Massachusetts Contractor License Requirements
Registration is not a licence, but here it is still mandatory. Every figure below was read off the BBRS / OPSI (CSL); OCABR (HIC) 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
- Construction Supervisor License (CSL), Unrestricted; plus Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) registration for residential remodeling
- Issued by
- Board of Building Regulations and Standards, Office of Public Safety and Inspections, Division of Occupational Licensure (CSL); Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (HIC)780 CMR 110.R5 (Licensing of Construction Supervisors)
- Exam
- Unrestricted Construction Supervisor Exam (75 scored items, cutscore 53 = 70%, 240 minutes, open book); Restricted (1&2-family) and specialty exams (masonry, roof covering, windows/doors/siding, solid fuel-burning appliance, demolition, insulation) are shorterPSI
- Exam fee
- $75PSI charges a $23 application fee plus $75 for the Restricted or Unrestricted Construction Supervisor exam ($65 for every other CSL exam). CSL renewal is $100. The initial licence fee itself is stated on the PSI score report and is not published on the BBRS pages read here, so it is left null. HIC registration is separate: $150 registration fee plus a mandatory Guaranty Fund payment of $100 (0-3 employees), $200 (4-10), $300 (11-30) or $500 (more than 30), and a $100 HIC renewal fee every two years.
- Application fee
- $23
- Initial licence fee
- No verified figure
- Licence bond
- Not requiredNo bond. Massachusetts uses the HIC Guaranty Fund (pays eligible homeowners up to $25,000 on unpaid judgments) instead of a contractor bond.
- General liability
- Not requiredThe CSL application and the HIC registration pages read here impose no general liability minimum; the Guaranty Fund payment takes its place.
- Workers compensation
- No verified rule
- Experience
- 3 yearsThree years (36 months of full-time, 40 hours/week work) in building construction or design within the past ten years. A three- or four-year vocational building construction program or any bachelor/master/PhD counts as one year; a bachelor/master/PhD in architecture, science, engineering or a related technology field counts as two years; education can account for a maximum of two years. Union affiliation alone does not count; relevant active military service may.
- Continuing education
- 12 hours every two yearsUnrestricted 12 hours, Restricted 10 hours, Specialty 6 hours, each including at least one hour of code review, workplace safety, business practices/workers' compensation, energy and lead-safe practices. At most six hours may be online; the rest must be in-person classroom. Complete at least 60 days before expiration; certificates cannot be reused for a later renewal.
- Renewal
- Every 2 years
- NASCLA exam
- Not acceptedNot accepted — Massachusetts requires its own PSI-administered exam based on the Massachusetts State Building Code (780 CMR).
What people get wrong
Massachusetts does not license 'general contractors' as such. It licenses individual Construction Supervisors (CSL) — the person who supervises code-regulated work and whose licence a permit is pulled against — and separately registers Home Improvement Contractors (HIC), the business that contracts with an owner-occupant of a 1-4 unit existing residence. The two are not interchangeable; a residential remodeler usually needs both. Watch the licence term: an original CSL expires three years from issuance, every renewal thereafter is two years, which is why the CE cycle is described as every 2 years. Exam testing has been on the 10th Edition of the State Building Code since January 1, 2025. mass.gov blocks direct fetches from this network, so pages were read through the browser pane and the candidate handbook PDF was parsed in-page.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a contractor licence in Massachusetts?
- Not from the state. Massachusetts registers contractors rather than licensing them: Construction Supervisor License (CSL), Unrestricted; plus Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) registration for residential remodeling through the Board of Building Regulations and Standards, Office of Public Safety and Inspections, Division of Occupational Licensure (CSL); Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation (HIC). Massachusetts does not license 'general contractors' as such. It licenses individual Construction Supervisors (CSL) — the person who supervises code-regulated work and whose licence a permit is pulled against — and separately registers Home Improvement Contractors (HIC), the business that contracts with an owner-occupant of a 1-4 unit existing residence. The two are not interchangeable; a residential remodeler usually needs both. Watch the licence term: an original CSL expires three years from issuance, every renewal thereafter is two years, which is why the CE cycle is described as every 2 years. Exam testing has been on the 10th Edition of the State Building Code since January 1, 2025. mass.gov blocks direct fetches from this network, so pages were read through the browser pane and the candidate handbook PDF was parsed in-page.
- Does Massachusetts accept the NASCLA exam?
- No. Not accepted — Massachusetts requires its own PSI-administered exam based on the Massachusetts State Building Code (780 CMR).
Sources
“Verify 3 years of experience in building construction or design. See the candidate handbook, below, for more details.”
https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-construction-supervisor-license“Application Fee $23 Examination Fee for Restricted Construction Supervisor Exam and Unrestricted Construction Supervisor Exam $75 Examination Fee for all other examinations $65”
https://www.mass.gov/doc/csl-candidate-handbook/download“Your work experience need not be continuous but must be a total of 36 months of full-time (40 hours per week) experience within the past ten years.”
https://www.mass.gov/doc/csl-candidate-handbook/download“Unrestricted construction supervisor: 12 hours Restricted construction supervisor: 10 hours Specialty construction supervisor (masonry, roofing, insulation, etc.): 6 hours”
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/continuing-education-for-construction-supervisors“License renewal $100 each”
https://www.mass.gov/how-to/renew-your-construction-supervisor-license“110.R5.2.4 Expiration. Licenses issued pursuant to 780 CMR 110.R5 shall expire three years from the date of issuance, which shall be noted on said license and may be renewed. A renewal of an original license shall be for periods of two years and a renewal license shall expire two years from the date of issuance.”
https://www.mass.gov/doc/10th-edition-chapter-110r5-licensing-of-construction-supervisors/download“You will need to pay a: $150 registration fee Separate mandatory payment to the Guaranty Fund, based on how many people you employ ... Zero to three (3) employees $100.00 Four (4) to ten (10) employees $200.00 Eleven (11) to thirty (30) employees $300.00 More than thirty (30) employees $500.00”
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/home-improvement-contractor-registration-and-renewal“Your HIC registration must be renewed every two years. ... Pay the $100 renewal fee”
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/home-improvement-contractor-registration-and-renewal
Then there is the exam
Practise Massachusetts exam questions free, with explanations that cite the reference book and section.