LicensebyState

Where a North Carolina residential contractor license transfers

8 documented states waive the exam for North Carolina residentials. 5 review by endorsement, 5 credit your hours, 18 give no credit.

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North Carolina residential contractor · “General Contractor, Residential classification (Limited, Intermediate or Unlimited)

Statewide license

Verified September 17, 2026· 5 sources

Issued by North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors

North Carolina licenses residential building contractors statewide through the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors. A license is required for any single undertaking costing $40,000 or more, and the Residential classification covers construction and demolition of residential units built to the North Carolina Residential Building Code, together with the ancillary site work, driveways, sidewalks and water and wastewater systems and certain specialty work on those units. The license belongs to the business, not the person: it is issued to an individual, corporation, LLC or partnership and is qualified by a named qualifier, an owner, officer, member or responsible managing employee who personally passes the examination, so an inbound contractor applies as or for the entity that will sign contracts. Every license also carries a monetary limitation driven by financial responsibility rather than by skill: Limited allows single projects up to $750,000, Intermediate up to $1,500,000 and Unlimited has no project cap. North Carolina sets no minimum experience or apprenticeship hours, so out-of-state years do not shorten anything, and the Board says it does not have full reciprocity with any state; what it does have is examination waiver agreements with a short list of named states.

Exam waived

Every destination

Reciprocity 8Endorsement 5Experience credit 5No credit 18Not applicable 14
Every state's rule for a North Carolina license
StateMechanismNoteVerified
AlabamaReciprocityexplicit agreement2026-09-17
AlaskaNo credit2026-09-17
ArizonaEndorsement2026-09-17
ArkansasReciprocityexplicit agreement2026-09-17
CaliforniaReciprocityexplicit agreement2026-09-17
ColoradoNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
ConnecticutNo credit2026-09-17
DelawareNo credit2026-09-17
District of ColumbiaNo credit2026-09-17
FloridaReciprocityexplicit agreement2026-09-17
GeorgiaExperience credit2026-09-17
HawaiiExperience credit2026-09-17
IdahoNo credit2026-09-17
IllinoisNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
IndianaNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
IowaNo credit2026-09-17
KansasNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
KentuckyNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
LouisianaEndorsement2026-09-17
MaineNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
MarylandExperience credit2026-09-17
MassachusettsExperience credit2026-09-17
MichiganNo credit2026-09-17
MinnesotaNo credit2026-09-17
MississippiReciprocityexplicit agreement2026-09-17
MissouriNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
MontanaNo credit2026-09-17
NebraskaNo credit2026-09-17
NevadaEndorsement2026-09-17
New HampshireNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
New JerseyNo credit2026-09-17
New MexicoExperience credit2026-09-17
New YorkNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
North DakotaNo credit2026-09-17
OhioNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
OklahomaNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
OregonEndorsement2026-09-17
PennsylvaniaNo credit2026-09-17
Rhode IslandNo credit2026-09-17
South CarolinaReciprocityexplicit agreement2026-09-17
South DakotaNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
TennesseeReciprocityexplicit agreement2026-09-17
TexasNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17
UtahEndorsementexplicit agreement2026-09-17
VermontNo credit2026-09-17
VirginiaReciprocityexplicit agreement2026-09-17
WashingtonNo credit2026-09-17
West VirginiaNo creditexplicit agreement2026-09-17
WisconsinNo credit2026-09-17
WyomingNot applicableno state license at this level2026-09-17

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