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

North Dakota licenses contractors through the Secretary of State, who is the registrar of contractors, and one license covers house building and commercial building alike: there is no separate residential builder or remodeler credential. Anyone whose job exceeds $4,000 in cost, value or price must hold the license before doing the work, and an unlicensed contractor cannot maintain a claim, action or lawsuit in a North Dakota court arising from the contracting business. The license is graded into four classes by the value of a single contract project and by nothing else: class D up to $100,000, class C up to $300,000, class B up to $500,000, and class A with no limit at all. A homebuilder picks the class that covers the largest contract they expect to sign, pays that class's fee, and may move to a different class at renewal by paying the new class's issue fee. It is a filing keyed to insurance rather than a test of skill: there is no examination, no minimum experience, no continuing education, no surety bond, no financial statement and no qualifying party, and the license is issued in the name of the person or business that signs the contracts, which must match the name registered with the Secretary of State. Skilled trades are licensed separately, so a builder who self-performs electrical or plumbing work also needs a license from the North Dakota State Electrical Board or the North Dakota State Plumbing Board.