Nebraska has no statewide general contractor license. Every contractor and subcontractor doing business in the state must register with the Nebraska Department of Labor under the Contractor Registration Act, but that is a registration, not a competency license, and there is no exam or experience requirement.
Requirements checked against the Nebraska Department of Labor, Contractor Registration published requirements on September 29, 2026.
| Licensing board | no state general contractor license; state registration only, with the Nebraska Department of Labor, Labor Standards Division (402 471 2239); actual GC licensing lives at the city level (Omaha Planning Department, Lincoln Building and Safety) |
|---|---|
| License required when | state registration required once annual earnings from construction, alteration, or repair work on property other than your own exceed 5,000 dollars a year |
| What the state calls the qualifier | none at the state level (a business simply registers itself); Omaha requires one licensed person per company, and the State Electrical Division requires a designated licensed master electrician or contractor for each electrical contracting business |
| NASCLA exam accepted | partial (NASCLA accredited electrical exams only, for Electrical Contractor and Master Electrician, Journeyman Electrician, and Residential Electrical Contractor, taken through the Nebraska State Electrical Division with exam dates after August 1, 2025; the general commercial building NASCLA exam is not accepted and Nebraska is not on that list) |
| Reciprocity and endorsement | none for general contracting; journeyman electrician: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Wyoming; electrical contractor: Minnesota, South Dakota, Texas |
| Exam waivers | no state GC exam exists; Omaha may grant a reciprocal license on proof of an exam passed and a valid license held elsewhere, subject to its Building Board of Review at a quarterly hearing; state electrical reciprocity requires 75 percent or better on the original exam and one year in good standing, and a lapsed reciprocated license must be re earned by exam |
| Experience required | none for state registration; journeyman electrician needs four years (8,000 hours); electrical contractor needs a four year electrical engineering degree plus one year as a licensed journeyman, or one year as a licensed journeyman, or five years of planning and supervisory experience |
| Application and exam fees | 40 dollars per business name per year for state registration (up from 25 dollars effective August 1, 2026); state electrical contractor application fee 180 dollars |
| Renewal | annual; 40 dollars per business name (statutory cap forty dollars); state electrical contractor license renews on a two year cycle at 375 dollars (187.50 dollars for each year); current licenses expire December 31, 2026 |
| Time to license | no published processing timeline for state registration or for Omaha or Lincoln licensing |
| Bond and financial requirements | state: no bond, but any contractor with employees must carry workers compensation and keep an ACORD 25 certificate on file naming the Department of Labor; Omaha: 10,000 dollar license bond plus general liability of 1,000,000 dollars (Class A and B), 500,000 dollars (Class C), 300,000 dollars (Class D and E); Lincoln: 500,000 dollars liability per occurrence and a 5,000 dollar bond only for right of way work |
| Penalty for unlicensed work | Not stated |
| Time to replace a qualifier | not published at any level; the only adjacent rule is six months to continue an electrical contracting business after the death of the licensed contractor or master electrician (NRS 81 2119), which does not cover a voluntary departure |
| Companies one qualifier may qualify | not published for Omaha, Lincoln, or the state electrical contractor license; not published |
Facts checked on September 4, 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.
The one construction trade Nebraska licenses statewide is electrical, through the Nebraska State Electrical Division. Plumbing and HVAC licensing happens at the city level, with Omaha and Lincoln running their own trade programs. Cities and counties also set their own permit rules for general contractors, so verify locally before bidding.
Nebraska has no state general contractor license. Contractors earning more than 5,000 dollars a year must register with the Nebraska Department of Labor. Actual general contractor licenses come only from cities, chiefly Omaha, where one licensed individual qualifies the company. Electrical work is licensed separately and statewide by the Nebraska State Electrical Division, which also requires a qualifying license holder.
There is no statewide classification system because there is no state license. Omaha's five classes, A, B, C, D, and E, are split by structure type and height, not by contract dollar value, the same shape used by several local systems in other no state license states. No monetary job size cap comparable to Tennessee's or South Carolina's state level tiers exists anywhere in Nebraska's contractor licensing at the state level, since the state layer is registration only, not a licensing tier system.
Nebraska has no state general contractor license for a NASCLA commercial transcript to feed into, and it is not among the 20 jurisdictions on the current NASCLA Accredited Commercial Building Contractor acceptance list (NASCLA, NASCLA, checked September 4, 2026). The only NASCLA relationship Nebraska has is the electrical trade exam participation described above, administered by the Nebraska State Electrical Division itself, and it is not usable as a general contracting credential. The August 1, 2025 exam date cutoff for that electrical participation is current as of this page's check date.
This section covers the exams that matter most for a Nebraska applicant: the three Omaha building contractor exams behind Classes A, B, and C, and the Nebraska State Electrical Division exam behind the Journeyman Electrician and Electrical Contractor licenses. The information below comes from the exam vendor's published candidate bulletin or the licensing agency's own site. For the Nebraska State Electrical Division exam, PSI Services LLC is the vendor, and the exam question count, time limit, and passing score are not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page; that information is in the private, post approval candidate bulletin only. Where a primary source did not publish a number, that is stated plainly rather than estimated.
Vendor and scheduling: Pearson VUE administers this exam for the International Code Council, ICC. Schedule online at Pearson VUE ICC exam page or by phone at 1 877 234 6082 (International Code Council, International Code Council, National Contractor/Trades Examination Information Bulletin, published June 30, 2026). Exam code and question count: the current national exam catalog lists this content family under exam code G11 N, 90 multiple choice questions, open book, with a four hour time limit (International Code Council, International Code Council). Passing score: ICC's own support portal states that most Contractor/Trades exams, this one included, require 70 percent of questions answered correctly to pass; the one named exception in ICC's policy is the separate Master Electrician exam at 75 percent (ICC support center, ICC support center). Open or closed book: open book. What the exam covers: the bulletin's content outline for this exam groups every question under four subject areas: Permits and General Regulations (Regulations and Job Planning, and Code Definitions and Terms), Building Planning and Life Safety (Use and Occupancy and Types of Construction, Fire and Smoke Alarms and Fire Protection Systems, Occupancy Needs and Interior Environment, Exiting and Means of Egress, and Accessibility), Structural Systems (Footings and Foundations, Concrete, Floors, Wall Framing and Stairs, Roof Ceiling Construction and Roof Assembly, and Masonry), and Building Envelope (Interior Finishes, Glass and Glazing, and Exterior Finishes and Roof Coverings) (International Code Council, International Code Council). The bulletin's percentage weighting per subject area is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page, so confirm the current outline directly in ICC's Exam Catalog before relying on an exact percentage breakdown per topic. Reference list: 2018 International Building Code, plus the ICC Concrete Manual, either the edition based on the 2021 IBC and ACI 318 19, or the edition based on the 2015 IBC and ACI 318 14, both accepted (International Code Council, International Code Council). Tabbing and highlighting: references must be bound, an original bound book, a three ring binder, or a stapled document; photocopies of copyrighted material are not allowed. Permanently attached tabs are allowed, meaning tabs that cannot be removed without destroying the page. Notes written in ink and highlighting are allowed if done before arriving at the test center. Nothing may be written in a reference book during the exam itself, only on the whiteboard and marker the proctor provides for scratch work (ICC support center, ICC support center). Where to test: Pearson VUE operates test centers in Omaha and Lincoln, plus its national network of roughly 350 sites for an applicant willing to travel out of state. Remote or online proctoring, OnVUE, is not confirmed as available for this exam; Pearson VUE's ICC program page does not state that OnVUE applies to Contractor/Trades exams, and the physical bound reference book requirement is inconsistent with how OnVUE normally runs. Plan on an in person test center appointment unless Pearson VUE confirms otherwise at scheduling. Retake rules and fees: a candidate must wait 10 days before retaking a failed exam. Rescheduling or canceling without penalty requires notifying Pearson VUE at least two business days before the scheduled exam (International Code Council, International Code Council). The current national bulletin lists the Pearson VUE exam fee at 120 dollars. Omaha's own licensing page has been reported elsewhere at a 115 dollar exam fee, which may be stale against ICC's more recent 120 dollar figure; confirm the live fee at scheduling before relying on either number. One open item: ICC's current national catalog carries both an older 2015 code family (F46 N) and the current 2018 code family (G11 N) under the General Building Contractor (A) title, and the exact exam code Omaha currently designates is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page. Confirm the exact code with Omaha Planning and Permits or with Pearson VUE before registering for an exam ID.
Vendor and scheduling: same as Class A, Pearson VUE for ICC, at Pearson VUE ICC exam page or 1 877 234 6082 (International Code Council, International Code Council). Exam code and question count: exam code G12 N, 80 multiple choice questions, open book, four hour time limit (International Code Council, International Code Council). Passing score: 70 percent, the same ICC wide standard described above. Open or closed book: open book. What the exam covers: the same four subject areas as Class A: Permits and General Regulations, Building Planning and Life Safety, Structural Systems, and Building Envelope, weighted differently than the Class A exam per the bulletin. The exact percentage weighting is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page (International Code Council, International Code Council). Reference list: 2018 International Building Code, 2018 International Residential Code, and the same ICC Concrete Manual choice described for Class A, either the 2021 IBC and ACI 318 19 edition or the 2015 IBC and ACI 318 14 edition (International Code Council, International Code Council). Tabbing and highlighting, where to test, retake rules, and fees: identical rules and the same 120 dollar Pearson VUE fee as described under Class A above, with the same discrepancy against the 115 dollar figure reported elsewhere for Omaha.
Vendor and scheduling: same as above, Pearson VUE for ICC. Exam code and question count: exam code G13 N, 80 multiple choice questions, open book, four hour time limit (International Code Council, International Code Council). Passing score: 70 percent, the same ICC wide standard. Open or closed book: open book. What the exam covers: the same four subject area structure as Classes A and B: Permits and General Regulations, Building Planning and Life Safety, Structural Systems, and Building Envelope, scaled to residential scope (International Code Council, International Code Council). Reference list: the bulletin ties this exam to the 2018 International Residential Code. Whether a Concrete Manual reference is also listed for this specific exam, as it is for Classes A and B, is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page. Confirm the complete current reference list directly in ICC's Exam Catalog before relying on it. Tabbing and highlighting, where to test, retake rules, and fees: identical rules and the same 120 dollar Pearson VUE fee as described under Class A above.
Vendor and scheduling: PSI Services LLC, under contract to the Nebraska State Electrical Division since October 1, 2023, when the Division switched from ICC to PSI. A candidate must first submit an Exam Application to the Division and be approved. The Division then sends the candidate's eligibility to PSI, and PSI separately emails the candidate a personal scheduling link (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division). Where the candidate bulletin lives: the exam specific Candidate Information Bulletin, with the real question counts, time limits, and topic weighting, is attached to that personal PSI scheduling email and is not posted publicly on the Division's site or PSI's public site. The Division's own PSI Exams page says so directly, telling candidates to "see the candidate bulletin when you schedule your exam for info on the time you will receive to test per each exam" (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division). A copy can be requested from SED.OfficeStaff@nebraska.gov or by calling 402 471 1058 before scheduling. Question count, time limit, and passing score: not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page. The Division's own page confirms the numbers changed when PSI took over the program in 2023 and directs candidates to the private bulletin for the current figures. Open or closed book: not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page; do not assume it works like the ICC building exams above. What the exam covers: the Division's own Exam Information page states that the exam for every license type except Apprentice Registration covers, but is not limited to, the 2023 National Electrical Code, Basic Electricity Theory, the Nebraska State Electrical Act, Blueprint Reading, and Emergency Circuits including Fire Alarm Circuits, adding that "thorough knowledge of the National Electrical Code is the greatest asset for passing the examination" (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division). Reference list: only the 2023 National Electrical Code edition is named on the public page. No separate approved handbook or reference list beyond the code itself is stated in the board materials reviewed for this page. Tabbing and highlighting rules: not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page; these are available only in the private PSI candidate bulletin sent after approval. Request a copy before an exam date rather than assuming ICC's tabbing rules carry over to this program. Where to test: PSI operates Nebraska sites in Grand Island, Lincoln, Norfolk, North Platte, Omaha, Scottsbluff, and Sidney, plus PSI's alternate locations outside Nebraska for a candidate willing to travel (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division). Remote or at home testing is explicitly not available; the Division's own page states, "There will be no option for at home testing" (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division). Retake rules: governed by Policy 37, effective July 11, 2025. Once approved to test, a candidate has up to 90 days, three months, per exam attempt. After a third failed attempt, 270 days or nine months from the original approval date, the candidate must wait 90 days before retesting again. A candidate is limited to three tests per year, counted from the original approval date (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division, Policy Number 37, dated July 11, 2025). Fees: the 180 dollar exam application fee and the two year license fee cycle, 187.50 dollars per year of the two year period as of the 2025 to 2026 fee schedule, are documented elsewhere on this page. The separate per sitting PSI exam fee is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page; request it alongside the candidate bulletin.
Sources for this section include the International Code Council's National Contractor/Trades Examination Information Bulletin, published June 30, 2026; the ICC Support Portal; Pearson VUE's ICC Contractor/Trades program page; and the Nebraska State Electrical Division's PSI Exams, Exam Scheduling, and Exam Information and Licensing Applications pages, along with Policy 36, dated November 8, 2019, and Policy 37, dated July 11, 2025. An earlier Omaha specific ICC bulletin, dated November 17, 2017, is no longer in effect; its own text states it stopped applying after January 1, 2018, when Omaha's exams moved into ICC's national title system, which is why this page cites the national bulletin instead.
At the state level, there are no requirements beyond the Workers' Compensation insurance requirement for contractors with employees, since registration carries no exam or experience test. At Omaha's local level, financial requirements are the 10,000 dollar bond and the class based general liability insurance figures above, not a net worth statement. At the state electrical level, the requirement is documented years of experience or a qualifying degree, described above, not a net worth or financial statement filing.
A state registration processing timeline is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page, nor is a local licensing timeline for Omaha or Lincoln. Confirm current turnaround directly with Labor Standards (402 471 2239), Omaha Planning and Permits, or Lincoln Building and Safety before relying on a specific timeframe.
No state level reciprocity exists for general contracting because there is no state general contractor license to reciprocate. At the local level, Omaha offers a reciprocal path for out of state contractors with a valid license and a passed exam held elsewhere, subject to Board of Review approval, described above. A reciprocal path for Lincoln is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page. Out of state general contracting applicants should expect to apply fresh in whichever Nebraska city they plan to work, unless that city confirms otherwise.
Nebraska licenses electrical work at the state level even though it has no state general contractor license, the opposite pattern from general building. Plumbing and HVAC or mechanical work, by contrast, are not state licensed in Nebraska at all; they are regulated purely at the local level, city by city.
Electrical: the Nebraska State Electrical Division, under the State Electrical Board, administers the State Electrical Act (Nebraska Revised Statutes 81 2101 through 81 2144) and licenses apprentice electricians, journeyman electricians, Class A master electricians and electrical contractors, and Class B electrical contractors (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division). A journeyman applicant needs at least four years of verifiable experience, 8,000 hours, in the trade, with one year of credit available for a two year post high school electrical technology associate's degree (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division). An electrical contractor applicant needs either a four year electrical engineering degree plus one year as a licensed journeyman, or at least one year as a licensed journeyman alone, or at least five years of qualifying planning and supervisory experience in electrical work (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division). A Class B electrical contractor license is narrower by statute, valid only for systems up to 400 amperes in residential dwellings of four units or fewer, and only in municipalities under 100,000 population by the most recent census (Nebraska Revised Statutes 81 2107, Nebraska Legislature, Nebraska Legislature). The application fee is 180 dollars. Under the Nebraska State Electrical Division's 2025 to 2026 fee schedule, the state electrical contractor license renews on a two year cycle at 375 dollars, or 187.50 dollars per year, and current licenses expire December 31, 2026. The published fee schedule, covering the license period January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2026, lists the annual rate at 187.50 dollars for both Electrical Contractor and Class B Electrical Contractor, and 37.50 dollars a year for Journeyman Electrician (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division, checked September 4, 2026). Permit fees, separate from license fees, were updated effective April 1, 2026, and the late filing fee is now 250 dollars; the full list of permit fee changes is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page, so confirm current permit pricing directly with the Division.
Exam vendor: PSI Services LLC, under contract to the Nebraska State Electrical Division since October 1, 2023, when the Division switched over from ICC (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division, checked September 4, 2026). Nebraska administers NASCLA accredited examinations for three electrical categories, Electrical Contractor and Master Electrician, Journeyman Electrician, and Residential Electrical Contractor, but the exam must be taken through the Nebraska State Electrical Division itself, and only exam dates after August 1, 2025 are accepted under the current policy (NASCLA, NASCLA). Nebraska does not accept the NASCLA exam for its separate low voltage license classification. This NASCLA electrical trade participation is separate from the NASCLA Accredited Commercial Building Contractor exam used for general contractor licensing in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee; Nebraska is not on that general commercial NASCLA acceptance list, and its NASCLA relationship covers the electrical trade only.
Electrical reciprocity: Nebraska has journeyman electrician reciprocity with Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Wyoming (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division, checked September 4, 2026). Electrical contractor license reciprocity is with Minnesota, South Dakota, and Texas only; the journeyman and electrical contractor reciprocity lists are not identical, so confirm which specific license type applies before relying on a reciprocity state. Reciprocity requires having scored 75 percent or better on the original state exam and having held that license in good standing for at least one year (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division). Nebraska runs a one time reciprocation policy: if a reciprocated license is ever allowed to lapse, the holder must retake the exam to get it back; there is no second reciprocal pass (Nebraska State Electrical Division, Nebraska State Electrical Division).
Nebraska Revised Statutes 81 2108 states plainly that no person licensed under the State Electrical Act may lend his or her license to any person or knowingly permit the use of that license by another (Nebraska Legislature, Nebraska Legislature). This is a statutory ban on license lending. A qualifying agent qualifies the company that employs them as a genuine, duty performing employee, not a name placed on a license for a company they do not actually work for.
Plumbing: not licensed at the state level in Nebraska. Licensing is set by individual cities. Omaha and Lincoln each run their own journeyman and master plumber tracks with their own exams, typically requiring a multi year apprenticeship, a passing score of 70 percent or better covering sanitation, venting, and drainage, and around 10 hours of annual continuing education. City specific plumbing rules should be confirmed directly with each city's licensing office before relying on them.
HVAC and mechanical: also not licensed at the state level. Omaha runs its own Air Conditioning and Air Distribution Board, ACAD, with Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master license tiers. Lincoln runs a separate Board of HVAC Examiners under its Department of Building and Safety, with apprentice, journeyman mechanical technician, and master mechanical contractor tiers. These tiers should be confirmed directly with each city's board before being treated as final.
Nebraska has no state license for general contractors. There is no state board, no statewide exam, and no state licensing agency that issues a "Nebraska GC license," because that credential does not exist. What the state runs instead is registration, not licensing. The Nebraska Contractor Registration Act requires nearly every contractor and subcontractor doing business in the state, general contractors included, to register with the Nebraska Department of Labor, Labor Standards Division (Nebraska Department of Labor, Nebraska Department of Labor). Nebraska is grouped with Iowa, Idaho, and Montana as a registration only state for general contracting.
Registration applies to any person or business performing construction, alteration, or repair work on real property other than their own, once that contractor's annual earnings from the work exceed 5,000 dollars a year. Nebraska Revised Statutes 48 2104(1) states that any person who earns less than five thousand dollars annually for construction services is not a contractor (Nebraska Legislature, Nebraska Legislature). Registration is a form and a fee, not a skills test. There is no exam, no experience requirement, and no financial statement to file with the state to register as a general contractor in Nebraska.
The annual registration fee is now 40 dollars per business name. The fee increased from 25 dollars effective August 1, 2026 (Nebraska Department of Labor, Nebraska Department of Labor, checked September 4, 2026). The statutory cap for this fee is set in Nebraska Revised Statutes 48 2107, which reads "each application or renewal shall be signed by the applicant and accompanied by a fee not to exceed forty dollars" (Nebraska Legislature, Nebraska Legislature, checked September 4, 2026). LB847, an omnibus labor bill signed by the Governor April 7, 2026, folded the Contractor Registration Act's fee fund into a renamed Contractor, Business, and Professional Employer Organization Registration Cash Fund; this is an administrative fund naming change with no effect on what a contractor pays or how they register (Nebraska Legislature, Nebraska Legislature). A contractor operating under more than one business name must register each name separately and pay the fee per name (Nebraska Department of Labor, Nebraska Department of Labor).
Any contractor with one or more employees must carry Workers' Compensation insurance and keep a current ACORD 25 Certificate of Insurance on file with the Department, naming the Department of Labor as certificate holder. If that certificate lapses, the contractor is removed from the state's public registered contractor list until a current certificate is submitted (Nebraska Department of Labor, Nebraska Department of Labor). Registration is done entirely online at Nebraska contractor registration, both for first time applicants and for renewals, and a public search tool on the same site allows checking whether a specific business is currently registered (Nebraska contractor registration search).
A state level processing timeline for a new registration is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page. Confirm current turnaround directly through the online portal or by calling Labor Standards at 402 471 2239.
Because Nebraska has no state general contractor license, general contractor licensing in this state exists only at the city and county level. Omaha and Lincoln, the state's two largest cities, each run their own system, and the two systems differ substantially from each other.
The City of Omaha issues building contractor licenses through its Planning Department, Permits and Inspections division, with five classes. Class A and Class B allow work under the adopted International Building Code, with Class A unlimited by height and Class B capped at structures up to four stories. Class C covers residential work under the International Residential Code. Class D covers remodeling of one and two story residential structures under the International Residential Code and requires proof of an equivalent license from another jurisdiction, currently with no exam option. Class E covers roofing, siding, replacement windows, doors, fencing, and deck construction and requires no exam at all. Classes A through C require passing an exam approved by the International Code Council, ICC. Every Omaha class requires a minimum 10,000 dollar contractor license bond. Required general liability insurance runs 1,000,000 dollars for Class A and B, 500,000 dollars for Class C, and 300,000 dollars for Class D and E. All five classes require 9 hours of continuing education per renewal cycle. Omaha also offers reciprocal licensing to out of state contractors who can show proof of an exam already passed and a valid license held elsewhere, subject to approval by Omaha's Building Board of Review, which rules on reciprocal applications at a quarterly hearing held once per quarter rather than on demand, applied for online through the Omaha permits portal (Omaha permits portal).
Omaha's own FAQ page states that only one person in a company needs to be licensed for that company to hold an Omaha contractor license, which functions as Omaha's version of a qualifying individual. Whether that one licensed person may qualify more than one company at the same time, and what the deadline is to name a replacement if that person leaves, is not stated in the board materials reviewed for this page. The class structure, exam fee, bond, insurance figures, continuing education requirement, and quarterly Board of Review reciprocal hearing cadence above should be confirmed directly with Omaha's Planning Department, Permits and Inspections division. The exam fee itself is reported inconsistently across sources, 115 dollars in some summaries of Omaha's licensing page against 120 dollars in the International Code Council's current national bulletin described below; confirm the live fee at scheduling before relying on either figure.
Lincoln and Lancaster County run a separate system through the City of Lincoln's Department of Building and Safety. Lincoln licenses master electrical contractors, master plumbing contractors, and HVAC contractors locally. The liability coverage requirement is a flat 500,000 dollars minimum per occurrence across building, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC contractors alike, not a sliding scale by trade. The policy must name the City of Lincoln as an additional insured, list the licensed master's name on the certificate, use a standard ACORD form, and show the actual policy number rather than a binder number. A bond is required only when work occurs in the public right of way, in which case it is a flat 5,000 dollars, or a 5,000 dollar cashier's check payable to the City of Lincoln, on a one year renewable term (City of Lincoln, City of Lincoln Nebraska, checked September 4, 2026). Lincoln contractors must also separately register under the state Contractor Registration Act described above; submit insurance documents to BldInsurance@lincoln.ne.gov or call 402 441 7521. Omaha and Lincoln licenses do not transfer to each other; they are two separate cities running two separate systems, and a contractor licensed in one must apply fresh in the other.
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 Nebraska Department of Labor, Contractor Registration. 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.
Contractor licensing and qualifying agent guides from The Licensing Company.
What a contractor license is, who needs one, and the board, dollar threshold and exams in every state.
Learn the definition, role, and legal responsibilities of a qualifying agent.
Get matched with a verified, licensed qualifying agent in your state and trade.
Turn your active contractor license into additional income by qualifying other businesses.
Understand qualifier requirements, the legal process, and how to find one in your state.
What a responsible managing officer and a responsible managing employee are, and how the two differ.