Baltimore County, where it is $40, and Cecil County, where it is $30; clerks add a small issuing fee on top, for example $2 in Carroll County. The license runs from May 1 to April 30 and is bought again each license year. It is issued in the county of the principal place of business, or for a nonresident in the county where the business first does construction business, and it authorizes construction business statewide. No examination, experience, reference or financial statement is required..
2Business license. Obtain a business license. Registration with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation before the clerk's license is bought. A corporation, LLC, LLP or limited partnership formed in another state qualifies as a foreign entity with SDAT and appoints a Maryland resident agent; a trade name is registered with SDAT as well. Maryland's Business Express portal at businessexpress.maryland.gov handles the filings. A contractor that also sells goods at retail may need a separate trader's license from the same clerk of the circuit court..
3Contractor license. Hold or obtain a contractor license (if applicable). A Maryland Home Improvement Contractor license from the Maryland Home Improvement Commission if any of the work is home improvement: the alteration, remodeling, repair or replacement of a residence, a condominium unit or an apartment building of three or fewer units. That license is a genuine competency credential with an examination, a two-year experience requirement, a financial solvency review, a Guaranty Fund assessment and $500,000 in liability insurance, and the Commission offers no reciprocity with any state. See the residential level of this page..
4Other. Home Builder registration with the Home Builder Registration Unit of the Office of the Attorney General if the business builds new homes, at $800 for the initial registration, plus the Montgomery County new home builder license or the Prince George's County Building Contractor's License where the work is in those counties. (if applicable).
5Other. Separate Maryland trade licenses for the licensed trades. The construction license authorizes no skilled trade work: electricians, plumbers, and heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration contractors are licensed by their own state boards under the Business Occupations and Professions Article, and a general contractor meets those requirements by employing or subcontracting to the correctly licensed firm. Local building departments also require permits and inspections for the work itself. (if applicable).

What you'll need to buy or arrange

Business registration

If you plan to contract in your own name, budget for a business license or entity registration on top of the trade license.

Business license · $15
Business license

How Maryland licenses general contractors

Maryland general contractor · “Construction License (Nonresident Construction License for a business incorporated or headquartered outside Maryland)”

Statewide license

Verified September 17, 2026· 12 sources

Issued by Clerk of the Circuit Court in each Maryland county and Baltimore City, under Title 17, Subtitle 6 of the Business Regulation Article

Maryland issues no general, commercial or unlimited building contractor license and no state agency tests a builder's competence to put up a commercial building. There is no trade examination, no business-and-law examination, no experience requirement, no net worth test and no qualifying party anywhere in the law for this tier. What state law does require is a construction license, bought each year from the Clerk of the Circuit Court: Business Regulation §17-602 says a person must hold one 'whenever the person does construction business in the State', which means agreeing to pave or curb, to excavate, or to do work on a building that uses paint, stone, brick, mortar, wood, cement, structural iron or steel, piping, wiring or any other metal. A contractor who is incorporated or has its principal office in another state must instead take a nonresident construction license. The license is entity-held and nobody qualifies it; it is a revenue license that sits in the same title as Maryland's trader's license, and the clerk collects a fee and issues it without reviewing skill, experience or references. It is issued in the county of the business's principal place of business, or for a nonresident in the county where it first does construction business, and it then authorizes construction business anywhere in the state. Home improvement is carved out: an MHIC licensee needs no construction license, and a construction license may not be used for home improvement work. Skilled trades are licensed separately by their own Maryland boards, and new home construction requires Home Builder registration with the Office of the Attorney General.

How local licensing works in Maryland

No Maryland county or city licenses commercial building contractors on competence. The construction license is bought from the Clerk of the Circuit Court, who is a state judicial officer rather than a county licensing board, and the license is good statewide wherever it was issued; the only county-by-county variation is the fee, which is $15 in most counties, $40 in Baltimore City and Baltimore County and $30 in Cecil County. Clerks publish their own counter procedures and add a small issuing fee, for example $2 in Carroll County. Buy it in the county of your principal place of business, or, if the business is incorporated or headquartered in another state, in the county where you first do construction business in Maryland.

Baltimore County. The New Commercial Structure or Shell Building Permit requires construction plans signed and sealed by a registered design professional licensed in Maryland and the usual submittals, and names no contractor license, registration or qualification. For residential work the county checks state credentials instead, asking for the Maryland Home Builders Registration number on a new dwelling permit and the Maryland Home Improvement License number for an alteration or addition.

Baltimore City. The Department of Housing and Community Development handles permits through its ePermits and ePlans systems. Neither the residential nor the non-residential and commercial new construction category asks for a contractor license; the only contractor credential the city's construction permit guidance requires is on category III interior demolition, where the application needs the contractor's name and registered license.

Montgomery County and Prince George's County. Both license new home builders, and only new home builders: Montgomery County under Chapter 31C of its code, through the Office of Consumer Protection and a Board of Registration, and Prince George's County through a Building Contractor's License approved by its Board of Registration for Building Contractors and required 'to build ANY new residential home from the ground up.' Neither county license reaches commercial or general building work, and neither involves an examination. See the residential level of this page for what they require.

Local building departments everywhere in Maryland still issue the permits, review the plans and inspect the work, and a municipality may levy its own business taxes and fees, so ask the permitting office in each jurisdiction what it wants before you bid.

Moving to Maryland Leaving Maryland

Common questions

Do I have to take the Maryland general contractor exam if I'm licensed in Virginia?: No. The trade exam is waived on this path.
Do my Virginia work hours count in Maryland?: No. Maryland does not credit out-of-state hours on this path.
Does it work the other way, from Maryland to Virginia?: Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Maryland to Virginia, the mechanism is endorsement.

Sources

Baltimore City - Permit Information, Construction · Baltimore City Department of Housing and Community Development · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Baltimore County Permits, Approvals and Inspections - New Residential Dwelling Building Permit · Baltimore County, Maryland, Department of Permits, Approvals and Inspections · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Md. Code, Business Regulation §17-601 - Construction license definitions · Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §17-601 · Maryland General Assembly · Statute · verified September 17, 2026
Md. Code, Business Regulation §17-602 - Construction and nonresident construction licenses required · Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §17-602 · Maryland General Assembly · Statute · verified September 17, 2026
Md. Code, Business Regulation §17-603 - Construction license fee · Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §17-603 · Maryland General Assembly · Statute · verified September 17, 2026
Md. Code, Business Regulation §8-317 - Construction license not required of MHIC licensee · Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §8-317 · Maryland General Assembly · Statute · verified September 17, 2026
Maryland Judiciary, Clerk of the Circuit Court for Carroll County - Business License Information · Maryland Judiciary · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Comptroller of Maryland - Types of Business Licenses (construction and trader's licenses) · Comptroller of Maryland, State License Bureau · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Maryland Department of Labor - Links to Business Licenses, Construction Licenses and Other Licenses · Maryland Department of Labor, Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
MHIC - Licensing FAQs for Applicants · Maryland Department of Labor, Maryland Home Improvement Commission · Faq · verified September 17, 2026
Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services - Residential New Homes, Single Family and Townhouses Permit Process · Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Permitting Services · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection - New Home Builders and New Home Sellers · Montgomery County, Maryland, Office of Consumer Protection · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Maryland Office of the Attorney General - New Home Builder Registration · Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Prince George's County DPIE - Building Contractor License · Prince George's County Code, Subtitle 2, Division 14A (Sec. 2-253.16 et seq.) · Prince George's County, Maryland, Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors · National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies · Other · verified September 17, 2026

Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.

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