Michigan, North Carolina and Louisiana set no experience years; California, Florida, Ohio and Virginia do. Here is each board's rule, the narrow exam waivers, and the lawful route when your company lacks the experience.
Yes, in some states you can get a contractor license with no documented work experience, and in others you cannot. Michigan licenses residential builders on 60 hours of approved education plus an exam, North Carolina's general contractor statute sets an exam and a financial responsibility requirement with no experience clause, and Louisiana's board checklist for commercial and residential applicants lists exams and documents but no years in the trade. California, Florida, Ohio and Virginia each count years of experience, from one year to five depending on the state and the license.
When the owner of a company does not have the experience a state demands, the lawful path is a licensed qualifying agent: an experienced professional employed full time as a W-2 employee who qualifies the company and actually supervises its work. For the full rules in every state, start with how to get a contractor license in each state.
At a glance Michigan: residential builder needs 60 hours of approved prelicensure courses and a PSI exam, no experience years. North Carolina: the qualifier passes a board approved exam; G.S. 87-10 sets no experience requirement. Tennessee: the board "prefers three years" of experience and requires the Business and Law exam. California: four years at journey level, with up to three years of credit for education or apprenticeship. No experience on your team: a full time W-2 qualifying agent qualifies the company.
Experience Rules in Eight States
The answer depends on the state and the license class. The table covers eight states, from no experience rule at all to five years; the notes under it link each board or rule.
| State | License | Experience rule | How competence is shown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | Residential builder | None; 60 hours of courses | PSI exam |
| North Carolina | General contractor | None in G.S. 87-10 | Qualifier passes the exam |
| Louisiana | Commercial, residential | None on the board checklist | Trade exams, Business and Law course |
| Tennessee | Contractor (BC, CE, CMC) | Board prefers 3 years | Business and Law plus trade exam |
| Virginia | Class C, B, A | 1, 3 or 5 years (qualifier) | Board approved exam |
| California | All classifications | 4 years at journey level | CSLB exams |
| Florida | Certified contractor | 4 years, 1 of them as foreman | State exam |
| Ohio | Commercial trades | 5 years in the trade | Trade exam |
State notes
- Michigan: The Michigan LARA prelicensure page lists 60 hours of approved courses, an application, good moral character and the exam. Our guide: Michigan contractor license.
- North Carolina: G.S. 87-10 requires a qualifier who has passed a board approved exam. Our guide: North Carolina contractor license.
- Louisiana: The LSLBC checklist requires a qualifying party who passes any required exam and completes the Business and Law course. Our guide: Louisiana contractor license.
- Tennessee: The Tennessee contractor license application says the board "also looks at experience (prefers three years)." Our guide: Tennessee contractor license.
- Virginia: 18VAC50-22-40, 18VAC50-22-50 and 18VAC50-22-60 set 1, 3 and 5 years for the qualified individual. Our guide: Virginia contractor license.
- California: The CSLB experience page sets four years in the class. Our guide: California contractor license.
- Florida: Section 489.111 sets the eligibility routes. Our guide: Florida contractor license.
- Ohio: The OCILB contractor page sets five years in the trade. Our guide: Ohio contractor license.
Michigan: Education Instead of Experience
Michigan is the clearest example of a state that swaps experience for classroom hours. Under MCL 339.2404b, an applicant for an initial residential builder or maintenance and alteration contractor license must complete 60 hours of approved prelicensure courses, a rule in force since June 1, 2008. The statute requires at least 6 hours in each of seven areas of competency.
Those seven areas are business management, estimating and job costing; design and building science; contracts, liability and risk management; marketing and sales; project management and scheduling; the Michigan Residential Code; and MIOSHA construction safety standards. LARA's page says the remaining 18 hours can come from other topics on the approved course list. Courses must be preapproved by the department.
After the courses, LARA lists three steps: submit the application and fee, be of good moral character, and pass the residential builder or maintenance and alteration contractor exam. PSI runs the exams at five testing centers, six days a week, and the exam fee is paid to PSI when you schedule, not to the state. Nothing on LARA's list asks for years of field work.
Once licensed, a builder first licensed on or after January 1, 2009 completes at least 21 hours of continuing competency activities in each 3 year license cycle under MCL 339.2404b(2), including at least 3 hours in each of the first 6 calendar years. After more than two cycles with no disciplinary action, the minimum drops to 3 hours per cycle.
North Carolina and Louisiana: The Exam Is the Gate
North Carolina's general contractor law puts the weight on the exam. G.S. 87-10(b) says an applicant shall identify an individual who has passed a board approved exam, the "qualifier" or "qualifying party." The exam covers plans and specifications, the State Building Code, estimating, ethics, lien law and sediment control.
The statute sets no years of experience. What it does set is a clock: under G.S. 87-10(c1), if the qualifier stops being connected with the licensee, the license stays in force for 90 days, and during those 90 days the company may not bid on or take on new contracts. After 90 days the license is invalidated, and the company returns to active status only under the board's statutes and rules.
Louisiana works the same way. The LSLBC checklist says commercial, residential and mold applicants must add a qualifying party who passes any required exam or provides any required credential, and who completes the Business and Law course. The list of required documents includes a financial statement, entity papers, credentials and, for residential work, insurance certificates; it lists no years of experience.
The LSLBC's next steps notice describes the Louisiana Business and Law as an online course of about 30 to 45 minutes that is not a pass or fail exam. The trade exams remain the real test. As long as the company holds the license, it must keep a qualifying party for Business and Law and for each classification.
Tennessee: Experience Preferred, Exams Required
Tennessee sits in the middle. The board's contractor license application (form IN0439, Rev. 02/25) says the board "also looks at experience (prefers three years); equipment; and financial information." It is a preference weighed in review, not a fixed number of years the application must prove.
The tested part is firm. According to the board's contractor license page, every applicant takes the Tennessee Business and Law exam, and certain classifications also require a trade exam; Prov began administering the exams on July 1, 2026. The application adds that a license is required before bidding projects of $25,000 or more, and that the application fee is $250 for a two year license.
Experience also shapes the license's monetary limit, which rests on the financial statement plus experience on projects of that size, including work for other contractors. The application also asks for one Letter of Reference from a past client, employer or code official who can speak to your construction experience, not a family member.
For HVAC, the HVAC trade exam (CMC-C) is not on the board's pre-approval list, while the full mechanical (CMC) and plumbing (CMC-A) exams are, with a $50 fee for the pre-approval request. So an HVAC applicant is judged on the exams and the application, with experience preferred rather than tested.
States That Count Years, and What Counts
In California, the CSLB requires at least four years of experience in the class you are applying for. Credit is given only at a journey level or as a foreman, supervising employee, contractor or owner-builder. Every claim must be verified by a qualified and responsible person with firsthand knowledge of the work.
California also credits education, up to three years of the four, and at least one year must be practical experience. The CSLB grants up to 1.5 years for an A.A. degree in building or construction management, up to 2 years for a four year degree in fields such as accounting, business, economics or mathematics, and up to 3 years for a completed apprenticeship or a four year degree in construction technology or management or a directly related field of engineering.
Florida's section 489.111 sets the routes to licensure by examination. One is a four year degree in engineering, architecture or building construction plus 1 year of proven experience. Another is at least 4 years of active experience as a skilled worker or foreman, at least 1 year of it as a foreman, and a third mixes college credit with field time, with at least 1 year as a foreman in every mix.
Ohio's OCILB licenses commercial electrical, HVAC, refrigeration, plumbing and hydronics contractors. The applicant must have been a tradesperson in that trade for at least five years immediately before applying, or be an Ohio registered engineer with three years of business experience in the trade. For the HVAC detail, see our Ohio HVAC license guide.
Virginia puts the years on the qualified individual named for each classification: one year for a Class C firm under 18VAC50-22-40, three years for Class B and five years for Class A. Those rules were last amended effective September 1, 2025. Our Virginia designated employee guide covers the separate exam role.
Can You Get Licensed Without Taking the Test?
A few official routes skip the exam. Each is narrow, decided by the board, and none removes an experience rule.
- Tennessee Restricted Residential Limited License (BC-A/r): The Tennessee board lets residential contractors doing work under $125,000 complete a Limited License course at a Tennessee community college or vocational school instead of the BC-A trade exam and the Business and Law exam. Every other application requirement still applies.
- California family business waiver: The CSLB waiver page allows the Registrar to waive the exam for an immediate family member who has worked in the licensee's business for five of the previous seven years, when the license is needed to keep the family business running after the licensee's absence or death. The applicant still documents five years of journey level experience.
- Tennessee reinstatement: For a license expired more than two years, the application lets the contractor or qualifying agent ask the board to waive the trade exams by showing continued work in the industry.
- Trade exam waivers by agreement: Tennessee lists trade exam waivers for licensees of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia in named classes, and it accepts the NASCLA National Commercial exam. The applicant still takes Tennessee's Business and Law exam and completes the full application.
Moving an existing out of state license is a separate topic. For timing on a new license, see how to get a contractor license fast.
Why the Rule Attaches to a Person
Each of these states licenses a company through a named individual who answers to the board for the work. That is why the useful question for an owner is not "how do I get a license with no experience" but "who qualifies my company while I build my own record."
The states define that person closely. California's B&P 7068 says a responsible managing employee must be a bona fide employee, permanently employed and actively engaged, which means working 32 hours per week or 80 percent of the business's hours, whichever is less. Virginia's rules require the qualified individual to be a full time employee or a member of responsible management.
Louisiana's R.S. 37:2156.1 lets any principal or full time employee of the applicant serve as the qualifying party, and R.S. 37:2150.1 defines a principal to include an owner, officer, member, manager, general partner or sole proprietor. Tennessee's board says the qualifying agent may be an owner, full time employee or officer, and a qualifying agent without ownership signs a Power of Attorney form. Ohio's OCILB says tradespeople working under the license must be on the company payroll and receive a W-2, or come through a nationally recognized temporary agency.
For how the California terms compare, see qualifying agent vs. responsible managing employee, and for the general term, what a qualifying party is.
The Lawful Route When No One on Your Team Has the Experience
If your company needs a license now and no one on the payroll meets the experience or exam rule, the lawful route is to hire a qualifying agent who does. The agent joins your company as a full time W-2 employee, is named on the application, and takes real responsibility for supervising the licensed work. Done that way, the company is licensed on the strength of a real employee who meets the board's standard.
The supervision is the substance. California's B&P 7068.1 makes the qualifier responsible for supervision and control of construction operations: supervising work, making technical and administrative decisions, checking jobs for workmanship and supervising job sites. A violation is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in county jail, a fine of $3,000 to $5,000, or both.
A name on a form with no role in the work meets none of these definitions. The model that holds up is the one the statutes describe: a real employee, on payroll, actually running the licensed side of the work. To see how the role works, read what a qualifying agent is; to bring one on, see hire a qualifying agent.
Building Your Own Experience While the Company Works
If you want a license in your own name, start documenting now; boards want specifics. The CSLB definitions are a useful standard even outside California: a journeyman is a fully qualified worker able to perform the trade without supervision, and a foreman has journeyman skills and directly supervises physical construction.
Keep records the board can check: California asks for a certifier who observed the work, and missing documentation can void the application. Ohio asks for proof of five years in the trade through W-2s, Schedule C or Schedule K-1 forms.
Count education where the state allows it: up to three years in California and in Florida, as shown above. Meanwhile a qualifying agent keeps the company licensed and working.
The Licensing Steps in Order
- Find your state's rule for your trade and license class on the board's own page, starting from the state by state guide.
- Decide who will qualify the company: an owner with the experience and exam, or a qualifying agent employed full time as a W-2 employee.
- Complete any required prelicensure education, such as Michigan's 60 hours for residential builders.
- Document the qualifier's experience with records and a certifier where the state requires it.
- Register for and pass the required exams with the board's exam vendor.
- File the company application with the financial statement, entity papers, insurance and fees the board lists.
- Keep the qualifier in place and report any change on the board's deadline, such as North Carolina's 90 day window.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a general contractor's license with no experience? In some states, yes. North Carolina's general contractor statute sets an exam and financial requirements with no experience clause, and Michigan licenses residential builders on 60 hours of approved courses and an exam. In states such as California, Florida, Ohio and Virginia, the qualifying individual must show one to five years depending on the state and class.
How do I get a contractor's license without taking the test? Only through narrow board routes. Tennessee's Restricted Residential Limited License replaces the exams with a community college course for work under $125,000, and California's Registrar may waive the exam for a family member continuing a licensed family business. Most applicants, and most qualifying agents, take the exams.
What do I need to be a contractor? Usually a qualifying individual who meets the state's experience and exam rules, a business entity in good standing, financial statements, insurance and the board's application fee. Some states license only certain trades or project sizes; Tennessee, for example, requires a license before bidding projects of $25,000 or more.
Is it legal for someone else's credentials to qualify my company? Yes, when that person is a real part of the company. California requires a responsible managing employee to be permanently employed and actively engaged, and Virginia requires the qualified individual to be a full time employee or part of responsible management. We place qualifying agents as full time W-2 employees who supervise the licensed work.
What is the difference between an RMO and an RME? Both are California terms for the person who qualifies a company. A responsible managing officer is an officer of the company; a responsible managing employee is a bona fide employee who works 32 hours a week or 80 percent of the business's hours, whichever is less. Other states use qualifying party, qualifying agent or qualified individual.
How fast can a company get licensed this way? It depends on the state's application review and exam scheduling, not on the owner's experience, because the qualifying agent already meets the rule.
Talk to Us About Your Trade and State
If your company has the work and the crew but not the experience or exam the board wants, a qualifying agent can qualify it on the right footing. Our founders, Marshall Schofield and Jeremiah Jaskulski, built The Licensing Company around one model: an experienced, licensed professional who joins your company as a full time W-2 employee and supervises the licensed work.
Call 615-219-2110 or visit hire a qualifying agent and tell us your trade and state.
Licensing rules change. Confirm current requirements with your state board before you apply.
Sources
- Michigan LARA, Prelicensure Education Requirements for Residential Builder and Maintenance and Alteration Contractor Applicants, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Michigan Legislature, MCL 339.2404b, retrieved 2026-09-29
- North Carolina General Assembly, G.S. 87-10, retrieved 2026-09-29
- NC Licensing Board for General Contractors, License Applicants, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, Checklist of Items Required for Initial License, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, Next Steps in the Application and Qualifying Party Process, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Louisiana Legislature, R.S. 37:2156.1, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Louisiana Legislature, R.S. 37:2150.1, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, Contractor License, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, Contractor License Application IN0439, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Virginia Administrative Code, 18VAC50-22-40, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Virginia Administrative Code, 18VAC50-22-50, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Virginia Administrative Code, 18VAC50-22-60, retrieved 2026-09-29
- California CSLB, Qualifying Experience for the Examination, retrieved 2026-09-29
- California CSLB, Applying for a Waiver of the Examination, retrieved 2026-09-29
- California Business and Professions Code 7068, retrieved 2026-09-29
- California Business and Professions Code 7068.1, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Florida Statutes 489.111, retrieved 2026-09-29
- Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board, Contractors and Contracting Companies, retrieved 2026-09-29
Disclaimer: This article is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice, licensing guidance, or an offer of services. Licensing requirements vary by jurisdiction. For specific compliance questions, contact The Licensing Company for a confidential consultation.