Massachusetts Construction Supervisor License (CSL): Categories, Fees and the Exam Rules (2026)

Massachusetts does not issue a "general contractor license." It issues a Construction Supervisor License, and the difference matters more than the wording suggests. A CSL is a license to supervise — it attaches to a person, not to a company, and it is what a building department looks for before it issues a permit. If you are building in Massachusetts and nobody on your job holds the right CSL, you are not going to get the permit, regardless of how long your company has been in business.

This guide covers what the CSL actually authorizes, the three-year experience rule and the education substitutions that shorten it, the exact fees from the February 2026 candidate handbook, every exam specification, and the specialty-license fee rule that costs Massachusetts contractors real money every year because almost nobody explains it.

All fees and exam specifications below come from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Occupational Licensure CSL Candidate Handbook dated February 2026. Fees are set by the Division and by PSI and change without much notice — verify against the current handbook before you write a check.

Who Issues the CSL

The license is issued by the Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS), administered through the Division of Occupational Licensure (DOL) and its Office of Public Safety and Inspections (OPSI), One Federal Street, Suite 600, Boston, MA 02110.

The exams are administered by PSI. That split matters procedurally: PSI reviews and approves your eligibility application, PSI collects the exam fee, and PSI schedules the test — but the license comes from DOL after you pass, on a separate application with a separate fee.

The Three Groups of CSL

There are three groups, and picking the wrong one is the most common and most expensive mistake at the front of this process.

Unrestricted

The unrestricted CSL is required to directly supervise persons engaged in construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, removal or demolition involving any activity regulated by the code for:

• Buildings containing less than 35,000 cubic feet of enclosed space; and
• One- and two-family dwellings or any accessory building thereto, irrespective of size.

There is a detail here worth catching. The handbook's License Categories section stops at those two bullets. The Unrestricted Construction Supervisor Exam description adds two more items to the same scope: buildings used for farm purposes, and retaining walls less than 10 feet in height at all points along the wall as measured from the base of the footing to the top of the wall. Same license, same handbook, two different descriptions of what it covers. The exam description is the more complete one.

Note also what the unrestricted CSL is not. It is not unlimited. The 35,000 cubic foot ceiling is real. A large commercial building falls outside it, and that work runs through the code's construction control provisions and registered design professionals rather than through a CSL.

Restricted (One- and Two-Family Only)

Limited to direct supervision of any activity regulated by the code for any one- and two-family dwellings or accessory buildings thereto, irrespective of size.

If you build houses and only houses, this is the correct license, and its exam is meaningfully shorter than the unrestricted version — 60 items instead of 75.

The Six Specialty Categories

All six carry the same overall scope limit as unrestricted (under 35,000 cubic feet, plus one- and two-family dwellings irrespective of size), narrowed to a single trade:

• Masonry — fireplaces, chimneys, required means of egress stairs of masonry construction, masonry retaining walls that retain four feet or more of unbalanced fill and are deemed a threat to public safety, and other masonry structures requiring a building permit. The handbook is explicit that a Masonry CSL is not sufficient for the construction of masonry buildings — that requires an unrestricted or restricted CSL.
• Roof Covering — installation, alteration, repair or removal of roof coverings. Not authorized for structural elements of a roof, including sheathing.
• Window and Siding — windows and siding, including substrate preparation and repair necessary for proper installation. Not authorized for structural elements except as incidental to the window and siding work.
• Solid Fuel Burning Appliance — installation, alteration, repair or removal of solid fuel burning appliances. Not authorized for structural elements.
• Demolition — demolition or removal as defined by the code.
• Insulation — installation of insulation.

The Experience Requirement, and How Education Shortens It

To sit for any CSL exam you must:

1. Be 18 years old at the time of the exam.
2. Have at least three years of experience in building construction or design in the field in which you wish to be licensed.
3. Provide documentation of that experience.
4. List your duties as they relate directly to building construction or design.
5. Provide a notarized signature attesting that you have read the bulletin, that the information on your registration is truthful, and that you have filed all state tax returns and paid state taxes.
6. Not have previously passed an exam in the same license class or held a license in the same class — with two exceptions: someone whose license has been expired more than two years, and someone ordered to re-examine after an adjudicatory hearing.

The three years is defined precisely: 36 months of full-time (40 hours per week) experience within the past ten years. It need not be continuous. Two limits catch people out. Union affiliation alone is not acceptable as work experience. And active military service relevant to construction may be considered — so if you built or maintained facilities in uniform, that time is not automatically lost.

The education substitution ladder

This is the provision that shortens the runway, and it is worth reading carefully because the two tiers are not the same:

• A completed three- or four-year vocational high school or other vocational school program in building construction, or a completed bachelor's, master's or PhD degree from an accredited college or university — one year of experience.
• A completed bachelor's, master's or PhD in architecture, or in science, engineering or technology in a related field — two years of experience.
• Education can account for a maximum of two years of experience.

The ceiling is the important part. Education can never take you past two of the three years. A twelve month stretch of documented full-time field work is the floor for everybody, no matter how many degrees are on the wall.

Documenting it

Two accepted routes:

• Tax forms. W-2, IRS Schedule C, or 1099 forms, submitted for the equivalent of three years of full-time experience. If you are using education for part of the experience, submit the diploma or degree.
• Letter of attestation. In lieu of tax records, a letter from an engineer, architect, employer, military supervisor, licensed contractor or similar individual stating you have at least three years of construction or design experience.

Notice that Massachusetts accepts a 1099 as documentation of experience for the CSL. That is a documentation rule about your own work history, and it should not be confused with the entirely separate question of how a licensed individual may be engaged by a company holding a license — a subject Massachusetts regulates far more strictly elsewhere in its code, as covered in our guide to the Massachusetts qualifying officer.

Fees — The February 2026 Numbers

Here are the exact figures from the current handbook. Application and examination fees are not refundable or transferable.

• Application fee: $23
• Examination fee for the Restricted and the Unrestricted Construction Supervisor exams: $75
• Examination fee for all other examinations: $65

That $75 is worth flagging. A large number of secondary guides still publish $65 for the unrestricted exam. The February 2026 handbook says $75 for both the Restricted and the Unrestricted exam, and $65 only for the specialty exams. If you budgeted from a third-party guide you are ten dollars short on the two most common exams in the state.

These are the fees paid at the exam stage. The licensure fee paid to DOL after you pass is separate, and is covered in the score report instructions you receive when you pass.

Fees are set by the Division of Occupational Licensure and by PSI and are subject to change. Verify against the current CSL Candidate Handbook and with PSI before paying.

The Specialty Single-Card Rule That Saves Real Money

This is the single most valuable sentence in the handbook and it sits near the very end, after fourteen pages of exam content outlines. Here it is in the handbook's own words:

"Although a license candidate is required to take and pass an exam for each license category, rather than paying an exam administration fee for each exam, plus the fee per license, a candidate may apply for and receive a single license card from the DPS for a single fee for any combination of the Specialty License Categories.

However, in order to pay the reduced licensure fee, a candidate must apply for all license categories on a single application. If a candidate submits separate applications for each license category, he/she will be required to pay a fee with each application."

Read that twice. You still sit an exam for each specialty. But the licensure fee is charged once for any combination of specialties — only if every category goes on one application. File them one at a time as you pass them, and you pay a licensure fee each time.

For a roofing-and-siding contractor who wants Roof Covering, Window and Siding, and Insulation, the difference between one application and three is money for nothing. Pass all three exams, then file one application listing all three.

Every Exam, Specified

All CSL exams are open book, multiple choice, and require 70% to pass. Results are given immediately. Failed exams may be retaken an unlimited number of times, though not on the same day. Every exam includes a Massachusetts Administrative Responsibilities (780 CMR) section and a Safety OSHA section.

Unrestricted — 75 items, cutscore 53, 240 minutes. Content: Massachusetts Administrative Responsibilities 5; Plan Reading and Estimating 6; General Building Construction Knowledge 8; Energy Efficiency 5; Accessibility 3; Sitework and Foundations 5; Concrete and Masonry 7; Moisture Intrusion/Protection 4; Structural Framing (Steel and Wood) 6; Roofing/Exterior Walls 6; Associated Trades 8; Interior Environment 3; Fire Protection 3; Safety OSHA 6.

Restricted (One- and Two-Family) — 60 items, cutscore 42, 240 minutes. Same duration as unrestricted for fifteen fewer questions, which is a genuine advantage if you qualify for it.

Masonry — 50 items, cutscore 35, 180 minutes.

Roof Covering — 35 items, cutscore 25, 120 minutes. Window and Siding — 35 items, cutscore 25, 120 minutes. Insulation — 35 items, cutscore 25, 120 minutes. Solid Fuel Burning Appliance — 35 items, cutscore 25, 120 minutes.

Demolition — 30 items, cutscore 21, 120 minutes.

In addition to the scored items above, four to seven unscored experimental questions may appear. They do not count against your score and they do not count against your time.

Exam mechanics that decide outcomes

• You bring your own references. PSI does not supply the code books. Candidates are responsible for bringing their own copies of the Massachusetts State Building Code and the reference standards identified for their exam.
• Permanent tabs only. References may be highlighted, underlined, annotated and indexed before the exam. They may not be written in during the exam — a candidate caught doing so has the references confiscated and is reported to the Department. Post-It notes and other temporary tabs are not allowed and must be removed before the exam will begin.
• No loose papers. Additional papers, loose or attached, are removed from your references and confiscated.
• Your application is kept on file for two years. If you do not pass within that window, you file a new application with fresh copies of all documentation.
• Processing takes up to two weeks for PSI to receive, review and approve the eligibility application before you can even pay and schedule.

After You Pass

You must submit the license application and licensure fee to the Division of Occupational Licensure within one year of the date you passed your exam. License applications are processed in approximately 30 days after receipt.

Miss the one-year window and the passing score does not carry you — you are back at the exam.

Where the CSL Fits Against the Other Massachusetts Licenses

This is the part most CSL guides skip, and it is the part that determines whether a company can actually operate.

The CSL is a building credential. It says nothing about plumbing, gas fitting, electrical or HVAC work, each of which Massachusetts licenses separately and, in the trades, far more restrictively:

• Plumbing and gas fitting run through the Board of State Examiners of Plumbers and Gas Fitters under 248 CMR, with an hours-based apprenticeship ladder. See our Massachusetts plumbing license guide.
• HVAC has no single statewide license — the work is split across refrigeration, sheet metal, pipefitting and gas fitting credentials, and two of those routes are subject to a hard regulatory cutover. See our Massachusetts HVAC guide.
• Electrical runs through the Board of State Examiners of Electricians. See our Massachusetts electrician license guide.

A general building company in Massachusetts typically needs a CSL holder for the building work and properly licensed trade contractors — or trade-licensed individuals in the correct corporate role — for everything else.

The Company Question: A CSL Is Held by a Person

Here is where Massachusetts contractors most often discover a problem after the fact.

A Construction Supervisor License is issued to an individual. It does not transfer to a company, it does not survive that individual leaving, and a company cannot "own" one. If the person who holds your CSL walks out the door, the permits that depend on that license walk out with them.

Massachusetts is unusually strict about the corporate relationship in the licensed trades. In the plumbing and gas fitting regulations the business-level requirement is not merely employment but office: a corporation applicant must have a master plumber who is a listed officer; an LLC, a listed manager; and in a partnership, all partners must hold current master licenses. The regulation itself uses the term "qualifying officer."

That framing — a licensed individual who must occupy a genuine, documented position inside the company — is the same structure that governs contractor licensing in most states, under names like qualifying agent, qualifying party, responsible managing employee, or master of record. Our guide to what a qualifying party is walks through the terminology state by state.

The practical consequence is straightforward. A company that wants to hold a license and does not have a qualified individual inside it has exactly two options: develop one internally, or bring one in as a genuine, full-time employee of the business.

What Happens When the License Holder Leaves

Every state that ties a company's license to an individual has to answer the question of what happens when that individual departs, and the answers vary from ten days to six months. Massachusetts sits in the middle of that range in the trades.

If your operation depends on one person's license, the honest planning question is not whether they will ever leave, but what you have in place for the day they do. We have collected the replacement clocks across states in our contractor qualifier contingency plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to get a Massachusetts CSL? The application fee is $23 and the exam fee is $75 for the Restricted or Unrestricted exam, or $65 for any specialty exam, per the February 2026 candidate handbook. A separate licensure fee is paid to DOL after you pass. On top of that, budget for the code books you must bring to the exam, which you buy yourself. Fees are set by the Division and PSI and change — verify before paying.

How much does it cost to have someone else hold a license for my company? That question does not have a published number, because it is not a product with a price tag. What a licensed individual is worth to a business depends on the state, the classification, the volume and value of work the license will carry, the risk that individual is personally accepting, and how long the arrangement runs. A residential remodeler in one state and a commercial mechanical contractor bidding public work in another are not the same engagement and should not carry the same cost. We quote it per situation — start with a consultation.

Do I need a CSL to work as a carpenter in Massachusetts? No. The CSL is required to directly supervise persons engaged in the regulated work, and it is what building departments look for on the permit. Working under someone else's supervision does not require you to hold one. Home Improvement Contractor registration is a separate and additional requirement for residential home improvement work.

Can I use my degree instead of experience? Partly. A vocational program or any bachelor's, master's or PhD counts as one year. A bachelor's, master's or PhD in architecture, science, engineering or a related technology field counts as two. Education caps at two years total, so at least one year of documented full-time field experience is required of everyone.

Is the CSL exam open book? Yes — every CSL exam is open book and multiple choice, with a 70% cutscore. But you must bring your own reference copies, and they may only be tabbed with permanent tabs. Post-Its must be removed before the exam starts.

How long is my exam pass good for? One year. You must submit the license application and fee to the Division of Occupational Licensure within one year of your passing date. Separately, your original eligibility application stays on file for two years.

Can one person hold several specialty CSLs? Yes, and there is a fee advantage to doing it correctly. You sit an exam for each category, but you may receive a single license card for a single licensure fee covering any combination of specialty categories — only if you file them all on one application. Separate applications mean a fee each.

Getting the License Onto Your Company

The Massachusetts CSL is a well-designed credential with a genuinely achievable path: three years of documented experience, shortened by up to two years with the right education, one open-book exam, and a modest fee. The traps are the ones described above — the $75 versus $65 exam fee, the two-year education ceiling, the Post-It rule, the one-year window to claim your license, and the single-application rule on specialties.

What the CSL does not solve is the company-level problem. A license attached to one person is a single point of failure for the business that depends on it, and Massachusetts, like most states, requires a licensed individual to occupy a real position inside the licensed entity rather than a paper arrangement.

The Licensing Company places qualified license holders with contracting businesses as W-2, full-time employees — a genuine employment relationship that satisfies what state boards actually require, not a rental or a referral. If you are building a company that needs a license it does not yet have, talk to us about a qualifying agent or review our consultation packages. If you already hold a license and want to understand what that credential is worth inside a growing company, see becoming a qualifying agent.

You can also browse our state licensing guides for the requirements in every state where you plan to work.