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

Tennessee licenses contractors at state level, and the residential tier is the BC-A classification issued by the Board for Licensing Contractors under T.C.A. Title 62, Chapter 6. A contractor license must be in hand before bidding on, offering on or contracting for a project of $25,000 or more, and BC-A covers construction, remodeling, repair or improvement of one-, two-, three- and four-family residences not exceeding three stories, plus accessory structures. The license belongs to the business rather than to the person: it is issued to a sole proprietor, corporation, LLC or partnership in that entity's exact name and is qualified by a named Qualifying Agent, an owner, officer or full-time employee who personally passes the examinations, so an inbound builder applies as or for the entity that will sign contracts. Every license also carries a monetary limit, the largest single contract the licensee may take, set at ten times the lesser of the applicant's working capital and net worth as shown on a CPA-reviewed or CPA-audited financial statement, together with documented experience on projects of that size. Contractors building single-family homes for $125,000 or less may instead hold the restricted BC-A/r license, which replaces both examinations with a three-day Board-approved course at a Tennessee community college or vocational school. Residential improvement work between $3,000 and $24,999 in nine named counties falls under the Board's separate Home Improvement license instead of this one.