Hawaii to Connecticut: residential contractor license reciprocity

1. 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($120). Home improvement contractor registration fee (CGS 20-421(b)). DCP collects it together with the $100 Home Improvement Guaranty Fund fee, so the department's page prints a single non-refundable application fee of $220.00. The registration expires on March 31 and renews online for the same $220. No application fee is charged for a year in which you have paid the new home construction registration fee or hold a valid NHC registration, and the fee is waived for a registration used solely to direct, supervise or perform home improvements for a business entity you own..
2. 2Other. Home Improvement Guaranty Fund fee of $100 a year, payable with the application and with every renewal (CGS 20-432(b)). The fund reimburses a homeowner who wins an arbitration decision, judgment or restitution order against a registered contractor and cannot collect on it, up to $25,000 for a single claim. It is a consumer indemnity pool rather than insurance for the contractor: if DCP pays a homeowner out of the fund it may revoke the registration, and the contractor cannot be registered again until the fund is repaid with interest or a payment agreement is in place. ($100).
3. 3Insurance. Carry the required insurance ($20,000). General liability insurance of not less than $20,000, required since Public Act 21-197 took effect on July 1, 2022. The application and the online renewal both ask for the insurance provider's business name and the policy number rather than a certificate. This is a floor set for registration, not a commercial limit: most residential work in Connecticut will call for far more coverage by contract or by lender requirement..
4. 4Business license. Obtain a business license. Registration of the contracting entity with the Connecticut Secretary of the State, required of legal entities formed in Connecticut and of those formed in another state, before the DCP application is filed. A sole proprietor registering as an individual does not file with the Secretary of the State, but then the registration covers only that individual and not any company. A business entity must stay in good standing throughout, and must tell DCP within thirty days if that changes..
5. 5Other. Online application through elicense.ct.gov. DCP accepts applications and renewals online only. Choose the individual (sole proprietorship) or legal entity form first, because switching later takes a separate ownership-change or sole-proprietor-to-legal-entity form. An entity application also lists the individual owners and designates the registered individual or individuals who will direct or supervise its home improvement work..
6. 6Application fee. Pay the application fee ($120) (if applicable). New Home Construction Contractor registration fee (CGS 20-417b(b)), needed only if you will contract to build or sell a new single-family house, two-family dwelling or condominium unit before occupancy, including speculative and modular homes. DCP collects it with the New Home Construction Guaranty Fund fee for a single non-refundable $360.00 total, renewable each March 31 for the same amount. If you build new homes and also remodel, apply for the NHC registration first and add the home improvement designation to it; a separate home improvement application fee is not charged in a year when the NHC registration is valid..
7. 7Other. New Home Construction Guaranty Fund fee of $240 a year, payable with the new home construction registration and each renewal (CGS 20-417i(b)). It reimburses a buyer who obtains a judgment, arbitration decision or restitution order against a registered new home construction contractor and cannot collect, up to $30,000. Adding home improvement work to an active NHC registration costs a further $100, which is the Home Improvement Guaranty Fund fee. ($240) (if applicable).
8. 8Other. Separate credentials where the work calls for them. A home improvement or new home registration does not authorize electrical, plumbing and piping, heating, piping and cooling, elevator, fire protection sprinkler or glass work; each of those is examined and licensed under CGS chapter 393, and a tradesperson licensed there needs no home improvement registration for that work. Radon mitigation requires certification by the National Radon Safety Board or the National Environmental Health Association. Removing or replacing a residential underground heating oil storage tank requires a hazardous material training program approved by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection plus $1,000,000 in liability coverage. Structural work on a threshold building calls for the separate Major Contractor Registration described on the general page. (if applicable).

Published fees on this path total $120, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.