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

1. 1Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. Qualifying builder (QB) exam for a Residential Building Contractor license, or qualifying remodeler (QC) exam for a Residential Remodeler license, taken by the qualifying person. Written and given by DLI; 110 multiple choice questions in five and a half hours, reference books supplied, 70 percent to pass..
2. 2Exam fee. Pay the exam fee ($50). Exam application fee, filed online through DLI's iMS system or with the paper Residential Contractor Examination Application. Nonrefundable, and charged again for each retake..
3. 3License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($180). Base license fee for the two-year business license, due after the qualifying person passes the exam and before the license is issued. Nonrefundable..
4. 4Other. Contractor Recovery Fund fee, paid with the license fee and scaled to the company's gross annual receipts in its most recent fiscal year: $320 under $1 million, $420 from $1 million to $5 million, $520 over $5 million. A new license therefore costs $500, $600 or $700 in total. The fund replaces a surety bond for residential building contractors and remodelers. ($320).
5. 5Insurance. Carry the required insurance. Commercial general liability insurance covering premises, operations, and products and completed operations, of at least $100,000 per occurrence, $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury and $25,000 property damage (or a $300,000 single limit), written by an insurer licensed in Minnesota. The certificate must be an agent-signed ACORD or DLI form in the business's exact Secretary of State name, with DLI as certificate holder. Proof of workers' compensation compliance goes on a separate DLI form..
6. 6Business license. Obtain a business license. An active filing with the Minnesota Secretary of State for the business and any assumed name (dba), with a screen print of the Business Record Detail attached to the application. Only an individual or partnership trading under the owners' full legal names is exempt. Every document in the application must use the name exactly as filed..
7. 7Other. New license application packet: the two-page application, a Qualifying Person Designation Form signed by the qualifying person, and a Disclosure of Business Owners, Partners, Officers and Members form listing everyone owning more than 10 percent and the key officers. The business must give a physical address, not a PO box. An out-of-state business, except one based in Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota or North Dakota, must name a Minnesota registered agent..
8. 8Background check. Complete a background check. Background disclosure form from every applicant as Minn. Stat. 326B.83 defines the term, which includes owners of more than 10 percent and everyone with management or policy control. It asks about license actions, criminal convictions related to business or involving fraud, and civil judgments in the past ten years; every yes answer needs a written explanation. DLI also publishes a criminal background check form for the application..

Published fees on this path total $230, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.