Georgia Contractor License Requirements
Every figure below was read off the SLBRGC or the statute, and the sentence it came from is listed at the bottom of this page. Where a figure could not be verified this page says so rather than showing a number.
What the state requires
- Licence
- General Contractor (with a General Contractor Limited Tier capped at $1,000,000 per contract); the separate Residential-Basic and Residential-Light Commercial licences sit in the residential division
- Issued by
- State Licensing Board for Residential and General ContractorsO.C.G.A. tit. 43, ch. 41; Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. ch. 553
- Exam
- An examination approved by the general contractor division. Applicants already qualified under O.C.G.A. 43-41-8 are exempt.
- Exam fee
- No verified figureGeorgia's rules do not carry the figures: Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. ch. 553-6 says only 'Refer to separate Fee Schedule for appropriate fees payable to the Board.' That fee schedule lives on sos.ga.gov, which blocked every request from this network with a Cloudflare challenge, so all fee fields are null rather than carried over from a secondary source.
- Application fee
- No verified figure
- Initial licence fee
- No verified figure
- Licence bond
- Not requiredThe general contractor division rules set a net-worth affirmation and insurance, not a licence bond. No bond figure appears in ch. 553-4.
- General liability
- $500,000$500,000 general liability is the general contractor division figure. The residential division is lower: $500,000 for Residential-Light Commercial and $300,000 for Residential-Basic. The rule states a single general liability figure and does not break out property damage separately.
- Workers compensation
- Required
- Experience
- 4 yearsFour years of proven active experience in a construction-related field, at least two of which must have been as or in the employment of a general contractor. A four-year baccalaureate degree plus one year of proven experience is the substitution; a mix of academic credits and practical experience totalling four years in the aggregate is also accepted.
- Financial requirement
- Minimum net worth of $150,000 affirmed for the general contractor licence; $25,000 for the General Contractor Limited Tier.
- Continuing education
- No continuing education requiredGa. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 553-12-.05 governs renewal for General Contractor Limited Tier and General Contractor Unlimited and imposes no continuing education. The CE rules in 553-12-.02 through .04 reach only the residential division, where Residential-Basic is 3 hours a year and Residential-Light Commercial is 6 hours a year.
- Renewal
- Every 2 years
- NASCLA exam
- AcceptedThe Georgia State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors is on NASCLA's participating-agency list for the Commercial General Building Contractor examination. What it displaces on the Georgia side is not stated on NASCLA's page and the board's own site was unreachable.
What people get wrong
sos.ga.gov (the board's own pages and its PDF fee schedule and application packets) refused every request from this network with a Cloudflare block, both plain-fetched and through a real browser. Everything recorded here comes from the board's administrative rules on rules.sos.ga.gov, which is the same Secretary of State but a separate host that does respond. The consequence is that all four fee fields are null. The other thing worth knowing: Georgia's general contractor licence has an unlimited tier and a $1,000,000-per-contract limited tier, and the net-worth gap between them is large — $150,000 against $25,000.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a contractor licence in Georgia?
- Yes. Georgia issues a state general contractor licence — General Contractor (with a General Contractor Limited Tier capped at $1,000,000 per contract); the separate Residential-Basic and Residential-Light Commercial licences sit in the residential division — through the State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors. sos.ga.gov (the board's own pages and its PDF fee schedule and application packets) refused every request from this network with a Cloudflare block, both plain-fetched and through a real browser. Everything recorded here comes from the board's administrative rules on rules.sos.ga.gov, which is the same Secretary of State but a separate host that does respond. The consequence is that all four fee fields are null. The other thing worth knowing: Georgia's general contractor licence has an unlimited tier and a $1,000,000-per-contract limited tier, and the net-worth gap between them is large — $150,000 against $25,000.
- Does Georgia accept the NASCLA exam?
- Yes. The Georgia State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors is on NASCLA's participating-agency list for the Commercial General Building Contractor examination. What it displaces on the Georgia side is not stated on NASCLA's page and the board's own site was unreachable.
Sources
“Applicants seeking to engage in general contracting shall affirm a minimum net worth in the amount of $150,000.”
https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/553-4“Applicants seeking to engage in limited tier general contracting shall affirm a minimum net worth in the amount of $25,000.”
https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/553-4“All applicants shall provide satisfactory proof of general liability insurance in an amount not less than $500,000.”
https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/553-4“Has a total of at least four years of proven active experience working in a construction industry related field, at least two of which shall have been as or in the employment of a general contractor.”
https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/553-4“The biennial renewal fee, set by the Board, is due and payable by June 30 of even numbered years.”
https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/553-12“Refer to separate Fee Schedule for appropriate fees payable to the Board.”
https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/553-6“General liability insurance of not less than $300,000”
https://rules.sos.ga.gov/gac/553-3“Georgia State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors”
https://www.nascla.org/nascla-commercial-exam-participating-state-agencies
Then there is the exam
Practise Georgia exam questions free, with explanations that cite the reference book and section.