Delaware has no statewide competency license for general contractors, no state contractor exam, and no qualifying agent requirement.
Requirements checked against the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation published requirements on September 29, 2026.
| Licensing board | No state GC board or exam; Division of Revenue business license, Department of Labor Office of Contractor Registration, Attorney General home improvement registration; trades under Division of Professional Regulation boards |
|---|---|
| License required when | No GC license; Department of Labor contractor registration required before any construction services or maintenance begins; business license application must be initiated before a bid on a competitively bid contract exceeding 50000 dollars |
| What the state calls the qualifier | No confirmed qualifying agent; trade boards license individuals only (Master Electrician, Master Plumber, Master HVACR) |
| NASCLA exam accepted | no |
| Reciprocity and endorsement | Electricians: Maryland, New Jersey. Plumbers full: Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland. Plumbers reduced (seven years proof): Alabama, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia. No GC reciprocity |
| Exam waivers | No GC reciprocity; Maryland or New Jersey electricians need no additional experience documentation while other states must show five years of practice after licensure; plumbers from Connecticut, Iowa or Maryland need no experience proof, the reduced list needs seven years as a master |
| Experience required | None for GC; Master Plumber and Master HVACR seven years under a licensed master or two years after an apprenticeship; Master Electrician six years full time or four years under a master plus a two year credential |
| Application and exam fees | Business license 75 dollars annually; Department of Labor contractor registration 200 dollars a year private work, 300 public, 500 both; trade exams 100 dollars per sitting |
| Renewal | Business license 75 dollars annually; Department of Labor registration annual at 200, 300 or 500 dollars with a discounted two year rate after two consecutive compliant years |
| Time to license | No published turnaround for the business license or contractor registration; ProV contacts approved trade candidates within roughly one to two weeks |
| Bond and financial requirements | Non resident contractors bond 6 percent of the contract amount on contracts of 20000 dollars or more; workers compensation with employees; Master and Limited Electricians 300000 dollars general liability; New Castle County statutory compliance bond |
| Penalty for unlicensed work | Contractor Registration Act civil penalties up to 1000 dollars per violation, 5000 to 85000 dollars per knowing violation |
| Time to replace a qualifier | None found; no qualifying agent company license confirmed |
| Companies one qualifier may qualify | Not applicable; no qualifying agent company license confirmed on official board pages |
Facts checked on August 6, 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.
That does not mean there is nothing to do at the state level: every contractor working in Delaware must hold a contractor business license from the Delaware Division of Revenue, and under the Delaware Contractor Registration Act construction businesses must also register with the Department of Labor before starting work. Nonresident contractors post a bond with the Division of Revenue on larger contracts. The skilled trades are licensed through the Division of Professional Regulation, by the Board of Electrical Examiners and the Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners.
The real building oversight sits locally, with New Castle County and the City of Wilmington running their own contractor licensing programs.
Delaware has no general contractor license or licensing board; a contractor instead registers with the Division of Revenue and the Department of Labor's Office of Contractor Registration. No qualifying agent mechanism is confirmed for general contracting, since no general contractor license exists to attach one to. Confirm current rules with the state before assuming otherwise.
There are no general contractor license classifications or dollar tiers in Delaware the way Tennessee, Georgia, or North Carolina have them, because there is no general contractor license to classify. The closest things to monetary numbers are administrative.
The Division of Revenue applies a gross receipts tax on taxable construction receipts, net of payments to subcontractors, above 100000 dollars per month, or 300000 dollars per quarter for quarterly filers. The current rate is 0.6537 percent (Delaware Division of Revenue files, Tax Tips for Contractors). Delaware adjusts this rate from time to time, so confirm the exact figure on the live Delaware gross receipts tax portal before quoting it as final.
A separate 50000 dollar figure appears in the state's own guidance and means something else entirely: a contractor's business license application must be initiated before or alongside submitting a bid on a competitively bid contract exceeding 50000 dollars. It is not a tax exclusion and not a floor under which no registration is needed (Delaware Division of Revenue, Tax Tips for Contractors bulletin). Do not conflate the 50000 dollar bid figure with the 100000 dollar monthly tax exclusion, the 75 dollar flat business license fee, or the 0.6537 percent tax rate; these are four different numbers answering four different questions, and a contractor's deal size should be checked against whichever one actually applies.
The Department of Labor's Office of Contractor Registration fee, confirmed on the live Delaware Division of Industrial Affairs knowledgebase fee page, is 200 dollars a year for private work only, 300 dollars for public work only, or 500 dollars for both. A discounted two year rate is available after two consecutive years of compliant registration; the exact discounted figure is not stated in the materials reviewed for this page, so confirm it by phone before quoting it.
Delaware genuinely breaks from the qualifying agent model used in many other states. There is no confirmed qualifying agent company license for general contracting in Delaware, because there is no general contractor license at all. The Delaware Division of Professional Regulation Board of Electrical Examiners page describes only individual license types, apprentice, school apprentice, residential, journeyperson, master, limited, master special, and limited special, plus a separate organizational license for electrical inspection agencies, with no company level contractor license or qualifying agent mechanism named anywhere on the page. The Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners page states plainly that the board issues master plumber, master HVACR, and master restricted HVACR licenses, individual credentials only, with no business entity credential described anywhere.
Both boards point toward the same answer: no qualifying agent mechanism for a company. Confirm directly with the Board of Electrical Examiners and the Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners before assuming either way for a specific Delaware project. Do not treat the standard qualifying agent product as available in Delaware until this is confirmed with the state.
A replacement deadline for a departing qualifier is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page, because no qualifying agent company license was confirmed to exist in the first place. If a business level electrical contractor credential tied to a named master electrician does turn out to exist, a replacement deadline would need to be confirmed directly with the Board before it is quoted to anyone.
There is no general contractor exam in Delaware. Where exams exist, they sit entirely inside the separate trade boards described below, and the current testing vendor for those trade board exams is ProV, also written Prov Inc, confirmed on the live Delaware Division of Professional Regulation electrician and plumbing exam pages. Testing is offered in person at Wilmington, Newark, and Dover, or online through the Examroom remote proctoring service, with applications processed through the Board before ProV contacts the candidate directly by email with the actual bulletin (Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Electrical Examiners and Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners exam pages). The electrician passing score is 75 percent, confirmed on the official Delaware Division of Professional Regulation electrician exam page. The plumbing and HVACR passing score is 70 percent, confirmed on the official Delaware Division of Professional Regulation plumbing exam page. Full question counts, time limits, and content outlines for the four exams a Delaware trade contractor is most likely to sit are in the Testing and exams section below.
Delaware is not a NASCLA state. This was checked against the current NASCLA Commercial Exam Participating State Agencies list on NASCLA, twenty state and territorial licensing agencies in total, and Delaware does not appear anywhere on it. This follows from there being no Delaware general contractor exam for NASCLA to substitute for. A NASCLA pass does not carry weight on the general contracting side in Delaware; NASCLA is not part of this state's licensing picture at all.
Every exam described below sits inside the trade boards, not a general contractor license, since Delaware has none. The Division of Professional Regulation contracts a single vendor, ProV Inc, to develop and administer every licensing exam for both the Board of Electrical Examiners and the Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, confirmed directly on both boards' live exam pages, so the scheduling process, testing centers, reference material rules, and fee structure below are shared across all of them. The bulletin covers nine exam categories in total: Journeyperson Electrician, Residential Electrician, Limited Electrician, Master Electrician, and Master Electrician Special for Elevators on the electrical side, and Master Plumber, Master HVACR, and four Master HVACR Restricted variants, Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, Gas Piping, and two Heating variants, on the plumbing and HVACR side. The four covered in depth below are the ones a Delaware trade contractor is most likely to need: Master Electrician, Limited Electrician, Master Plumber, and Master HVACR.
One vendor level note applies to all four exams before the specifics. The official Delaware Division of Professional Regulation electrician and plumbing exam pages both still link out to an older bulletin revision dated 2022.03.09, while ProV's own site, Prov, hosts a newer revision dated 2025.06.24 with the same title. The two revisions agree on nearly everything, exam names, question counts for every exam except one, passing scores, fees, and the retesting policy, but they disagree on two points worth flagging plainly. First, the 2022 revision lists four in state testing centers, Dover, Newark, and two in Wilmington, while the 2025 revision lists only three; Newark has dropped off the list, and Dover and the same two Wilmington sites remain. Second, the 2022 revision lists Master HVACR's time allowed as 4 hours for 100 questions, while the 2025 revision lists the same 100 question exam at 1.67 hours, that is 100 minutes. Every other exam's time allowed matches exactly between the two revisions, so this discrepancy is specific to Master HVACR. Confirm the current Master HVACR time limit directly with ProV, 866 720 7768, or the Board before telling a candidate how long they will have, rather than relying on either figure alone.
Vendor and scheduling: ProV Inc. Schedule online at provexam.com/scheduler using the Application ID from DELPROS or DPR plus the candidate's last name, or call ProV at 866 720 7768, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm Eastern, with name, ProV Candidate ID, and zip code ready. Cancellations or reschedules must happen at least three business days before the test date or the exam fee is forfeited.
Question count and time limit: 80 questions, 3 hours.
Passing score: 75 percent, the score the bulletin sets for every electrician exam tier, Journeyperson, Residential, Limited, and Master alike, confirmed on the live Delaware Division of Professional Regulation electrician exam page.
Open or closed book: open book. Only authorized references may be brought in, and they are checked by the ProV test administrator before a candidate is allowed into the testing room.
What the exam covers, per the bulletin's official content outline: General Electrical Knowledge 19 questions, Plan Reading 4, Equipment for General Use 5, Wiring and Protection 15, Wiring Methods and Materials 15, Motors and Controls 7, Special Conditions 4, Special Equipment 4, Special Occupancies 4, and Communication Systems 3, for 80 total.
Approved references named in the bulletin: American Electrician's Handbook, 17th edition, ISBN 978 1260457919, McGraw Hill Publishing; NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 2020 edition, ISBN 9781455922970, National Fire Protection Association; and Ugly's Electrical References, 2020 edition, ISBN 978 1 284 19453 1, Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Ugly's is named only for Master Electrician among the electrical tiers, not for Journeyperson, Residential, or Limited.
Tabbing and highlighting rules apply program wide to every DPR exam in this bulletin, not just this one: a reference book may be prepared only by highlighting, underlining in pen, or attaching permanent tabs. Handwritten notes must be erased before the book comes into the testing room. Movable tabs, Post it notes, photocopied pages, and photocopied whole books are never permitted, and test preparation study guides or practice exams of any kind are barred from the testing room even if their content overlaps an approved reference. Once testing starts, no further highlighting, underlining, or marking of a reference book is allowed, and reference materials cannot be shared between candidates.
Where to test: the current bulletin lists three fixed Delaware testing centers, the Eastside Career Development Center in Dover (109 North West Street), Delaware State University Testing Services in Wilmington (3931 Kirkwood Highway), and a second Eastside Career Development Center location in Wilmington (839 North Pine Street). Candidates may also test at any ProV facility nationwide; this Delaware specific bulletin does not name particular Maryland, Pennsylvania, or New Jersey centers, so a neighboring state option should be confirmed on ProV's own scheduler at test setup. Remote proctoring is available through ProV's Examroom service, a live remote proctor watching over the candidate's own computer, subject to minimum system requirements, an operating system no more than three to four years old, a Mac, PC, or Chromebook, a Chrome or Firefox browser, a working webcam and microphone, and an internet connection able to upload above 3 Mbps, checked in advance at examroom.ai/systemtest.
Retake rules: a minimum wait of seven days between attempts, and the bulletin states no cap on the number of retakes for electrician exams (the three attempt cap described below is specific to Plumbing and HVACR).
Exam fees: 100 dollars per sitting, the same fee that applies to every ProV administered DPR exam in this bulletin, including retakes. A hand score recheck costs 25 dollars and must be requested within 90 days of the test with a signed form. A practice exam from ProV's bookstore costs 25 dollars plus tax and shipping.
Vendor and scheduling: identical to Master Electrician above, same ProV Inc scheduler and phone line.
Question count and time limit: 70 questions, 3 hours.
Passing score: 75 percent.
Open or closed book: open book, under the same reference rules as Master Electrician.
What the exam covers: General Electrical Knowledge 20 questions, Equipment for General Use 7, Wiring and Protection 18, Wiring Methods and Materials 18, Special Equipment 3, and Communication Systems 4, for 70 total. The bulletin describes this license as covering one, two, and three family dwellings, one family fewer in scope than the Residential Electrician tier, which covers one, two, and multi family dwellings on a 60 question exam not detailed here.
Approved references: American Electrician's Handbook, 17th edition (same ISBN as above), and NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, 2020 edition (same ISBN as above). Ugly's Electrical References is not listed for this tier.
Tabbing and highlighting rules: the same program wide rules described under Master Electrician above.
Where to test, retake rules, and fees: identical to Master Electrician above, the same three in state centers, the same nationwide and Examroom remote options, the same seven day minimum retake wait with no stated cap, and the same 100 dollar fee.
Vendor and scheduling: the same ProV Inc process described above, one shared scheduler and phone line for every DPR trade exam.
Question count and time limit: 100 questions, 3 hours.
Passing score: 70 percent, the score the bulletin sets for every Plumbing and HVACR exam, confirmed on the live Delaware Division of Professional Regulation plumbing exam page.
Open or closed book: open book, authorized references only.
What the exam covers: General Knowledge 16 questions, Isometrics and Plan Reading 8, Plumbing Math 8, Drain, Waste and Vent Systems 14, Water Supply and Distribution 14, Fixtures and Fittings 8, Water Heaters 10, Fuel Gas Systems 10, Storm and Roof Drainage 6, and Safety 6, for 100 total.
Approved references: International Fuel Gas Code, 2018 edition, ISBN 978 1 60983 741 9, International Code Council; International Plumbing Code, 2018 edition, ISBN 978 1 60983 745 7, International Code Council; and Plumbing Basics for Contractors, 3rd edition, 2014, ISBN 978 1 269 78624 9, Pearson, available through the Prov bookstore.
Tabbing and highlighting rules: the same program wide rules described under Master Electrician above.
Where to test: the same three Delaware centers and the same Examroom remote option described above.
Retake rules: this is where Plumbing and HVACR diverge from the electrical exams. The minimum wait between attempts is still seven days, but a candidate is capped at three total testing attempts before the application itself expires. Anyone unsuccessful after three attempts must wait a full year and submit a brand new application, or begin the licensing application process over from the start.
Exam fees: 100 dollars per sitting, the same hand score fee (25 dollars) and practice exam fee (25 dollars) described above.
Vendor and scheduling: the same ProV Inc process described above.
Question count and time limit: 100 questions. The time allowed is the one figure that could not be pinned down with confidence, see the vendor level note above. Other sources report 4 hours, but the primary 2025.06.24 bulletin lists 1.67 hours, that is 100 minutes, for the same exam. Confirm the current figure directly with ProV before quoting it.
Passing score: 70 percent.
Open or closed book: open book, authorized references only.
What the exam covers: General Knowledge 28 questions, Piping 12, Equipment 18, System Sizing and Installation 18, Ventilation and Exhaust Systems 14, and Testing and Inspection 10, for 100 total.
Approved references: International Fuel Gas Code, 2018 edition, ISBN 978 1 60983 741 9, International Code Council; International Mechanical Code, 2018 edition, ISBN 978 1 60983 743 3, International Code Council; Low Pressure Boilers, 5th edition, American Technical Publishers (no ISBN given in the bulletin); and Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, 21st edition, ISBN 978 1 63563 877 6, Goodheart Wilcox, which may be substituted with Advanced Mechanical Study Guide, 2nd edition, ISBN 9781323725184, Pearson. Two further references are named for load calculation work: ACCA Duct Slide Rule, Air Conditioning Contractors of America (no ISBN given), and Residential Load Calculation, Manual J, 8th edition, ISBN 9781892765253, also Air Conditioning Contractors of America.
Tabbing and highlighting rules: the same program wide rules described under Master Electrician above.
Where to test: the same three Delaware centers and the same Examroom remote option described above.
Retake rules: the same Plumbing and HVACR rule described under Master Plumber above, a seven day minimum wait between attempts, capped at three total attempts before the application expires, then a one year wait and a new application.
Exam fees: 100 dollars per sitting, same hand score and practice exam fees as above.
Because there is no general contractor license, Delaware sets no state mandated years of experience or net worth figures for general contracting itself. Insurance requirements sit at the registration level rather than the licensing level. The Division of Revenue's non resident contractor package requires bonding, a surety bond, cash bond, or irrevocable letter of credit equal to 6 percent of the contract amount, on contracts or subcontracts of 20000 dollars or more, and proof of workers compensation insurance is required for anyone with employees (Delaware Division of Revenue).
Inside the trade boards, a Master Electrician, Master Electrician Special, and Limited Electrician must each carry at least 300000 dollars in general liability insurance (Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Board of Electrical Examiners page).
Master Plumber and Master HVACR applicants without a journeyperson certificate need seven years of documented work experience under a licensed master, or two years under a master after completing a recognized apprenticeship certificate of completion. Master Electrician applicants need six years of full time experience, or four years under a master electrician plus a two year applied electrical technology credential (Delaware Division of Professional Regulation).
A processing turnaround time is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page for either the Division of Revenue's contractor business license or the Department of Labor's Office of Contractor Registration application; both describe what is required to submit, not how many business days a review takes.
The one timeline that is confirmed inside the trade boards is scheduling, not application review: once the Board approves a candidate, ProV contacts them directly by email within roughly one to two weeks with the Candidate Information Bulletin and scheduling instructions (Delaware Division of Professional Regulation).
New Castle County's own contractor license carries its own annual cycle. The state business license, proof of insurance, and a bond need to already be in hand before that county application can start (New Castle County Delaware).
There is no general contractor reciprocity in Delaware, again because there is no general contractor license to reciprocate into. Inside the trades, reciprocity is specific and varies by license.
For electricians, Maryland and New Jersey are named as having standards substantially similar to Delaware's, so a Maryland or New Jersey licensed electrician needs no additional experience documentation. A longer named list of states instead requires a Verification of Employment form proving at least five years of practice after licensure: Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming (Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, electrician new license page). Any state not on either list needs an individual Board evaluation of that state's laws and regulations for substantial equivalence.
For plumbers, Connecticut, Iowa, and Maryland get full reciprocity with no experience proof required. A longer list gets reduced reciprocity, requiring proof of at least seven years of practice as a master after licensure in that state: Alabama, Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia (Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, plumbers new license page).
Several of these states matter for a contractor moving from elsewhere: for plumbing, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia carry the seven year path; for electrical, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia need the five year Verification of Employment form rather than a free pass. That distinction matters, since it is not an instant reciprocal license for those electrical states.
Electrical work is licensed by the Board of Electrical Examiners under the Division of Professional Regulation, with apprentice, school apprentice, residential, journeyperson, master, limited, and master or limited special categories. The special categories cover electric signs, elevators, HVAC, primary distribution systems, pools, and refrigeration (Delaware Division of Professional Regulation).
Plumbing and HVAC are licensed together by a single board, the Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners, also under the Division of Professional Regulation. It issues Master Plumber, Master HVACR, and Master Restricted HVACR licenses, with the restricted HVACR tier limited to one specialty area, heating, refrigeration, or air conditioning (Delaware Division of Professional Regulation).
A contractor who wants only an electrical or only a plumbing or HVAC credential is dealing with an individual, exam based license through one of these two boards, a more traditional licensing process than the general contracting side of the state, which has no exam at all.
Delaware has no state licensing board for general contractors, and no exam based general contractor license at all. That is a genuinely different setup than the general contractor licensing model used in many other states. A Delaware general or prime contractor instead has to clear two, and sometimes three, separate state registrations that are easy to confuse with one another (Delaware Division of Revenue, Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, Delaware One Stop business portal).
The first is a business tax license from the Division of Revenue, the resident or non resident Contractors license. It is a tax registration, not a skills license, and carries its own flat 75 dollar annual fee on top of the gross receipts tax described below (Delaware Division of Revenue, Doing Business in Delaware pages).
The second, in place since July 1, 2021, is a separate registration with the Department of Labor's Office of Contractor Registration, now organized under the Division of Industrial Affairs, under the Delaware Contractor Registration Act. It is required of any person or business performing construction services or maintenance in the state before work begins. Civil penalties run not more than 1000 dollars per violation for a non knowing violation, and not less than 5000 dollars and not more than 85000 dollars per violation for a knowing violation (19 Del. C. section 3609, Delaware Code Online). Registered contractors can be looked up directly at the Delaware contractor registry lookup. Confirm any fee figure that matters to a deal by phone at 302 761 8200, or call 302 430 7739 for a specific contractor's registration status.
The third applies if the work is residential home improvement above a compensation threshold: the contractor also has to register under the Home Improvement Protection Act with the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit, a disclosure and contract regime that took on new written contract and completion date rules effective November 1, 2023 (Delaware state news, 6 Del. C. sections 2571 through 2577).
None of these three is a pass or fail licensing exam for general construction knowledge.
Some counties and municipalities layer their own local contractor licensing on top of the state requirements. New Castle County is one of them, running its own annual permit endorsed and non permit endorsed contractor licensing program that requires the state business license, proof of liability insurance, and a statutory compliance bond as prerequisites (New Castle County Delaware). Two additional New Castle County requirements are not stated in the county materials reviewed for this page: a Class B building contractor tier that appears to apply at minimum to Residential Building Contractors and Modular Home Installers, and a new ICC Digital Code Access Fee now charged to permit endorsed contractors. Confirm both directly with New Castle County before relying on them, since the state level answer is not always the whole answer for a specific job site.
Under Delaware Code title 30, chapter 3, subchapter V (checked September 29, 2026), the related financial requirements are: a bond for non resident contractors equal to 6 percent of the contract amount on contracts of 20000 dollars or more; workers compensation for any contractor with employees; 300000 dollars in general liability insurance for Master and Limited Electricians; and New Castle County's own statutory compliance bond.
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 Delaware Division of Professional Regulation. Tell us your trade and what you have going on, and pick a time for a discovery call. Or call 615-219-2110.
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