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

Wisconsin licenses housebuilding statewide through the Department of Safety and Professional Services, and it takes two separate credentials rather than one. Under Wis. Admin. Code SPS 305.31 no person may obtain a building permit for a one- or two-family dwelling unless that person holds a Dwelling Contractor certification (or a Dwelling Contractor Restricted certification) and holds, or employs, someone who holds a Dwelling Contractor Qualifier certification. The Dwelling Contractor certification is the business-side credential: it is applied for by the owner of the contracting business, a partner on behalf of a partnership, or the chairman of the board or chief executive officer on behalf of a corporation, and it is granted on attestations of worker's compensation and unemployment compensation compliance plus proof of financial responsibility, which is either a surety bond or a general liability policy of at least $250,000 per occurrence. The Dwelling Contractor Qualifier certification is the personal credential and the one that carries the coursework and the testing: the applicant must have completed at least 12 hours in a DSPS-approved initial qualifier course in dwelling construction within the year before applying, and that course must include one or more tests on construction laws, construction codes and construction business practices. A contractor moving to Wisconsin to build or remodel houses normally needs both, files both in the LicensE portal at license.wi.gov, and should note that these credentials reach one- and two-family dwellings only. Wisconsin issues no state license for general or commercial building work, and a homeowner who lives or will live in the dwelling is exempt from the Dwelling Contractor requirement for work on their own home.