Michigan licenses residential builders and maintenance and alteration contractors at the state level through the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). Any residential construction, repair, alteration, or improvement job with an aggregate contract price of $600 or more requires the license.
Requirements checked against the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Construction Codes published requirements on October 20, 2026.
| Licensing board | Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Construction Codes, Residential Builders and Maintenance and Alteration Contractors Board |
|---|---|
| License required when | residential only (no state commercial general contractor license); Residential Builder or Maintenance and Alteration license required once a project's aggregate contract price for labor and materials reaches 600 dollars |
| What the state calls the qualifier | qualifying officer |
| NASCLA exam accepted | no |
| Reciprocity and endorsement | Not stated |
| Exam waivers | no waiver; out of state applicants complete the same 60 hour course and PSI exam (out of state experience can only be credited toward exam eligibility) |
| Experience required | none; 60 hours of LARA approved prelicensure education plus the state exam |
| Application and exam fees | 195 dollars for the Residential Builder or Maintenance and Alteration Contractor license application, covering the first three year license (LARA fee schedule) |
| Renewal | 3 year cycle; renewal 150 dollars (50 dollars per year under MCL 338.2239), 170 dollars if late |
| Time to license | approximately 3 to 5 weeks per a LARA snippet; other sources 3 to 8 weeks; not LARA confirmed |
| Bond and financial requirements | not stated for the RB or M&A license; no statewide bond set for the electrical contractor license |
| Penalty for unlicensed work | Not stated |
| Time to replace a qualifier | license suspended immediately when the qualifying officer leaves; no fixed window; LARA may on request allow a reasonable time; outgoing qualifier must notify LARA in writing within 10 days |
| Companies one qualifier may qualify | no numeric cap written in statute; confirm with LARA before relying on more than one |
Facts checked on August 21, 2026.
Each line was checked against the state board’s published requirements on the date shown. Not stated means the board material we reviewed did not state it, so we do not guess. Boards change rules; confirm the current figure with the board before you file.
Commercial general contracting has no state license, so commercial work is governed by local permitting instead. The skilled trades, meaning electrical, plumbing, mechanical, and boiler work, are licensed statewide under the Skilled Trades Regulation Act through LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes. A company holding a residential builder license operates through a licensed qualifying officer, and an electrical contractor firm must employ a full time master electrician.
Michigan requires a Qualifying Agent for all licensed contractor entities.
Michigan requires a Residential Builder license, or the narrower Maintenance and Alteration license, for residential contracts of $600 or more in labor and materials. LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes issues the license under Article 24, MCL 339.2401. A company must designate an officer, partner, member, or managing agent as its qualifying officer, who holds the individual license.
Anyone who contracts with a property owner to build, alter, repair, improve, move, or demolish a residential structure for a contract price of 600 dollars or more in combined labor and materials must hold a Residential Builder license or a Maintenance and Alteration contractor license (Michigan state website). Contracting above that amount without the required license is unlicensed practice under Michigan law. The Residential Builder license is the broad credential covering new construction and remodeling. The Maintenance and Alteration license is narrower, limited to repair, alteration, and maintenance work, and does not cover new residential construction. One individual generally holds one license type or the other, not both. This exclusivity rule is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page; confirm it with the board before relying on it.
Under MCL 339.2405, if the qualifying officer leaves an entity, the entity's license is suspended unless LARA, on request, grants a reasonable time to qualify a replacement. Changes to a company's partners, directors, officers, or trustees must be reported to LARA within 10 days. These readings of MCL 339.2405 are not confirmed against the board materials reviewed for this page; confirm them with the board before relying on them. A LARA enforcement record illustrates the cost of missing this deadline: in the case of Operation Unification Inc, the qualifying officer died in 2013, the company did not notify LARA, and LARA later suspended the company's license for lacking an active qualifying officer (Michigan state website enforcement document). A separate Qualifying Officer Change Application carries a 10 dollar fee for residential builders, according to the LARA form (Michigan state website form).
PSI Services LLC holds the contract with LARA to administer the Residential Builder and Maintenance and Alteration contractor examinations, confirmed on LARA's own PSI examinations page at Michigan state website and on PSI's current candidate bulletin for Michigan hosted at PSI candidate portal, which carries an update date of November 1, 2024 and remains the vendor as of October 20, 2026. An applicant must first apply for licensure with LARA; only after LARA approves the applicant for testing does PSI allow scheduling of the exam (Michigan state website, confirmed in the PSI bulletin language). The exam covers a Business and Law component and a Trade or Residential Builder component, each requiring a passing score of 70 percent. Exact question counts and time limits vary by source, so confirm the current PSI bulletin for the specific exam program before citing a number of questions or minutes. As of September 1, 2024, the Residential Builder exam, the Residential Builder Business and Law exam, and the Salesperson exam are offered in English or Spanish, with the Spanish version requiring a phone request rather than online scheduling (PSI candidate bulletin, PSI candidate portal).
Michigan does not appear on NASCLA's own participating state agency list for the Commercial General Building Contractors accredited examination (NASCLA, confirmed through NASCLA's own list of current participating states, which omits Michigan). Michigan's Bureau of Construction Codes does appear as a NASCLA member agency and has taken part in NASCLA coordinated enforcement initiatives, but membership and enforcement cooperation are not the same as accepting the NASCLA exam toward a Michigan license. A NASCLA card does not satisfy any part of the Michigan exam requirement.
The confirmed requirement is 60 hours of LARA approved prelicensure education, with at least 6 hours required in each of several competency areas, including business management, design and building science, contracts and risk management, and the current Michigan residential code (Michigan Legislature legislative analysis citing MCL 339.2404b, corroborated by LARA's own prelicensure education page on Michigan state website). An exemption from the prelicensure course exists only for people who already held a license on June 1, 2008 and are renewing as an individual or as a qualifying officer (Michigan Legislature analysis of the statute). Some guides describe an alternative path of three years of verifiable residential construction experience within the past ten years in place of the course. This alternative path is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page, and a 2013 legislative analysis of a bill proposing experience based credit toward the course suggests no general experience substitute existed in the base statute at that time. Confirm this directly with the board before relying on it.
A state level general liability insurance minimum or surety bond requirement tied to the Residential Builder or Maintenance and Alteration license is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page. Some guides cite a 100,000 dollar general liability requirement; this figure is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page, so confirm it with the board before relying on it. Local permitting authorities may impose their own bonding or insurance conditions independent of the state license.
Michigan licenses companies through a named individual, similar in structure to the qualifier model used in other states. An entity applying for a company license, including a corporation, partnership, association, or LLC, must designate one of its officers, partners, or members, or a managing agent, as the qualifying officer, and that person must separately hold an individual license under Article 24 (Michigan state website forms and application guidance, corroborated by MCL 339.2404a). LARA also screens every partner, trustee, director, officer, or member, or any person who controls the entity, for age and character requirements before issuing the company license (Michigan state website application guidance). MCL 339.2404a requires licensees to disclose in each contract their individual license information and any license held as qualifying officer of another entity. This disclosure requirement suggests a single qualifying officer may qualify more than one company at a time, with each relationship disclosed on contracts, rather than being capped at one company. Whether a specific cap applies is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page; confirm this with the board before relying on it. A Michigan Salesperson license is a different role and may be attached to only one builder or contractor at a time. This detail is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page; confirm it with the board before relying on it.
LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes Licensing Section page states that processing time may run up to three to five weeks, with applications reviewed in the order received, and it warns that filing duplicate applications only slows the process down (Michigan state website licensing section page). Application fees are nonrefundable (Michigan state website application guidance). Reported application fee figures vary: one source cites a 600 dollar application fee plus a 117 dollar exam fee, while another cites a 240 dollar exam fee. These figures conflict across sources, so confirm current application and exam fee amounts directly with the board.
Michigan has no reciprocity agreements with other states for the Residential Builder, Maintenance and Alteration, or trade contractor licenses. Every applicant, regardless of out of state licensure, must meet Michigan's own prelicensure education and exam requirements. Waiver language for out of state applicants is not stated in the LARA prelicensure or exam materials reviewed for this page. An out of state license or a NASCLA pass does not shorten the Michigan licensing path.
Electrical, plumbing, and mechanical or HVAC work are licensed separately from the Residential Builder license, each through its own board under LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes: the Electrical Administrative Board licenses apprentice, journeyman, master, sign specialist, and fire alarm specialty electricians along with electrical contractors statewide; the State Plumbing Board licenses apprentice, journeyman, and master plumbers and plumbing contractors statewide; and the Board of Mechanical Rules licenses mechanical contractors by classification, such as HVAC equipment, ductwork, refrigeration, hydronic heating, and fuel gas piping. This board structure is not confirmed against a single official LARA page in the materials reviewed for this page; confirm exact board names and titles with LARA before relying on them. Holding a Residential Builder license does not authorize electrical, plumbing, or mechanical work; those trades need their own contractor license even on a job the Residential Builder is generally supervising. One fee schedule shows a 300 dollar agency fee per classification for mechanical contractor registration with a triennial renewal, and a separate 300 dollar plumbing contractor renewal figure; these figures disagree across sources, so confirm current amounts with the board. Another guide totals roughly 140 dollars combined for electrician application and exam fees; confirm this amount with the board before relying on it.
Yes. Michigan requires a Residential Builder license, or the narrower Maintenance and Alteration license, for anyone who contracts to build, alter, repair, improve, move, or demolish a residential structure for $600 or more in combined labor and materials. The Bureau of Construction Codes, part of LARA, issues the license under Article 24 of the Michigan Occupational Code, MCL 339.2401. Michigan has no separate general contractor license title.
The requirements are 60 hours of LARA approved prelicensure education, with at least 6 hours in each required competency area such as business management, design and building science, contracts and risk management, and the current Michigan residential code. Applicants also must pass the PSI administered exam, covering Business and Law and a Trade or Residential Builder component, each requiring a 70 percent passing score, after LARA approves them for testing.
Applicants complete 60 hours of LARA approved prelicensure education covering areas like business management and the current Michigan residential code, then apply for licensure with the Bureau of Construction Codes. Only after LARA approves the application can PSI Services, the exam vendor, schedule the Business and Law and Trade or Residential Builder exams, each requiring a 70 percent passing score. Processing can take three to five weeks.
LARA, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, issues the Residential Builder license through its Bureau of Construction Codes under Article 24 of the Michigan Occupational Code, MCL 339.2401. It is the broad credential covering new residential construction and remodeling, required for residential contracts of $600 or more in combined labor and materials, separate from the narrower Maintenance and Alteration license.
The Residential Builder license is the broad credential covering new residential construction and remodeling. The Maintenance and Alteration license is narrower, limited to repair, alteration, and maintenance work, and does not cover new residential construction. Both apply to residential contracts of $600 or more in combined labor and materials, issued by LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes under Article 24 of the Michigan Occupational Code.
Michigan licenses residential construction at the state level through the Bureau of Construction Codes, part of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, commonly called LARA (Michigan state website). The governing law is Article 24 of the Michigan Occupational Code, cited as MCL 339.2401 and following (Michigan state website; confirmed through legislative analysis documents on Michigan Legislature). Michigan does not have a separate "general contractor" license title. The credential that applies is the Residential Builder license, along with a narrower license called the Maintenance and Alteration contractor license, often written as M and A (Michigan state website).
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