Utah Contractor License Requirements
Every figure below was read off the DOPL 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
- B100 General Building Contractor
- Issued by
- Utah Division of Professional Licensing, Construction Services CommissionUtah Code tit. 58, ch. 55 (Utah Construction Trades Licensing Act); Utah Admin. Code R156-55a
- Exam
- The Utah Contractor Business and Law Examination. No trade examination is required of the qualifier for a contractor licence other than for the classifications named in Utah Code 58-55-302(1)(c)(ii) and the separate H100 HVAC qualifier requirement.
- Exam fee
- No verified figureDOPL publishes its fee schedule on dopl.utah.gov, which refused every request from this machine, so no fee figure could be read on an official source and all fee fields are null.
- Application fee
- No verified figure
- Initial licence fee
- No verified figure
- Licence bond
- Not requiredUtah requires no flat licence bond of every applicant. A licence bond is imposed conditionally under R156-55a-602 - for unincorporated entities under 58-55-306(5)(b)(iii)(B) the amount is 20% of annual gross distributions to owners, and where a bankruptcy was filed, is pending or was discharged within three years the minimum is 30% of the total liabilities listed on the bankruptcy Forms 106. The Division may set the amount higher or lower based on a financial-responsibility review.
- General liability
- $1,000,000Liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 for each incident and $2,000,000 in total, naming the Division as certificate holder, covering the scope of work performed and in force for the entire duration of licensure. Workers' compensation insurance naming the Division as certificate holder, or an affidavit that the applicant hires no employees backed by a valid Workers' Compensation Coverage Waiver from the Utah Labor Commission.
- Workers compensation
- Required
- Experience
- 2 yearsTwo years full-time paid employment, defined as a total of 4,000 hours, of experience in the construction industry. Experience counts whether paid as a W-2 or as an owner and whether licensed or exempt, and includes construction work done in the military or for a railroad corporation, or under a construction trades instructor as part of an educational program. Three things substitute for the requirement outright: a passing score on the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors, a four-year bachelor's or two-year associate degree in Construction Management, or a Utah professional engineer licence.
- Financial requirement
- No fixed net worth or working capital figure. The Division audits financial responsibility, weighing judgments, child support obligations, restitution orders, tax liens, collection actions, bankruptcy schedules, a history of late payments, financial statements and tax returns, and a current credit report acceptable to the Division. Failing that audit is what triggers the conditional bond.
- Continuing education
- 6 hours every two yearsSix hours during each two-year licence term. A minimum of three hours must be core education; the remaining three may be professional or core. A minimum of three hours must be live in-class attendance, and at least one of the six must be in energy conservation.
- Renewal
- Every 2 years
- NASCLA exam
- AcceptedUtah uses it to satisfy the experience requirement, not the exam. R156-55a-302b(2)(b)(i) states a passing score on the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors satisfies the two-year / 4,000-hour experience requirement in 58-55-302(1)(e)(ii)(A). NASCLA separately lists Utah's Construction Trades Bureau among accepting agencies.
What people get wrong
dopl.utah.gov sits behind a Cloudflare bot check that never cleared in the built-in browser and returned HTTP 403 to plain fetches, and le.utah.gov (the Utah Code) closed the socket on every attempt including through the local proxy - so no fee figure could be verified and all fee fields are null. Everything else here was read from the Utah Administrative Code on adminrules.utah.gov, which is an official state host and did respond. The pre-licensure education is the real Utah gate: 25 hours plus a further 5 hours, live in-class only, no distance learning, waived only for a construction management degree, a Utah PE licence, a qualifier on an active Utah licence in the past five years, or licensure by endorsement.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need a contractor licence in Utah?
- Yes. Utah issues a state general contractor licence — B100 General Building Contractor — through the Utah Division of Professional Licensing, Construction Services Commission. dopl.utah.gov sits behind a Cloudflare bot check that never cleared in the built-in browser and returned HTTP 403 to plain fetches, and le.utah.gov (the Utah Code) closed the socket on every attempt including through the local proxy - so no fee figure could be verified and all fee fields are null. Everything else here was read from the Utah Administrative Code on adminrules.utah.gov, which is an official state host and did respond. The pre-licensure education is the real Utah gate: 25 hours plus a further 5 hours, live in-class only, no distance learning, waived only for a construction management degree, a Utah PE licence, a qualifier on an active Utah licence in the past five years, or licensure by endorsement.
- How much continuing education does Utah require?
- 6 hours every two years. Six hours during each two-year licence term. A minimum of three hours must be core education; the remaining three may be professional or core. A minimum of three hours must be live in-class attendance, and at least one of the six must be in energy conservation.
- Does Utah accept the NASCLA exam?
- Yes. Utah uses it to satisfy the experience requirement, not the exam. R156-55a-302b(2)(b)(i) states a passing score on the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors satisfies the two-year / 4,000-hour experience requirement in 58-55-302(1)(e)(ii)(A). NASCLA separately lists Utah's Construction Trades Bureau among accepting agencies.
Sources
“R156-55a-302b ... "Two years full-time paid employment" as defined in Subsection 58-55-302(1)(e)(ii)(A), is a total of 4,000 hours paid employment. The following shall satisfy the experience requirement in Subsection 58-55-302(1)(e)(ii)(A): (i) a passing score on the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors”
https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R156-55a/Current%20Rules“R156-55a-302d ... liability insurance in force that includes: the policy number, the expiration date of the policy, the insurance company name and contact information, and coverage amounts of at least $1,000,000 for each incident and $2,000,000 in total”
https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R156-55a/Current%20Rules“R156-55a-302f ... The 25-hour pre-licensure course required by Subsection 58-55-302(1)(e)(iii) and the five-hour pre-licensure course required by Subsection 58-55-302(1)(e)(iv) shall be completed by the qualifier for a contractor license applicant.”
https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R156-55a/Current%20Rules“R156-55a-302a ... no examination is required for the qualifier of an applicant for licensure as a contractor except for the Utah Contractor Business and Law Examination for the classifications in Subsection 58-55-302(1)(c)(ii).”
https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R156-55a/Current%20Rules“R156-55a-303b ... each licensee shall complete six hours of continuing education during each two-year license term. A minimum of three hours shall be core education; the remaining three hours may be professional education or core education.”
https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R156-55a/Current%20Rules“R156-55a-303a ... the renewal date for the two year renewal cycle for licensees under Title 58, Chapter 55, Utah Construction Trades Licensing Act, is established in Subsection R156-1-308a(1).”
https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R156-55a/Current%20Rules“R156-55a-602 ... If the licensee is submitting a bond under Subsection 58-55-306(5)(b)(iii)(B), the amount of the bond shall be 20% of the annual gross distributions from the unincorporated entity to its owners.”
https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R156-55a/Current%20Rules“All states listed below will accept the NASCLA Accredited Examination For Commercial General Building Contractors. ... Utah Division of Occupational & Professional Licensing, Construction Trades Bureau”
https://www.nascla.org/nascla-commercial-exam-participating-state-agencies
Then there is the exam
Practise Utah exam questions free, with explanations that cite the reference book and section.