Written for general contractors, remodelers, framers and carpenters, roofers, drywall, masonry and concrete contractors, and kitchen and bath installers in the US, from one-truck outfits to small GCs.
The short version
- Look up your state board and city.Do it before you bid. In California an unlicensed contractor cannot sue for payment. In Florida it cannot enforce the contract.
- Check your ads and home contracts.Claim only what is current, show your license number where required, and follow your state's deposit limit, cancellation right and notices.
- Protect trenches and edges on every site.OSHA rules apply everywhere: trench protection from 5 feet, fall protection from 6 feet (As of Oct 2026).
There is no single US contractor license. Each state decides, cities add permits and registrations, and the cost of getting it wrong is more than a fine: in California an unlicensed contractor cannot sue for payment, and in Florida it cannot enforce the contract. Check the state board's license lookup and the city or county before you bid.
California
Classes include B general building and B-2 residential remodeling. Since January 1, 2025, the minor-work exemption applies only below $1,000 in aggregate for labor, materials and everything else, to casual, minor or inconsequential work that needs no building permit; it does not cover split or larger projects, anyone advertising as a contractor, or anyone employing someone to do the work. Licensees carry a $25,000 contractor's bond. If the surety cancels it, the license is suspended unless a replacement bond or reinstatement reaches CSLB within 30 days of CSLB receiving the cancellation notice, and work done while suspended counts as unlicensed. An unlicensed contractor cannot sue for payment and can be made to return everything paid. Home improvement contracts must be written with the statutory notices, the down payment is capped at 10% of the price or $1,000, whichever is less, and the buyer has 3 business days to cancel a contract signed at home, or 5 if aged 65 or over. As of Oct 2026.
Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code secs. 7031, 7048, 7071.6, 7159 and 7159.5
Florida
A certified contractor (state exam) can work statewide; a registered contractor only where its local license runs. Unlicensed contracting is a crime, and the unlicensed contractor cannot enforce the contract. Residential contracts over $2,500 must carry the Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund notice. Take more than a 10% deposit on residential work and you must apply for the permit within 30 days and start within 90 days of the permit. As of Oct 2026.
Fla. Stat. ch. 489 part I, secs. 489.126, 489.127, 489.128 and 489.1425
Texas and New York
Texas has no statewide general contractor or remodeler license: cities control permits and often contractor registration, electricians and AC contractors are licensed by TDLR and plumbers by the state board, and homestead contracts carry their own notices. New York has no state general contractor license, but New York City requires a home improvement contractor license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and general contractor registration with the Department of Buildings for permits, and Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties license home improvement contractors. New York home improvement contracts need written terms and a 3-business-day right to cancel. As of Oct 2026.
Tex. Prop. Code sec. 53.254; N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law sec. 771
Federal rules that apply everywhere
A sale made at the buyer's home for $25 or more carries a 3-business-day cancellation right with the FTC notice, alongside any state right. Disturbing more than 6 square feet of paint inside or 20 square feet outside in housing or child-occupied facilities built before 1978 needs, unless an exception applies, an EPA-certified firm and a certified renovator, lead-safe practices, and the Renovate Right pamphlet before work. As of Oct 2026.
16 C.F.R. part 429; 40 C.F.R. part 745 subpart E
California and Florida require the license number in ads and on bids, and the claim has to be true for all three. In California a canceled bond that is not replaced also suspends the license.
Safety rules that get small contractors cited
OSHA's construction standards
They apply on every site, enforced federally in Texas and Florida and by Cal/OSHA's state plan in California; New York's state plan covers public employers only, and private sites stay federal. Fall protection is required at 6 feet, and ladders extend 3 feet above the landing. Trenches need a protective system at 5 feet and deeper, designed by a registered professional engineer at more than 20 feet, with a competent person inspecting daily and after rain and spoil at least 2 feet back from the edge. For silica, follow the Table 1 controls for the task or monitor exposure, and keep a written exposure control plan. Report a fatality within 8 hours, and an inpatient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours. Maximum penalties are $16,550 per serious violation and $165,514 per willful or repeated violation. As of Oct 2026.
29 C.F.R. secs. 1926.501(b)(1), 1926.651(k), 1926.652(a)(1), 1926.1053(b)(1), 1926.1153 and 1904.39
Six feet is the fall protection trigger. Trench protection starts at 5 feet, and an unprotected trench that deep can bring a serious or willful citation.
In California, if your license qualifier leaves, notify CSLB within 90 days and replace the qualifier within 90 days, or the license is suspended (Bus. and Prof. Code sec. 7068.2). Do not bid work you cannot finish under the license. As of Oct 2026.
Asked in Greymill
1. The deposit. California caps a home improvement down payment at 10% of the price or $1,000, whichever is less (As of Oct 2026). On $40,000, that is $1,000, not $8,000.
2. The bond. California licensees carry a $25,000 contractor's bond. Unless a new bond reaches CSLB within 30 days of its cancellation notice, the license is suspended (As of Oct 2026). Yours may already be suspended, and work done then is unlicensed: you cannot sue for payment. File a new bond first.
3. The ads. "Licensed, bonded and insured" must be true for all three. Pull the claim until the bond is back, and keep your license number on ads and bids, as California requires.
Also: signed at their house, the contract carries a 3-business-day right to cancel, or 5 if they are 65 or over (As of Oct 2026). It must be in writing with the notices California requires, and the federal FTC cancellation notice applies too.
Shall I check your contract template against these rules?
Ask it about your own business
Paste this into Greymill with your own figures, and Rules & Licensing works it through for your business.
I run a construction or building business in [state], in the US, doing [type of work] in [city or county]. I hold [licenses, registrations, bonds and certifications]. I am about to start [describe the job, the property and roughly when it was built]. Tell me which licenses, permits and notices this job needs, what my home improvement contract must include, and the OSHA and EPA rules that apply on this site.
More for construction and building in the US
- Pricing labor when the wage is only part of what a carpenter costs meWork out the burdened cost of each productive hour, then price for margin, not markup.Read the lesson
- Profitable on paper, but payroll is due before the pay app clearsPayroll goes out weekly while pay apps take 30 to 60 days and retainage waits for completion. A weekly forecast and an honest WIP schedule keep the gap in view.Read the lesson
- Not knowing who owes sales tax on the materials and labor in my contractsWhether you pay tax on materials or collect it from the customer depends on the state, the type of work and how the contract is written.Read the lesson
- Signing a GC's subcontract without knowing which clauses my state will enforcePay-if-paid, lien waivers, indemnity, retainage and venue clauses work differently in each state. Know which to strike before you sign.Read the lesson
- Paying my crew as 1099 subs when they work like employeesIn California an unlicensed sub doing licensed work is presumed to be an employee, and at the comp audit an uninsured sub's pay is usually added to your own payroll and charged premium.Read the lesson
- Getting prequalified with GCs and public owners instead of chasing platform leadsHomeowners check reviews and your license, GCs check your financials, bonding and safety record, and public owners check registration and bonds.Read the lesson
- The GC is late paying and I am not sure I still have lien rightsLien rights can be lost in the first weeks of a job with a missed preliminary notice, so check your notices and deadlines before you chase the money.Read the lesson
Open the interactive lesson · Every construction and building lesson · What Greymill knows about the trade
Sources
The primary sources behind this lesson, checked Oct 2026.
- Bus. and Prof. Code sec.7048(a) to (c) (Licensing and home improvement contracts by state)
- License classifications (Licensing and home improvement contracts by state)
- sec. 7071.6 (Licensing and home improvement contracts by state)
- secs. 7028, 7031(a), (b) (Licensing and home improvement contracts by state)
- sec. 7159 (Licensing and home improvement contracts by state)
- sec. 7159.5(a)(3) (Licensing and home improvement contracts by state)
- Memorandum of May 21, 2026 (Safety and environment: osha, EPA and stormwater)
- sec. 1926.501(b)(1) (Safety and environment: osha, EPA and stormwater)
- sec. 1926.1053(b)(1) (Safety and environment: osha, EPA and stormwater)
- secs. 1926.651(j)(2), (k); 1926.652(a)(1), (b) (Safety and environment: osha, EPA and stormwater)
- sec. 1926.1153(c), (d) (Safety and environment: osha, EPA and stormwater)
- Cal. Code Regs. tit. 8, sec. 3395(d), (e) (Safety and environment: osha, EPA and stormwater)
- HB 2237 secs.8, 9 and 11; Tex. Prop. Code secs.53.052(b), 53.055 and 53.056(a-1) (Hard cases: liens, CONTRACTS and payment)
- secs. 162.031, 162.032 (Hard cases: liens, CONTRACTS and payment)
- secs. 7108.5, 8412, 8414 (Hard cases: liens, CONTRACTS and payment)
- secs. 713.06, 713.23, 713.345 (Hard cases: liens, CONTRACTS and payment)
- N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law secs.756(1), 756-a(3), 756-c; Lien Law sec.34 (Hard cases: liens, CONTRACTS and payment)
- What is new; reporting threshold (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- Bus. and Prof. Code sec.7125; CSLB Bulletin 22-12 (Oct.11,2022), four additional classifications from Jan.1,2023 and pre-existing C-39 duty (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- Bus. and Com. Code ch. 56 (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- Termination table, Q1 and Q7; IRC sec.25D(e)(8) (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- Notice 2026-11 secs.2.02(1), 3.03, 3.06 and 3.07 (Pitfalls that embarrass the product)
- 16 C.F.R. part 465 (Winning work: leads, reviews, prequalification and bids)
- Entity registration (Winning work: leads, reviews, prequalification and bids)
- NCCI experience rating (industry practice) (Winning work: leads, reviews, prequalification and bids)
- Cal. Lab. Code secs.2750.5, 226.8, 2781(a) to (h) (Hard cases: tax, people and site)
- IRS Backup Withholding, "What is backup withholding?" and payments subject to withholding; Instructions for Form 945, backup withholding (Hard cases: tax, people and site)
- secs. 440.02, 440.107(7) (Hard cases: tax, people and site)
- 34 TAC sec. 3.357(b)(2) (Hard cases: tax, people and site)
- IRS FS-2026-13 Topic A Q1 to Q2, Topic C Q6 and Topic E Q10 (Hard cases: tax, people and site)
- Civ. Code sec. 8204; Fla. Stat. sec. 713.06(2)(a); Tex. Prop. Code sec. 53.056 (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- see "MECHANICS LIENS: THE FOUR-STATE NOTICE AND FILING MATRIX" sources (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- sec. 27.004(a), (b) (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- sec. 558.004(5) (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- 29 C.F.R. sec. 1904.39(a) (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)
- A201-2017 sec. 15.1.3 (Who must sign off: time-critical steps first)