Moving to Alaska as a residential contractor: every state's rule

Alaska licenses homebuilders statewide through the Construction Contractors Program in the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing, part of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development. The credential comes in two pieces. The registration is held by the business: an individual, partnership, corporation or LLC registers as a General Contractor with Residential Endorsement, posts a $20,000 surety bond, files public liability and property damage insurance, and pays a $100 application fee and a $250 registration fee. The residential contractor endorsement itself is held by a person and assigned to that registered general contractor, and it is what unlocks residential work: no general contractor may build or bid a privately owned residential structure of one to four units, or alter one by more than 25 percent of its value, unless the contractor holds the endorsement or has an endorsement holder assigned to it. To earn the endorsement an individual completes a 16-hour cold climate course and passes the Alaska residential contractor endorsement examination on arctic structural and thermal construction. The endorsement holder must be the sole proprietor, a partner, an employee, director or officer of the corporation, or an employee or member of the LLC, and may be assigned to no more than two general contractors at a time.