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

Hawaii has no residential contractor license. The Contractors License Board, in the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, classifies every contractor into exactly three branches under HRS 444-7: Class A general engineering, Class B general building and Class C specialty. Houses fall inside Class B, which covers any structure built for the support, shelter and enclosure of persons or property whose construction uses more than two unrelated building trades, so a homebuilder in Hawaii holds the same license as a commercial builder and this page points at Class B for both levels. Two limits are worth knowing. A Class B license does not let the holder take a contract that needs only one or two unrelated trades unless the holder also carries the matching Class C specialty license, and it never covers electrical or plumbing work, which needs both the C-13 or C-37 classification and an individually licensed electrician or plumber. The license is entity-held and qualified by a named person: a corporation, partnership, joint venture, LLC or LLP is licensed only while it employs a licensed Responsible Managing Employee, the RME sits the examinations and proves the experience, and the two file separate applications and pay separate fees. An individual who will trade in their own name applies instead as a licensed sole proprietor.