Colorado has no statewide general contractor license. General contractors are licensed by the city or county where the work happens, and Denver and most other municipalities run their own contractor licensing programs.
Requirements checked against the Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA), State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board published requirements on October 12, 2026.
| Licensing board | No state GC board; DORA State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board license electricians and plumbers; GC licensing is city or county level |
|---|---|
| License required when | No state GC license and no dollar threshold stated; GC, HVAC and roofing licensing is handled by each city or county |
| What the state calls the qualifier | responsible individual (Master Electrician or Master Plumber), trades only; no GC qualifier exists |
| NASCLA exam accepted | no |
| Reciprocity and endorsement | Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming (Journeyman Electrician only, via NERA) |
| Exam waivers | Journeyman Electrician reciprocity needs a current certificate earned by state exam and held at least one year; Master Electrician is by endorsement case by case; plumbing endorsement without a new exam is typical where exam, code base and class match but is a board judgment call; no GC waiver exists |
| Experience required | No state GC requirement; Master Electrician 10000 hours over at least five years; Master Plumber 8500 hours, five full time years; Denver Class A seven years |
| Application and exam fees | Denver Class A, B, C and D 250 dollars each; Denver Supervisor Certificate 60 dollars; Denver electrical license 0 dollars; state plumbing contractor registration fee set by the State Plumbing Board (see its applications page); the registration fee amount is not stated on that applications page |
| Renewal | Denver licenses 250 dollars on a 3 year cycle; state electrician licenses expire September 30 every three years; plumbing licenses expire every odd numbered year on February 28 |
| Time to license | Denver roughly 14 to 20 business days; Colorado Springs and El Paso County (PPRBD) 6 to 8 weeks; no DORA timeline found |
| Bond and financial requirements | No state net worth, bond or financial statement for GC; workers compensation required for all employers; Denver and Colorado Springs require general liability with no confirmed dollar minimums |
| Penalty for unlicensed work | Not stated |
| Time to replace a qualifier | Twenty days to hire a replacement Master Electrician or Master Plumber, then the registration goes inactive |
| Companies one qualifier may qualify | One company at a time for both Master Electrician and Master Plumber |
Facts checked on August 8, 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.
At the state level, Colorado licenses electrical and plumbing work through the State Electrical Board and the State Plumbing Board, both housed in the Division of Professions and Occupations at the Department of Regulatory Agencies. An electrical or plumbing contracting company must register with the state and put a licensed master on that registration as the responsible person. HVAC and mechanical work is regulated locally, not by the state.
Colorado requires a Qualifying Agent for all licensed contractor entities.
Colorado has no statewide general contractor license; general contractors are licensed city by city. Electrical and plumbing are licensed at the state level by the State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board. An electrical company must employ a licensed master electrician, and a plumbing company must be tied to a responsible master plumber, as the qualifying individual.
Denver issues building contractor licenses in four classes. Class A is described as unlimited scope, covering erection, alteration, demolition and repair of any building or structure. Centennial's published fee schedule shows a parallel class system in that city and confirms it will accept certain other cities' licenses, or a current ICC exam, as proof of qualification (centennialco.gov).
Colorado does not license general contracting companies through a qualifying individual at the state level, because no state general contractor license exists; each city sets its own rule for who may hold or supervise under its local license. The state does use a qualifying individual model for the two state licensed trades. An electrical contractor business must hold or employ a licensed master electrician who acts as the company's responsible individual, and that master electrician may be the responsible party for only one company at a time (dpo.colorado.gov, Electrical Board applications page). A plumbing contractor registration is similarly tied to a responsible master plumber, and since mid 2025 that contractor must display both the plumbing contractor registration number and the responsible master plumber's license number on vehicles, billing materials, bid sheets and the business's website (dpo.colorado.gov). Whether a master plumber faces the same one company cap that applies to a master electrician is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page; confirm this directly with dpo.colorado.gov/Plumbing before assuming the two boards mirror each other.
This is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page for either board. No deadline or replacement procedure for a departing responsible master electrician or master plumber appears in the official sources reviewed. Treat this as unconfirmed rather than assuming a specific number of days, and confirm it directly with dpo.colorado.gov.
There is no statewide general contractor exam. Denver's official contractor license application page requires a supervisor certificate, or an employee who holds one, before a company license application will be accepted, but the page itself does not name an exam vendor for that certificate (City and County of Denver). A PSI administered exam has been reported for Denver's supervisor certificate, but the vendor name is not confirmed on City and County of Denver directly, so confirm it with the City and County of Denver before stating it as fact. The electrical and plumbing trades are different, and their exam vendor is confirmed directly, below.
NASCLA accreditation is not applicable, and not accepted, for general contracting in Colorado. Because there is no state general contractor license and no state general contractor exam, there is no state mechanism for NASCLA's accredited exam to plug into. A list of NASCLA participating agencies by state is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page, so confirm current NASCLA acceptance in Colorado directly with NASCLA before relying on it.
No experience or financial requirement exists at the state level for general contracting, because no state general contractor license exists. At the local level, Denver's official application page requires a supervisor certificate holder, Secretary of State filings matching the signers on the application, and, for electrical or plumbing contractor applicants, a current state credential, but the page itself does not state a bonding or net worth figure (City and County of Denver). Reported bond and liability insurance figures for Denver's building contractor license conflict between sources, so no specific bond or insurance figure for Denver is stated here; confirm the current figure on the city's own fee schedule before relying on one. Larimer County has been reported to require combined liability insurance for its Class A, B and C mechanical licenses; this is not confirmed against an official county page and should be checked directly with the county.
Denver's official application page states that online contractor license applications take about 14 to 20 business days to review (City and County of Denver). A timeline for the electrical or plumbing boards' own licensing applications is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page; both boards note only that a candidate registers and schedules an exam directly through PSI, and may then apply to the board after passing (content.govdelivery.com, Colorado DORA bulletin; iecrm.org).
For electricians, an endorsement style reciprocal arrangement between Colorado and Utah has been reported through the National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance. This is a trade association arrangement, not a state board rule, and it is not confirmed on dpo.colorado.gov; treat it as reported but unverified. Confirm any reciprocity claim for a specific state pair directly with dpo.colorado.gov before relying on it.
Electrical and plumbing are licensed at the state level by the Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations inside the Department of Regulatory Agencies, through the State Electrical Board and the State Plumbing Board respectively (dpo.colorado.gov). Older third party material calls the plumbing board the Colorado Examining Board of Plumbers; the current official name used on the board's own news page is the State Plumbing Board, and that is the name used here. Both boards contract with PSI as the exam vendor. PSI's own Colorado State Electrical Board candidate bulletin names the board as the contracting party and references the 2023 edition of the National Electrical Code, and a 2022 agency bulletin confirms candidates register and schedule directly with PSI rather than through either board (PSI Exams; content.govdelivery.com, Colorado DORA bulletin). Plumbing tiers are apprentice, residential plumber, journeyworker plumber and master plumber, plus the plumbing contractor registration tied to a responsible master plumber (dpo.colorado.gov).
Senate Bill 165 (2025 session) was signed June 3, 2025. It creates a registration process for photovoltaic installers, lets journeyman electrician and residential wireman applicants earn practical experience hours through photovoltaic installation work, and draws a 300 kilowatt line: electrical work on installations under 300 kilowatts can be done by an electrical contractor or a registered photovoltaic installer under supervision, while installations at or above 300 kilowatts stay fully inside the State Electrical Board's existing licensing regime (Colorado General Assembly, Colorado General Assembly). The State Electrical Board has scheduled a rulemaking hearing for January 28, 2026 to implement this bill. The outcome of that hearing is not yet known; confirm the final rule language with dpo.colorado.gov once the hearing has taken place. Separately, the State Plumbing Board's sunset bill, House Bill 1344 (2024 session), became law in June 2024, and the board's revised rules took effect April 30, 2025. Since June 30, 2025, plumbing contractors must display both their plumbing contractor registration number and their responsible master plumber's license number on vehicles, billing materials, bid sheets and their website (dpo.colorado.gov). On the local side, Senate Bill 77 (2021 session) removed the requirement that local governments verify legal status before issuing a contractor license, and Jefferson County's resolution updated its policy to match, effective June 9, 2026 (jeffco.us). None of this changes the core structure: Colorado still has no statewide general contractor license, and electrical and plumbing remain the only trades the state itself licenses.
Colorado has no statewide general contractor license; general contractors are licensed city by city, with each city or county running its own program. Electrical and plumbing are the only trades the state itself licenses, through the State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board. A Colorado license from one city is not valid in another unless that jurisdiction specifically accepts it.
Denver issues building contractor licenses through its Community Planning and Development department, Building Division, Contractor Licensing section, in four classes, with Class A covering unlimited scope work on any building or structure. The city requires a supervisor certificate, or an employee holding one, before it will accept a company license application, and online applications take about 14 to 20 business days to review.
Yes. Aurora, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Centennial, Wheat Ridge, Jefferson County and Larimer County each run their own general contractor licensing programs, separate from Denver's, with their own classes, exams, fees and bonds. A license issued in one city is generally not valid in another, unless that specific city has named the other city's license as acceptable; Wheat Ridge, for example, accepts an active Class B or C license from several named municipalities, or a current ICC exam, in place of its own exam.
There is no single statewide process, because Colorado has no state general contractor license; each city sets its own requirements, classes, exams, fees and bonds. In Denver, for example, an applicant needs a supervisor certificate, or an employee who holds one, plus Secretary of State filings matching the application's signers. Electrical and plumbing contractors instead go through the state's PSI administered exam and apply to the State Electrical Board or State Plumbing Board directly.
An electrical contractor business must hold or employ a licensed master electrician who acts as the company's responsible individual, and that master electrician may be the responsible party for only one company at a time. A plumbing contractor registration is similarly tied to a responsible master plumber, and since mid 2025 that contractor must display both the plumbing contractor registration number and the responsible master plumber's license number on vehicles, billing materials, bid sheets and the business's website.
General building contractor licensing is handled entirely by cities and counties, each running its own program. Denver runs the most developed program in the state, through its Community Planning and Development department, Building Division, Contractor Licensing section (City and County of Denver, City and County of Denver). Other jurisdictions, including Colorado Springs, Aurora, Fort Collins, Centennial, Wheat Ridge, Jefferson County and Larimer County, run separate licensing programs with their own classes, exams, fees and bonds (centennialco.gov; jeffco.us; wheatridge.gov). A contractor working across several Front Range cities may need a separate license in each one. A Colorado license, once obtained, is not good statewide; it is only good in the jurisdiction that issued it, unless that specific city has named another city's license as acceptable. Wheat Ridge, for example, states it will accept an active Class B or C license from several named municipalities, or a current ICC exam, in place of its own exam, but it does not accept a supervisor license as proof (wheatridge.gov).
Official Licensing Authority
All contractor license applications, renewals, and qualifying agent changes must go through this board.
We place a licensed qualifying agent with your company as a full time W-2 employee and prepare the qualifier filing with the Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations (DORA), State Electrical Board and State Plumbing Board. Tell us your trade and what you have going on, and pick a time for a discovery call. Or call 615-219-2110.
Provide your information for a compliance assessment.
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