Kentucky to Georgia: residential contractor license reciprocity
Kentucky does not issue a statewide residential contractor license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is Georgia's standard path for out-of-state applicants.
Your origin state does not issue a statewide license at this level, so there is no license to transfer. The destination's standard out-of-state path is shown; expect to meet it in full.
Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.
Licensure by examination, with out-of-state experience counting toward eligibility
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
An out-of-state residential builder arriving from a state that has no reciprocal agreement with Georgia applies by examination, exactly as a first-time applicant would, and the same is true of anyone applying for the Residential-Light Commercial classification because Georgia offers no reciprocity at that level. The license held elsewhere waives nothing, but the experience behind it counts: Residential-Basic applicants document at least two years working as or in the employment of a residential contractor, predominantly in the residential-basic category, together with significant responsibility for two completed residential-basic projects in the two years before applying, and Georgia does not require that the work was done in Georgia. Residential-Light Commercial applicants may instead qualify on a four-year degree plus one year of experience, on accredited college credits combined with experience totalling four years, or on four years of construction-industry experience with at least two as or for a residential contractor, plus two completed light commercial projects in the preceding four years. Once the Board approves the application, PSI administers the Georgia examination for the classification and the Georgia Business and Law examination. The Board does not publish an examination exemption for out-of-state licensees outside its named reciprocal agreements, and the old grandfathering route has closed.
Applications are filed in the GOALS portal and are generally processed within 20 business days of receipt; a deficiency letter restarts that count, and an application may be withdrawn if deficiencies are not cured within 60 days. Applications must be complete at least 15 days before a Board meeting to reach that meeting's agenda. Exam approval letters are valid for one year and allow three sittings within that year; if you do not pass within them you must wait a year from the date of your application before reapplying. Licenses renew by 30 June of even-numbered years, with a late renewal window of 1 to 31 July. The NASCLA Accredited Examination is not accepted at either residential classification; the Board accepts it only in the General Contractor Division, so it is authored on the general level of this page.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Required
- Law / code exam
- Required
- Out-of-state hours
- Count toward eligibility
- Typical processing
- About 20 days
What you must already have
- At least 21 years old.
- Residential-Basic: at least two years of proven experience working as or in the employment of a residential contractor, predominantly in the residential-basic category, plus significant responsibility for the successful completion of two residential-basic projects in the two years immediately preceding the application. The rules do not require that the experience or the projects were in Georgia.
- Residential-Light Commercial: a four-year degree in engineering, architecture, construction management, building construction or a related field plus one year of experience, or accredited college-level credits combined with experience totalling four years, or four years of construction-industry experience of which at least two were as or in the employment of a residential contractor, plus two completed residential-light commercial projects in the four years immediately preceding the application.
What you'll do to get licensed in Georgia
- 1Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Georgia Residential-Basic Contractor examination or Georgia Residential-Light Commercial Contractor examination, depending on the classification sought. The Board approves you to sit first and sends an exam approval letter valid for one year; you then register with the Board's testing vendor, PSI..
- 2Law / code exam. Pass a law, rules, or code exam. Georgia Business and Law examination, required of every residential applicant in addition to the classification examination and never waived..
- 3Application fee. Pay the application fee. A non-refundable application fee is due with the online application. The Board does not print the amount on its how-to guides; the current amount is on the fee schedule in the GOALS portal at https://goals.sos.ga.gov/, and the Board can be reached at (404) 424-9966..
- 4Exam fee. Pay the exam fee. Examination fee paid to PSI when you schedule each examination. The Board does not publish PSI's fees; they are in PSI's Georgia candidate information bulletin..
- 5Financial responsibility. Show financial responsibility of at least $25,000. Proof of financial responsibility for whoever will hold the license, satisfied by any one of: an affirmed minimum net worth of $25,000, a completed Bank Credit Reference Form, a $25,000 surety bond, a $25,000 line of credit letter, or a $25,000 letter of credit. The figure is the same for Residential-Basic and Residential-Light Commercial. If you are applying as a qualifying agent, the proof must be in the business organization's name, not yours..
- 6Surety bond. Post a surety bond ($25,000) (if applicable). Optional alternative to affirming net worth: a $25,000 surety bond. The Board treats the bond, a line of credit letter, a letter of credit and a bank credit reference as interchangeable ways of showing the same $25,000 of financial responsibility, so it is a choice rather than an added cost..
- 7Insurance. Carry the required insurance ($300,000). General liability insurance of at least $300,000 per occurrence for Residential-Basic or $500,000 per occurrence for Residential-Light Commercial, evidenced by a signed current certificate of insurance naming the State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors, 237 Coliseum Drive, Macon, GA 31217 as certificate holder. Binders, information pages, policies and declaration pages are not accepted. An individual applicant must be the named insured; a qualifying agent's coverage must be in the company's name. Workers compensation insurance is required as well once the business has three or more employees in Georgia..
- 8Business license. Obtain a business license. If you will contract through a company rather than in your own name, that business organization must be registered with the Georgia Corporations Division and, if formed outside Georgia, authorized to transact business here, and you apply as its qualifying agent. An individual license does not let you perform work on behalf of any LLC or corporation, even one you own outright..
- 9Continuing education. Complete continuing education. Renewal condition rather than an entry requirement: Residential-Basic licensees complete three hours of continuing education a year and Residential-Light Commercial licensees six hours a year, tracked through CE Broker. Licenses renew by 30 June of even-numbered years..
- 10Other. Supporting documents filed with the application: an employment or project affidavit covering the required experience, the project references for the completed projects, a Secure and Verifiable Document such as a driver license or passport with an affidavit of lawful presence under O.C.G.A. 50-36-1, disclosure of any disciplinary action or sanctions with supporting court documents and a letter of explanation, bankruptcy documents if applicable, a list of affiliations, and an official transcript, diploma or certificate where you are qualifying on education..
What you'll need to buy or arrange
Exam preparation
Most boards contract PSI, Prov, or ICC for exams. Check which code edition the exam is written to before buying a prep course.
- Trade exam
- Law / code exam
- Exam fee
Surety bond
A license or contractor bond is bought from a surety, not the state. Price is a small percentage of the bond amount and depends on your credit.
- Surety bond · $25,000 · if applicable
Liability insurance
Some states require proof of general liability or workers' compensation coverage at licensing time.
- Insurance · $300,000
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
Continuing education
Renewals usually need approved CE hours, often on the latest NEC. Reciprocal licensees are rarely exempt.
- Continuing education
How Georgia licenses residential contractors
Georgia residential contractor · “Residential-Basic Contractor / Residential-Light Commercial Contractor”
Statewide license
Georgia licenses residential contractors statewide through the Residential Contractor Division of the State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors, part of the Secretary of State's Professional Licensing Boards Division. There are two classifications: Residential-Basic covers detached one- and two-family residences and one-family townhouses not over three stories plus their accessory structures, and Residential-Light Commercial adds multifamily and light commercial buildings under four stories and under 25,000 square feet of interior space, or pre-engineered steel buildings up to 50,000 square feet. A license is required once the value of the work or the contractor's compensation exceeds $2,500. The credential is usually entity-held: an individual license only covers work in your own name or as a sole proprietorship, and to contract through an LLC, corporation or other registered business you apply as that company's qualifying agent, the person who holds final approval authority over its construction work, contracts and related financial affairs. Both classifications require the Georgia trade examination for the classification plus the Georgia Business and Law examination, proof of financial responsibility and general liability insurance in the licensee's or company's own name. Georgia offers reciprocity at the Residential-Basic level with a short list of named states, and none at the Residential-Light Commercial level.
Why Kentucky has nothing to transfer
Kentucky residential contractor · “Building or residential contractor license or registration (city- or county-issued)”
Licensed by cities and counties
Issued by No state authority; cities and counties license or register residential building contractors
Kentucky issues no statewide residential building, home builder or home improvement contractor license, so an out-of-state residential builder has nothing at state level to transfer and no state reciprocity to apply for. What Kentucky does license is the trades: the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (HBC) says on its own home page that it "licenses/certifies plumbers, electricians, boiler contractors, sprinkler and/or fire alarm contractors and building inspectors", and its administrative regulations in Title 815 add heating, ventilation and air conditioning licensing, elevator safety, boilers and pressure vessels, manufactured homes and home inspectors. Anyone self-performing plumbing, electrical, HVAC, boiler or fire-protection work in Kentucky needs the matching HBC license whatever the local building rules say, and that is where the state-level reciprocity conversation belongs. Housing work itself is licensed jurisdiction by jurisdiction and the rules differ sharply: Louisville Metro issues a Building Type A - Residential contractor license with six hours of continuing education before each renewal, Lexington-Fayette registers a "general contractor, residential only" class under its Contractors Registration Ordinance, and the joint Bowling Green - Warren County Contractors Licensing Board issues a General Contractors License for remodeling and building. Owensboro and Covington sit at the other end: neither publishes a contractor competency license at all, and a builder there files an occupational business license and carries insurance instead. None of these credentials involves a trade or business-law exam, and none of them gives any weight to a license held in another state, so the practical work is registering in each place where permits will be pulled and carrying the insurance each one demands.
How local licensing works in Kentucky
How local licensing works. No Kentucky agency licenses residential builders or remodelers, and there is no state qualifying party, no state exam and no state reciprocity for this work. Each city and county decides for itself, so identify the building department with jurisdiction over the address before applying anywhere. A credential issued by one Kentucky jurisdiction does not carry into the next one, and none of the jurisdictions below grants anything for a license held in another state. Two statewide obligations apply wherever the project is: the HBC license for any self-performed plumbing, electrical, HVAC, boiler or fire-protection work, and compliance with the Kentucky Building Code adopted in 815 KAR Chapter 007.
Louisville Metro (Jefferson County). The Office of Construction Review issues the contractor licenses for the merged city-county. A builder chooses a term and then a scope. License A "lets you work on one or more permitted projects during a calendar year, which runs from January 1st to December 31st"; License B "allows you to work on only one permitted project during a calendar year." The scopes are Building A-Residential, Building A-Residential/Commercial, Building A-Commercial and Building B. Building Type A costs $125 a year and Building Type B $50 per permit, and "only one Building Type B license will be granted per person/company per renewal year." Six continuing education credit hours from a pre-approved list are required before renewal for Building A-R, Building A-RC and Building B, which is to say for everyone whose scope touches houses. The filing is a certificate of liability insurance naming the Office of Construction Review as certificate holder, workers' compensation and unemployment insurance or a signed and notarized affidavit that neither applies, an Occupational License Number from the Revenue Commission of Jefferson County on (502) 574-4860, and the application itself through the Metro business portal. Annual renewals must arrive with current liability insurance, the continuing education records for residential contractors, a workers' compensation form and a subcontractor list, and "any missing items will result in ALL items being returned." There is no exam, no experience requirement and no bond on the building categories; only the wrecking classes carry a written exam, a surety bond and a year of supervisory experience. Office of Construction Review, 444 S. 5th St., Suite 100, (502) 574-3321.
Lexington-Fayette Urban County. The Division of Building Inspection runs a Contractors Registration Ordinance: "this ordinance requires all contractors to register with the Building Inspection" and "unregistered contractors cannot obtain building permits." There are three classes under Ordinance 5-90(a). A general contractor, residential only "constructs up to 4-family homes (4-Plex), performs home remodeling, and may supervise, arrange, and/or perform more than two unrelated building trades or crafts." A general contractor covers everything larger. A specialty contractor "performs commercial, industrial, public works and residential construction and specializes in two or fewer unrelated building trades or crafts." Registration takes four steps: a $10 Home Office Certificate or a $25 Certificate of Occupancy if the business address is in Fayette County; an occupational business license from Revenue at 218 E. Main St., 2nd floor, (859) 258-3340; general liability insurance and workers' compensation with LFUCG as certificate holder, or the "Workers Comp Exempt" declaration on the application if neither applies; and the online Contractor Registration Application through the city's permitting portal with the occupational license and certificate of insurance uploaded. No exam, experience or bond is required for any of the three classes. The division's published fee schedule prices permits rather than registrations and lists no contractor registration fee, so ask Building Inspection for the current amount before filing. 101 E. Vine St., (859) 258-3770, [email protected].
Bowling Green and Warren County. A single joint Contractors Licensing Board licenses for both the city and the county under Ordinance 91-58 WC and Ordinance 91-25 BG. A General Contractors License is needed by anyone "doing any type of general contract work in Bowling Green / Warren County including pulling permits for building or remodeling, construction management, or if you would have two or more subcontractors per job", and costs $250. A Specialty Contractors License covers subcontract work or a job with at most one subcontractor, and costs $100. Both fees are non-refundable and renewals are annual, pro-rated for a mid-year filing. The filing is the application plus a certificate of insurance naming the board as certificate holder, with "a minimum requirement for General Liability Insurance [of] $100,000 per occurrence", workers' compensation coverage shown on the certificate or a notarized Affidavit of Exemption, and a notarized Partnership Agreement for a partnership. Licenses are non-transferable and "any change in ownership nullifies previous licenses." There is no exam and no experience review, and the board says so directly: "the Contractors Licensing Board does not warrant that you are otherwise qualified to perform your trade or specialty by the issuance of its license." A Bowling Green occupational license is also needed for work inside the city limits and a Warren County occupational license for work outside them. Contractors Licensing Board, 1141 State Street, Suite 200, 270-781-3530.
Owensboro and Daviess County. There is no Owensboro contractor license. The Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission's Building & Electrical Division "issues all building and electrical permits required by the Kentucky Building Code and National Electrical Code" for Owensboro-Daviess County, along with HVAC, sign and parking lot permits and certificates of occupancy, and it issues no contractor credential of any kind. What a builder needs instead is the city's business registration: "any person, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity must register with the Occupational License Division prior to conducting business inside the city limits", with "a minimum license fee of seventy-five ($75.00) dollars due with registration." New construction draws at least three field inspections - footer and foundation, framing and final - before a certificate of occupancy issues. Occupational License Division, 101 East 4th Street, 270-687-5600.
Covington and Kenton County (Northern Kentucky). Planning and Development Services of Kenton County is the building department for Covington and the surrounding communities, and its rule is short: "when completing work within Kenton County, all contractors must obtain and maintain a Kenton County occupational license and provide proof of Kentucky workers' compensation insurance coverage. In addition, the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings, and Construction requires a license for electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and fire suppression work. Contractors must provide copies of all these items before any permits can be issued." There is no residential builder license, exam or bond. In Covington itself a zoning permit from the city, and a certificate of appropriateness where a historic preservation overlay applies, must come before PDS will issue the building permit. PDS, 1840 Simon Kenton Way, Suite 3400, Covington, 859-331-8980; building permits 859-957-2408.
Storm-damaged communities. The Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection runs joint emergency contractor registration programs with the City of Mayfield and Graves County, the City of Princeton and Caldwell County, the City of Dawson Springs and Hopkins County, and the City of Bremen and Muhlenberg County, "to register contractors looking to assist storm victims." The program "requires contractors to register prior to doing business", and registrants are issued placards that must be displayed on the job site and in the vehicle. It is a consumer-protection registration aimed at transient storm-chasers rather than a skill license, and it applies only in those communities. Details on (502) 871-2424.
Everywhere else. The remaining Kentucky cities and counties each set their own rules, from a full licensing board like Bowling Green's to nothing beyond an occupational license and proof of insurance. Ask the local building department what it requires before bidding, and expect to repeat the filing in each jurisdiction.
- Louisville Metro / Jefferson County (Office of Construction Review - Building Type A and B contractor licenses)
- Lexington-Fayette Urban County (Division of Building Inspection - general contractor, residential only registration)
- Bowling Green and Warren County (joint Contractors Licensing Board - General and Specialty Contractors License)
- Owensboro and Daviess County (Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission - permits only; city occupational license)
- Covington and Kenton County (Planning and Development Services of Kenton County - occupational license and insurance only)
Common questions
- Do I have to take the Georgia residential contractor exam if I'm licensed in Kentucky?
- Yes. Georgia requires the trade exam on this path, plus a law or code exam.
- Do my Kentucky work hours count in Georgia?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward Georgia's eligibility requirements.
- How long does the application take?
- The board's published or typical processing time is about 20 days.
- Does it work the other way, from Georgia to Kentucky?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from Georgia to Kentucky, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 41 - Residential and General Contractors (Board law as published by the Board) · O.C.G.A. 43-41-2, 43-41-5(b), 43-41-6, 43-41-7(2), 43-41-8(a)(3), 43-41-9, 43-41-17 · Georgia Secretary of State, State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors · Statute · verified September 17, 2026
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. Chapter 553-3 - Qualifications for Licensure, Residential Contractor Division · Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 553-3-.01 through 553-3-.07 · Georgia Secretary of State, Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia · Admin Rule · verified September 17, 2026
- State Licensing Board for Residential and Commercial General Contractors · Georgia Secretary of State, Professional Licensing Boards Division · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
- Licensure Comparison Chart - State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors (Revised 02/25) · O.C.G.A. 43-41-2(5), (9), (10), (11); 43-41-17 · Georgia Secretary of State, State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors · Other · verified September 17, 2026
- Residential and Commercial General Contractors - Frequently Asked Questions · Georgia Secretary of State, Professional Licensing Boards Division · Faq · verified September 17, 2026
- Residential Contractors: How to Guide (all Residential Contractor application types) · Georgia Secretary of State, Professional Licensing Boards Division · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.