Hawaii licenses contractors through the Contractors License Board, part of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Professional and Vocational Licensing Division.
Requirements checked against the Contractors License Board, Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs published requirements on September 30, 2026.
| Licensing board | Contractors License Board under the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA) |
|---|---|
| License required when | License required unless the total contract price for labor and materials is $1,500 or less and no building permit is needed; the exemption never applies to electrical or plumbing |
| What the state calls the qualifier | Responsible Managing Employee (RME); the RME sits the exam and carries the personal qualification |
| NASCLA exam accepted | no |
| Reciprocity and endorsement | Not stated |
| Exam waivers | No waiver; every applicant must meet Hawaii's own exam, experience and financial requirements; out of state license experience can count toward the experience requirement when properly certified |
| Experience required | 4 years of supervisory experience within the past 10 years in the specific classification, documented with at least 3 notarized experience certificates plus a Project List |
| Application and exam fees | $50 per application; separate application per entity and per RME |
| Renewal | $338.00 biennial; all licenses expire September 30 of even numbered years; 2026 window runs August 10, 2026 through September 30, 2026 |
| Time to license | Applications due by the first Tuesday of the month before the Board meeting (Board meets monthly except December); at least 6 to 8 weeks from filing to exam eligibility; exam must be passed within 6 months of approval |
| Bond and financial requirements | Credit report from every officer, partner, manager or member (issued within 6 months, covering 5 years); entity applicants also submit a financial statement not more than a year old with a CPA report; surety bond only at Board discretion with no published dollar amount |
| Penalty for unlicensed work | Not stated |
| Time to replace a qualifier | Departing RME must notify the Board within 60 days and within 90 days join another licensed entity, become its own licensed entity, or go inactive, or the license is automatically forfeited |
| Companies one qualifier may qualify | One RME per entity unless the Board approves dual status under one of four tests: 51% common ownership, subsidiary or joint venture, or an immediate family relationship |
Facts checked on August 13, 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.
A license is required for nearly all construction work: the only exemption covers projects where the aggregate contract price for labor and materials is $1,500 or less, and that exemption disappears whenever a building permit is required or the work is only part of a larger project. Licenses fall into three classifications: A for general engineering, B for general building, and C specialty classifications covering individual trades such as electrical (C-13) and fire protection (C-20). A contracting entity qualifies for its license through a Responsible Managing Employee, the RME, who must be a genuine employee of the company.
The entity license and the RME license depend on each other, so an entity cannot stay licensed without an active RME in the seat.
Hawaii requires a Qualifying Agent for all licensed contractor entities.
Yes, Hawaii requires a contractor license. The Contractors License Board (CLB), under the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, issues it. The license is held by a business entity qualified through its Responsible Managing Employee (RME), who must meet the experience requirement and pass the Business and Law and trade exams through PSI Services LLC.
Hawaii uses three main license classes. Class A, General Engineering, covers fixed works such as highways, tunnels, bridges, harbors, drainage, and water power projects; holding Class A automatically carries about 17 specialty C classifications without a separate exam. Class B, General Building, covers construction of residential, commercial, or industrial structures involving more than two unrelated building trades; this is the classification most people mean by a general contractor license. Class C, Specialty, covers about 42 defined trade classifications, including electrical (C13), plumbing (C37), roofing (C42), and solar (C51) (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs).
The C13 electrical and C37 plumbing classifications sit under the CLB structurally, but actual electrical and plumbing licensure in practice runs through a different board; see the trades overlay section below.
If the Responsible Managing Employee, RME, leaves the entity, the entity must notify the Board within 60 days. Within 90 days, the entity must either file to qualify a new RME, appoint another already licensed RME on staff, or file to place the license on inactive status. Missing that window causes automatic forfeiture of the license, with no grace period beyond the stated deadlines (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs).
The same 60 and 90 day structure runs in the other direction if the RME is the one who leaves employment: the RME must notify the Board within 60 days, then within 90 days must apply to become their own contracting entity, take employment with another entity, or go inactive. Otherwise, their individual license is likewise forfeited.
The licensing exam has two parts, both multiple choice and closed book, requiring a 75 percent score to pass. Part one is Business and Law, a 60-question exam required for every classification. Part two is the trade exam specific to the classification sought. Exam fees run about $75 per part, or $150 total if taking both. The current administrator is PSI Services LLC, effective since January 2023, confirmed on the board's own examination page (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs). Applicants register with PSI only after the Board approves their application and issues an approval letter, and should allow up to 24 hours after that letter before registering. Applicants must pass within six months of approval or must file a new application.
No. Hawaii's Contractors License Board appears in NASCLA's state directory and uses PSI as its exam vendor, but it does not accept the NASCLA Accredited Commercial Building Contractor exam as a substitute for its own trade exam (NASCLA). Every applicant sits Hawaii's own Business and Law exam and trade exam regardless of NASCLA status held in other states.
Applicants need four years of supervisory experience within the ten years immediately before filing, supported by at least three notarized certificates plus a project list documenting that supervisory work (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs). Required financials include a credit report less than six months old, a financial statement with an independent accountant's report, and a current Hawaii state tax clearance bearing the original Department of Taxation stamp; the name on the tax clearance must match the license name exactly (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs).
Insurance minimums are $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for bodily injury liability. A surety bond is also required, with the amount set by the Board case by case under Hawaii Revised Statutes section 444-16.5, generally ranging from $5,000 up to $300,000 depending on the contractor's financial statement and scope of work (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs).
The Board reviews applications on a monthly cycle, except December. Applications must be filed by the first Tuesday of the month, roughly two months ahead of the Board meeting at which the application is reviewed, and total time from submission to license issuance typically runs about three to four months (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs). An application left inactive for a year is considered abandoned. This timeline is materially slower and more manual than states with rolling or largely automatic approval.
Hawaii does not accept the NASCLA exam as a substitute for its own trade exam. Broad reciprocity or exam waiver agreements with other states are not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs, NASCLA). Every applicant, regardless of licensure held elsewhere, must independently satisfy Hawaii's own experience, financial, exam, and application requirements. Anyone asking about reciprocity from a specific state should confirm directly with the Board, since no credit toward Hawaii's requirements should be assumed.
Electrical and plumbing licensing is not handled day to day through the Contractors License Board, even though C13 (electrical) and C37 (plumbing) are nominally CLB specialty classifications. Actual electrician and plumber licensure in Hawaii is administered by a separate board, the Board of Electricians and Plumbers, also under DCCA's Professional and Vocational Licensing Division (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs). That board issues its own individual electrician and plumber licenses, runs a separate exam process, and has its own application requirements. A contracting entity that wants to hold itself out as an electrical or plumbing contractor still needs the relevant individual to hold the underlying electrician or plumber license from that board, in addition to whatever C13 or C37 contractor classification is sought through the CLB.
Whether HVAC work runs through a fully separate state board the way electrical and plumbing do is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page; HVAC work generally appears to be captured under specialty C classifications through the CLB itself. Anyone with a specific HVAC classification question should confirm the pathway directly with the Board.
PSI Services LLC remains the exam administrator for Hawaii contractor licensing exams. PSI has held this role since January 2023, and the board's current examination page confirms PSI as the administrator without any mention of Prometric as a vendor. PSI's registration portal for Hawaii trade exams is live and currently in use for scheduling exams (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs).
The other update concerns renewals rather than the exam process. The next renewal cycle for Hawaii contractor licenses runs from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2028. Renewal filing for that cycle opens August 10, 2026. Renewal fees range from $160 to $338, with the exact amount depending on the license type held and the license's current status (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs).
Hawaii general contractors are licensed by the Contractors License Board, CLB, part of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Professional and Vocational Licensing Division (Hawaii Commerce and Consumer Affairs). This is a true state licensing system, not a local or registration system.
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 Contractors License Board, Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. 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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