The Complete Utah Contractors License Guide [2024 Update]

Individuals and businesses planning on engaging in construction work in the state of Utah need to undergo an administrative procedure before launching operations. Most importantly, you have to obtain a Utah contractors license that ensures your legal compliance. 

There are 25 different Utah contractor license classifications, depending on the field of your future work. The general ones include: 

• General Building (B100)
• Residential/Small Commercial (R100)
• General Engineering (E100) 
• General Electrical Work (E200)
• General Plumbing (P200) 

In the sections below, you can get acquainted with the licensing requirements and the process you need to go through. 

The Utah Contractors License Requirements

The Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing at the Utah Department of Commerce oversees the activities of contractors in the state. 

Business Entity Registration or SSN

You need to register your business entity with the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. You can select the right structure for your needs, which can be a corporation, general partnership, LLC, LLP, or limited partnership. Sole proprietors need to provide their SSN. 

Trade Name 

In case you want to conduct business under an assumed name, you have to register your DBA name with the same Division.

Tax Registration

You also have to register with the Utah State Tax Commission in order to meet the state requirements for tax withholding.

Pre-licensing Course and State Examination

You have to complete a pre-licensing course. For general building contractors, it should be 5 hours provided by either the Utah Home Builders (UHB) or the Associated General Contractors of Utah (AGC).

In addition, you have to pass the relevant exams. General Building (B100), Residential/Small Commercial (R100) and General Engineering (E100) contractors don’t have to complete trade exams, but the Utah Business and Law exam is still required. The trade exams are necessary for most specialty classifications. A copy of the test results must be submitted along with the rest of the supporting documents

Proof of Experience

You need to appoint a qualifier, who is a person for whom you can provide proof of relevant experience. They should demonstrate at least 2 years of full-time experience during the last 10 years. In one of the years, they should have been in a management or supervisory role. 

Complete the Utah contractors license application

Once you’ve compiled the necessary paperwork, you have to complete the application form. Then mail it to:

Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing

PO Box 146741

Salt Lake City, UT 84114

License and Registration Fees

The applicable license and registration fees are the following:

• $210 - application fee for one classification 
• $195 - initial assessment for the residence lien recovery fund

You can find further details about the licensing process in the Pre-licensing checklist document.

Provide a Surety Bond and Insurance

In addition to the licensing requirements detailed in the previous sections, you also have to obtain insurance and in some cases, a surety bond. 

Worker’s compensation insurance

For businesses that will hire employees, worker’s compensation insurance is necessary. You can consult the Utah Insurance Department for further information. 

General liability insurance

You have to obtain general liability insurance with minimum coverage of $100,000 for each incident and $300,000 in total.

Surety bond 

Depending on your answers to the financial responsibility questions in the application form, you may be required to provide additional financial security in the form of a surety bond. It serves as a protection mechanism that safeguards the interests of your customers. You have to check with the licensing authorities if you need to get bonded.  

The Utah contractor license bond amounts vary depending on your license classification:  

• General Building and General Engineering Contractors - $50,000
• Residential/ Small Commercial Contractors - $25,000
• Specialty Contractors - $15,000

You don’t have to pay the whole required amount in order to get bonded. Instead, you need to cover a small fraction of it, which is called your premium. The typical rates for applicants with stable finances are between 0.75% and 5%.

Do you want to check the exact cost of your contractor license bond? Fill in the short form below! 

How to verify your Utah contractors license

You can check the validity of your license via the Licensee Lookup & Verification System of the Department of Commerce. You have to select the field ‘contractor’ in the search by profession. 

License Renewal and Expiration

The Utah contractors license renewal occurs every two years, unless otherwise specified. Licenses expire on November 30th of odd-numbered years, regardless of the year when you first acquired it. You have to renew your license on time in order to continue your operations. 

Do you need more information about getting your Utah contractors license and bonding? You can reach us by calling us at 877.514.5146.