Nevada Contractor License Requirements
Every figure below was read off the NSCB 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
- B - General Building Contractor (B-2 Residential and Small Commercial)
- Issued by
- Nevada State Contractors BoardNev. Rev. Stat. ch. 624; Nev. Admin. Code ch. 624
- Exam
- A general business and law (CMS) examination and a trade examination specific to the classification applied forPSI
- Exam fee
- No verified figureThe application fee is a $300 nonrefundable fee paid with the application. After the application is approved the applicant pays a $600 biennial license fee per application. Examination fees are separate and paid directly to the Board's exam vendor, so exam_fee_usd is null. NRS 624.280 caps the application fee at $550, the license fee at $900 biennially and an examination at $300.
- Application fee
- $300
- Initial licence fee
- $600
- Licence bond
- Required; amount variesThe bond is set individually by the Board and has no flat statutory figure. NRS 624.270(4): the amount is fixed by the Board with reference to the contractor's financial and professional responsibility and the magnitude of operations, but must be not less than $1,000 or more than $500,000. A cash deposit may be filed instead. After five consecutive years of licensed contracting in Nevada the Board may relieve a licensee of the bond entirely. Residential contractors additionally pay a Recovery Fund assessment set by monetary limit: $200 per biennium up to a $1,000,000 limit, $500 above that, $1,000 if unlimited.
- General liability
- Not requiredThe Board requires proof of compliance with industrial insurance (workers' compensation) coverage from all contractors. No general liability minimum is imposed as a licensing condition.
- Workers compensation
- Required
- Experience
- 4 yearsAt least four years of experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor in the specific classification applied for, accrued within the 15 years immediately preceding the application. Training in an accredited college or university program, or an equivalent program accepted by the Board, may substitute for up to three of the four years.
- Financial requirement
- A financial statement must be filed and the Board sets a monetary limit on the license from it. The required level of preparation rises with the requested limit: $25,000 or less may be self-prepared on a Board form or by accounting software with an affidavit; more than $25,000 but less than $500,000 must be CPA-compiled within 6 months or reviewed/audited within 1 year; $500,000 to under $1,000,000 must be CPA-compiled with full disclosures within 6 months or reviewed/audited within 1 year; $1,000,000 or more must be CPA reviewed or audited within 1 year.
- Continuing education
- No continuing education requiredNeither NRS ch. 624 nor NAC ch. 624 imposes a continuing education requirement on contractor license renewal; renewal is an application, the fee and evidence the bond is in force.
- Renewal
- Every 2 years
- NASCLA exam
- AcceptedWaives the trade exam only. The Board's application states that applicants for a full B General Building or B-2 Residential and Small Commercial license may be considered for waiver of the trade exam if they passed the NASCLA Accredited General Building Exam and send the transcript to the Board. The business and law (CMS) exam and the work experience documentation are still required.
What people get wrong
Nevada is a monetary-limit state: the Board caps the dollar value of work the license may undertake, and both the bond and the financial-statement burden scale with the limit requested, so there is no single number an applicant can plan around. leg.state.nv.us returned HTTP 403 to direct fetches; the NRS and NAC text quoted above was read from the Board's own 2024 statutes-and-regulations handbook PDF instead.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a contractor licence in Nevada?
- Yes. Nevada issues a state general contractor licence — B - General Building Contractor (B-2 Residential and Small Commercial) — through the Nevada State Contractors Board. Nevada is a monetary-limit state: the Board caps the dollar value of work the license may undertake, and both the bond and the financial-statement burden scale with the limit requested, so there is no single number an applicant can plan around. leg.state.nv.us returned HTTP 403 to direct fetches; the NRS and NAC text quoted above was read from the Board's own 2024 statutes-and-regulations handbook PDF instead.
- How much is the Nevada contractor licence bond?
- Nevada requires a licence bond but the amount is not a single figure. The bond is set individually by the Board and has no flat statutory figure. NRS 624.270(4): the amount is fixed by the Board with reference to the contractor's financial and professional responsibility and the magnitude of operations, but must be not less than $1,000 or more than $500,000. A cash deposit may be filed instead. After five consecutive years of licensed contracting in Nevada the Board may relieve a licensee of the bond entirely. Residential contractors additionally pay a Recovery Fund assessment set by monetary limit: $200 per biennium up to a $1,000,000 limit, $500 above that, $1,000 if unlimited.
- Does Nevada accept the NASCLA exam?
- Yes. Waives the trade exam only. The Board's application states that applicants for a full B General Building or B-2 Residential and Small Commercial license may be considered for waiver of the trade exam if they passed the NASCLA Accredited General Building Exam and send the transcript to the Board. The business and law (CMS) exam and the work experience documentation are still required.
Sources
“Include the nonrefundable application fee of $300.00 when submitting the completed application to the Board.”
https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/License-Application-Form-2.pdf“B or B-2 Exam Waiver: Applicants for a full "B" General Building or "B-2" Residential and Small Commercial license may be considered for waiver of the trade exam if you have passed the National Association of State Contractor Licensing Agencies (NASCLA) Accredited General Building Exam.”
https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/License-Application-Form-2.pdf“the application fee is $300.00 ... the biennial license fee is $600.00 ... The bond can vary in amount from $1,000 to $500,000 ... All contractors are required to provide proof of compliance with Industrial insurance coverage (workers' compensation) ... A contractor's license is initially issued for a two-year period.”
https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/licensing/faq-for-general-requirements/“NRS 624.270 ... the amount of each bond or cash deposit required by this section must be fixed by the Board with reference to the contractor's financial and professional responsibility and the magnitude of the contractor's operations, but must be not less than $1,000 or more than $500,000.”
https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Nevada-State-Contractors-Board-Handbook-2024.pdf“NRS 624.260 ... each applicant for licensure as a contractor must have had, within the 15 years immediately preceding the filing of the application for licensure, at least 4 years of experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor in the specific classification in which the applicant is applying for licensure.”
https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Nevada-State-Contractors-Board-Handbook-2024.pdf“NRS 624.283 ... Each license issued under the provisions of this chapter expires 2 years after the date on which it is issued, except that the Board may by regulation prescribe shorter or longer periods and prorated fees to establish a system of staggered biennial renewals.”
https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Nevada-State-Contractors-Board-Handbook-2024.pdf“NRS 624.470 ... a residential contractor shall pay to the Board an assessment not to exceed the following amount, if the monetary limit on the residential contractor's license is: Not more than $1,000,000 $200 per biennium; More than $1,000,000 but limited 500 per biennium; Unlimited 1,000 per biennium.”
https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Nevada-State-Contractors-Board-Handbook-2024.pdf“a general business and law or "CMS" examination, and a trade examination specific to the classification of license for which you have applied.”
https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/licensing/license-examinations/
Then there is the exam
Practise Nevada exam questions free, with explanations that cite the reference book and section.