Tennessee Contractor License: Requirements, Cost and Exams

Who must hold the license

The threshold that triggers licensure at all

A contractor's license is required before contracting, bidding, offering a price, or negotiating on any project of 25,000 dollars or more. This applies whether acting as the prime contractor, as a subcontractor performing electrical, mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, or roofing work, as a subcontractor doing masonry work where the masonry portion exceeds 100,000 dollars (T.C.A. 62-6-102), or as a construction manager on a project of 25,000 dollars or more (T.C.A. 62-6-102 and 62-6-119; the Board's official license application packet). Subcontractors doing painting, framing, landscaping, excavation, flooring, and similar unlicensed trades are not required to hold this license. Contracting without the required license is a violation that can hold up issuance of a license for six months and bars the offender from being awarded the job or from rebidding it.

License classes

Classifications and monetary tiers

Tennessee licenses by classification, and the classification, not a flat statewide cap, drives what a contractor may bid. The main Building classifications are BC (the full combined Residential, Commercial, and Industrial classification, covering all 34 building subcategories), BC A (Residential only, one to four family units up to three stories), BC B (Commercial, any building or structure for public use, including residential over four units or over three stories), BC C (Industrial), and BC b(sm), Small Commercial, which is hard capped by rule at 1,500,000 dollars regardless of the contractor's financials. BC B itself carries no flat dollar cap beyond the standard financial statement based monetary limit; only the smaller BC b(sm) classification is capped at 1,500,000 dollars. Combined exams exist for common pairings such as BC A,B or BC A,b(sm). BC A/r, Limited Residential, lets a contractor take a community college course instead of the exams, but is restricted to single family dwellings and hard capped at 125,000 dollars, with no 10 percent bid tolerance and no joint ventures allowed.

Beyond Building, Tennessee also issues LMC (Masonry, required for prime or subcontractor work when the masonry portion exceeds 100,000 dollars), HC (Heavy Construction, no exam), HRA (Highway, Railroad and Airport, no exam, though TDOT runs its own separate prequalification), MU (Municipal and Utility, needs a BC B or BC exam for the full classification), the CMC family (Mechanical, with CMC A for plumbing and gas piping, CMC C for HVAC and refrigeration, CMC D for fire sprinklers), the CE family (Electrical, one exam covers residential, commercial, and industrial wiring), and dozens of no exam Specialty (S) classifications from solar panel installation to cell tower work, plus Environmental Specialties such as asbestos, underground storage tanks, lead paint abatement, and mold remediation, per the Board's Classification Outline with Trade Exam Requirements.

Outside the hard classification caps above, every license's actual monetary limit is calculated from the contractor's own financial statement: 10 times the lesser of working capital and net worth, adjusted for experience, with a 10 percent bid tolerance built in except for BC A/r. A Reviewed financial statement supports a monetary limit up to 3,000,000 dollars; an Unlimited license requires 300,000 dollars in both working capital and net worth plus an Audited statement. As of July 1, 2026, a Board approved Contractors' Surety Bond in an amount at least 50 percent of the requested monetary limit can substitute for the CPA reviewed or audited statement at any tier, including Unlimited. This gives an applicant who cannot readily produce a CPA statement an alternative path to the same monetary limit.

The qualifier rule

Qualifying the company, and how many companies one agent can qualify

Tennessee licenses the business entity itself (sole proprietor, partnership, corporation, or LLC) in the exact name on its financial statement. The license belongs to the entity's owner, not to the Qualifying Agent, unless the QA is also the owner. The QA is whoever takes the exam(s) on the entity's behalf and can be an owner, officer, or full time employee; a non owner QA must file a notarized Power of Attorney. The Board's official Contractor's License Application packet states, on the page covering the QA section, that "a QA may be listed on up to two (2) licenses if they are a majority owner of one of the entities." The Board's Qualifying Agent Add/Change Request form and FAQ confirm both the underlying rule and the enforcement trigger, in the Board's own words: "If they have majority ownership of one of the two entities, they may be listed on more than one license... If the QA has been listed on more than two (2) licenses, the Board may request an interview with the contractor and QA before approving." Two is the Board's own stated cap, with a mandatory interview trigger the moment a QA appears on a third license.

Replacement rules and deadlines when a qualifier leaves

If a Qualifying Agent leaves, the company must notify the Board within 10 days and then has three months, about 90 days, to designate a replacement QA who passes the required exam(s), or the affected license classification becomes invalid; if the license carries only one classification, the entire license becomes invalid. This is confirmed in the Board's current Qualifying Agent Change instructions and Power of Attorney form, which cite T.C.A. 62-6-115, and in the Board's Qualifying Agent FAQ. The Board's current Qualifying Agent Change instructions cite Rule 0680-1-.23 for this requirement. A second rule number, 0680-1-.02(4)(e), has also been associated with this requirement; that number should be confirmed directly with the Board. The statute, T.C.A. 62-6-115, should be treated as the anchor citation rather than either rule number alone. The rule text itself uses "inactive" in some places and "invalid" in others, with the same practical effect, depending on which official document is quoted. The company is allowed to keep operating on existing work during that replacement window, which is more forgiving than a hard bidding freeze. A Tennessee company whose qualifier just left is on a real three month clock to designate a replacement before the affected license classification becomes invalid.

Exams

Exam requirements and current vendor

Prov became the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors' contracted exam vendor effective July 1, 2026. PSI Services LLC, the prior vendor, continued administering only the exams it already had scheduled through September 2026; all new scheduling from July 1, 2026 onward has gone through Prov. Since PSI's legacy scheduling window closed at the end of September 2026, any Tennessee candidate testing from this point forward should expect to test with Prov, with PSI relevant only to someone who already had an appointment booked before the changeover. PSI reference books remain usable through January 1, 2027, even under Prov administration. Every new applicant takes an open book Business and Law exam based on NASCLA's Contractor's Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, Tennessee edition, and most classifications also require an open book trade exam.

NASCLA acceptance

Tennessee accepts the NASCLA National Commercial exam for BC B and the NASCLA National Electrical exam for CE, under the Board's Trade Exam Waiver form, revised June 2026. These are two separate NASCLA exams, and the form does not list a NASCLA exam for BC A, BC C, or the CMC mechanical, plumbing, and HVAC classifications. The Board's Contractor web page names only the NASCLA National Commercial exam, so the NASCLA Electrical exam's acceptance for CE should be confirmed with the Board before a filing depends on it. This clears the trade exam only; the applicant still has to separately pass Tennessee's own Business and Law exam and complete the full Tennessee application, including the CPA financial statement or the surety bond alternative, insurance, and reference letter.

Testing and exam details

Prov, Inc. became the Board's contracted exam vendor effective July 1, 2026, and PSI's legacy scheduling window ran only through September 2026, so Prov is the default vendor for essentially every current candidate. The exam format below is kept for reference against PSI's still usable reference books, good through January 1, 2027, and for the rare candidate who booked a PSI seat before the changeover. Below covers four exams: the Business and Law exam every applicant sits, the BC Combined exam that is the core general contractor trade test, the CE Electrical exam, and the CMC Full Mechanical exam, which also gates the CMC A Plumbing exam. Reference lists here name the primary current titles the bulletins cite; both bulletins also carry a longer legacy alternate book list good through January 1, 2027.

Everything below is common ground across all four exams unless flagged otherwise. All Tennessee contractor exams are open book and computer delivered, though Prov also allows paper and pencil at its centers, and all are scored to a 73 percent passing standard. Reference materials may be highlighted and tabbed with permanent tabs only before the exam begins. Handwritten notes anywhere in a reference, movable tabs or Post it notes, photocopied pages or photocopied whole books, and test prep or practice exam guides are all barred from the testing room under both vendors' rules, and a candidate caught writing in a reference during the exam is reported to the Board. No reference, once written in, may leave the testing room. Only a simple, silent, non programmable, non printing calculator is allowed, though PSI also permits a construction calculator for several trade exams; phones, smart watches, tablets, and recording devices are all barred and must be left outside the testing room, not just silenced. A candidate must show one current, unexpired, government issued photo ID matching the registration name; neither PSI nor Prov accepts a temporary or paper license.

Scheduling with Prov runs through provexam.com/scheduler, through self registration selecting the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors as the certifying body and the specific license classification, or by phone at (866) 720-7768; Prov's call center runs Monday through Friday, 8am to midnight Eastern. Cancelling or rescheduling is free if done at least three business days before the test date; missing that window forfeits the exam fee. Retakes have no waiting period and no cap on attempts, and each attempt, first try or retake, costs 53 dollars paid directly to Prov at registration. PSI's legacy fee for the same exams was 57 dollars per sitting, with PSI requiring a two day cancellation notice instead of Prov's three business days, and PSI's registration running through its own candidate portal or phone line at (855) 868-1882. Neither bulletin shows a fee difference by classification; the fee is flat per exam attempt under each vendor.

Prov currently runs five Tennessee test centers: Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, the University of Memphis, Walters State Community College in Greenville, Motlow State Community College in Tullahoma, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, plus Prov's nationwide network of centers outside Tennessee. The bulletin does not name specific neighboring state cities, only that any Prov center nationwide can be used. Prov also offers Examroom, an at home remote proctoring option available Monday through Friday, 8am to 10pm, requiring a webcam, microphone, a recent Mac, PC, or Chromebook, a Chrome or Edge browser, a stable connection, and the mandatory ProvLock browser lockdown extension. PSI's legacy network, still relevant for anyone testing before the changeover completes, lists six Tennessee centers: Chattanooga, Jackson, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis, and Nashville. PSI's bulletin describes only an ADA linked accommodation path for testing out of state and does not describe a remote, at home proctoring option.

Business and Law exam, required of every applicant regardless of classification: Prov's current bulletin lists 50 questions and 2.5 hours (150 minutes); PSI's legacy bulletin lists the same 50 questions but 140 minutes. Candidates should follow the format of whichever vendor is actually administering their sitting. The exam covers business organization, licensing requirements, estimating and bidding, financial management, labor law, tax law, lien law, contracts, project management, risk management, and OSHA safety. The named reference is the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, Tennessee Edition, 4th Edition, available from the NASCLA store, and is consistent across both vendors.

BC, Combined Residential/Commercial/Industrial Contractor, the core general contractor trade exam: both vendors show 100 questions and 300 minutes (5 hours), passing at 73 items. It covers estimating and plan reading, general code, sitework, footings and foundations, concrete and concrete reinforcement, masonry, structural steel, carpentry, interior finish, roofing/siding/insulation, plus lighter conceptual coverage of plumbing, HVAC, and electrical, and OSHA safety. Prov's primary references are the 2021 International Building Code and 2018 International Residential Code (International Code Council), the 2024 Study Guide for Commercial Building Contractor (Pearson), and OSHA 29 CFR 1926. A longer list of legacy PSI approved titles, including Modern Masonry 9th Edition, ACI 530, and ACI 318, and several steel and concrete handbooks, remains usable through January 1, 2027, and is set out in full in the bulletin's BC section. The narrower BC A, BC B, BC b(sm), BC C, and combined variants (BC A,B and BC A,b(sm)) all use the same subject areas at proportionally shorter question counts and times; see the bulletin's own per classification tables for exact splits.

CE, Electrical Contractor: Prov's current bulletin lists 100 questions and 5 hours (300 minutes); PSI's legacy bulletin lists the same 100 questions but only 260 minutes. It covers general electrical knowledge, plan and code reading, wiring and protection, wiring methods and materials, equipment for general use, motors and controls, communication systems, special occupancy and special equipment, hazardous locations, and OSHA safety. The primary reference is the 2017 NFPA 70 National Electrical Code, plus Ugly's Electrical References (2020 edition), OSHA 29 CFR 1926, and the American Electrician's Handbook, 17th Edition; PSI's older approved list, the 2017 NEC Handbook and NFPA 70E and its Handbook, remains usable through January 1, 2027. The related CE A,H High Voltage Electrical exam, 70 questions and 3.5 hours under Prov, draws on the same core references plus utility distribution and substation focused material.

CMC, Full Mechanical Contractor, and the CMC A Plumbing gate: a Tennessee candidate cannot simply register and test for either. State law, Senate Bill 0786 and HB 2122, effective May 24, 2007, requires Board pre approval before scheduling the Full Mechanical (CMC) or Plumbing (CMC A) exam. The applicant emails a completed Pre Approval Request Form to contractors.home-improvement@tn.gov, with a 50 dollar fee tied to that request per the Board's exam information page, and for CMC A specifically the applicant must show at least three years of plumbing experience or a plumbing or mechanical engineering degree before Prov will clear them to schedule. Once approved, Prov notifies the candidate by email with scheduling instructions. On format, Prov's current bulletin shows CMC (Full Mechanical) at 100 questions and 5 hours; PSI's legacy bulletin shows the same exam at 120 questions and 325 minutes, a bigger gap than the timing differences on the other exams. CMC covers general mechanical knowledge, code requirements, fuel gas systems, controls, piping, load calculations, refrigerants and oils, air distribution, and fire protection and sprinkler systems, folding in the CMC C (HVAC/Refrigeration) and CMC D (Fire Sprinklers) subject matter at a survey level. The narrower CMC A (Plumbing), CMC C, and CMC D exams test the same ground at classification specific depth; CMC A alone runs 100 questions over 5 hours per Prov, versus PSI's legacy 110 questions over 295 minutes. Primary references are the 2021 International Mechanical Code, 2021 International Fuel Gas Code, 2021 International Plumbing Code, and NFPA 13 (2022) for the fire sprinkler content; PSI's older approved titles, the Pipefitters Handbook, Modern Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, and Mathematics for Plumbers and Pipefitters, remain usable through January 1, 2027.

Neither bulletin names specific neighboring state test cities for a Tennessee candidate whose local center is full; both state only that Prov and PSI each operate nationwide beyond Tennessee's borders. The item count and timing differences between the PSI and Prov bulletins, for the Business and Law, CE, and CMC exams, are not explained in either document. The vendor actually administering a given sitting should be treated as authoritative for that sitting's format, rather than averaging or splitting the difference between the two bulletins.

Sources: Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors Candidate Information Bulletin, Prov, Inc., document TNCONT_CIB 2026.07.13; and Candidate Information Bulletin, PSI Services LLC, revised April 15, 2026 (reviewed July 14, 2026).

Experience

Experience requirements

The Board's own instructions say it "prefers three (3) years" of relevant experience. This is evaluated through the applicant's listed project history, the size of past jobs relative to the monetary limit requested, and one required Letter of Reference from a past client, employer, or code official who inspected the work; the reference may never be from a relative. Tennessee does not set a separate statutory minimum year requirement beyond that three year preference, but an applicant whose experience looks thin for the monetary limit requested is a common trigger for a Board interview.

Bond and insurance

Financial requirements

Every new applicant needs a CPA prepared Reviewed or Audited financial statement on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles; compiled statements and statements on an income tax basis are not accepted for a new license. A Reviewed statement supports a monetary limit up to 3,000,000 dollars; an Audited statement is required above that and is mandatory for an Unlimited license. As of July 1, 2026, a Board approved Contractors' Surety Bond of at least 50 percent of the requested monetary limit is an accepted substitute for either statement at any tier.

General liability insurance minimums scale with the monetary limit requested: 100,000 dollars of coverage for limits up to 500,000 dollars, 500,000 dollars of coverage for limits from 501,001 to 1,500,000 dollars, and 1,000,000 dollars of coverage above 1,500,001 dollars, under Board Rule 0680-6-.02 and the Board's Insurance Resource Information for Licensees document.

Workers' compensation coverage is required unless the contractor has no employees and registers for the "Construction Services Provider" exemption. That exemption is capped at three owners, officers, partners, or members of one entity, or three owners of one family owned business, under T.C.A. 50-6-903 and the Board's Workers' Compensation Exemption Questionnaire. A licensed entity with employees cannot use this exemption for those employees; it covers only the owners or officers themselves.

Per the Board's bond instructions and financial guide, the financial requirement can also be summarized this way: a CPA prepared Reviewed or Audited financial statement, or, since July 1, 2026, a continuous surety bond of at least 50 percent of the requested monetary limit under Public Chapter 1039, at 1,500,000 dollars for an unlimited license. The monetary limit is 10 times the lesser of working capital and net worth; a Reviewed statement supports up to 3,000,000 dollars, and an Unlimited license needs 300,000 dollars in working capital and net worth plus an Audited statement. General liability insurance is scaled to the limit, and a supplemental Contractor's License Bond of 500,000 dollars, for limits under 1,500,000 dollars, or 1,000,000 dollars, for limits over 1,500,000 dollars, applies where the Board allows it.

Fees and timeline

Application and processing timelines

The application fee is 250 dollars, nonrefundable, and a license issues for a two year term. There are no fixed submission deadlines; an assigned Board member reviews each application as it comes in, a change that took effect September 21, 2022, and ended the prior monthly deadline system. An interview at one of the Board's six annual meetings (January, March, May, July, September, and November, rotating Nashville, West Tennessee, and East Tennessee) is only required if something needs a closer look: a non owner QA employed less than six months, experience that looks thin for the requested monetary limit, or a felony, judgment, or complaint history. The Board's own instructions ask applicants to allow at least three weeks before calling to check status. A clean, complete application commonly runs about 30 days to 6 weeks from submission to an issued license; add time if an interview is required and the next meeting is not close. A military spouse hardship path exists for early review (T.C.A. 4-3-1304), and any applicant with a genuine emergency can request early review outside the standard cycle. The renewal schedule is a two year license term, 200 dollars to renew, and a late renewal penalty of 20 dollars per month, up to 12 months.

The current application packet is not internally consistent on the submission deadline: its short summary page still says applications must be submitted "by the 20th of the month prior to the Board meeting," while the packet's detailed instructions confirm that deadline was eliminated in September 2022. There is no fixed deadline; applications are reviewed as they come in.

Reciprocity

Reciprocity and exam waivers

The Board's Trade Exam Waiver form, revised June 2026, names Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and West Virginia. The scope the form lists for each state is Alabama (Residential, General, Electrical, and HVAC), Arkansas (Residential, Commercial Building), Louisiana (Residential, Commercial, Electrical, and Mechanical), Mississippi (Residential, Commercial, Electrical, Mechanical), North Carolina (Residential, Commercial Building, and Electrical), Ohio (Electrical, Plumbing, and HVAC), South Carolina (Commercial Building, Electrical, HVAC, and Plumbing), and West Virginia (Residential, Commercial, Industrial Building, Electrical, Mechanical, and Masonry), plus NASCLA's National Commercial and Electrical exams separately. The same form matches each state to Tennessee classifications: Alabama to BC A, BC B, CE, and CMC C; Arkansas to BC A and BC B; Louisiana and Mississippi to BC A, BC B, CE, and CMC; North Carolina to BC A, BC B, and CE; Ohio to CE, CMC A, and CMC C; South Carolina to BC B, CE, CMC C, and CMC A; West Virginia to BC, BC A, BC B, BC C, CE, CMC, and LMC; and the NASCLA exams to BC B and CE. The Board's Contractor web page lists the same eight states and adds that the South Carolina agreement covers that state's commercial Contractors Licensing Board only.

Georgia is not on the current Trade Exam Waiver list. It still appears in some of the Board's older paperwork embedded in other forms, but the Board's dedicated, more recently revised reciprocity document does not include it, so Georgia should be treated as not currently on the waiver list unless a specific case proves otherwise. The waiver is limited to the trade exam and applies when the participating state verifies a comparable exam on the Board's License Verification form; every contractor license except the restricted residential BC A/r classification still requires Tennessee's own Business and Law exam. The form states that the waiver cannot be used for home improvement, Limited Licensed Plumber, or Limited Licensed Electrician applications, and that applicants with disciplinary action, open complaints, or felony convictions are not eligible for it. The applicant must be licensed in good standing in that reciprocating state and must still complete the entire Tennessee application, financials, or the surety bond alternative, and insurance included. There is no shortcut that lets someone work in Tennessee on an out of state license alone; the Tennessee license has to be issued first.

The Board's paperwork is not internally consistent here either: the Qualifying Agent Add/Change Request packet still embeds an older, 2019 revision of the license verification form, which lists Georgia and does not list West Virginia, and its own FAQ text repeats that older list. The dedicated, more recently revised Trade Exam Waiver document should be treated as the current, correct source, not the older embedded form.

Trades

Trades overlay, Tennessee's real point of difference

Tennessee differs from Georgia, Florida, and most other states in one key respect: there is no separate electrical board or separate mechanical board. The same Board for Licensing Contractors issues the CE (Electrical), CMC family (Mechanical, Plumbing, HVAC), LMC (Masonry), and CMC D (Fire Sprinkler, which also needs its own separate registration with the state's Fire Prevention Division) classifications, all through the identical application, financial statement, and Business and Law exam process used for general contracting, per the Board's Classification Outline. Two narrower, lower bar state licenses exist for small jobs: a Limited Licensed Electrician and a Limited Licensed Plumber, both for work under 25,000 dollars in counties where the state Fire Marshal, rather than local government, handles inspections. A separate Home Improvement license, a lower bar than the full contractor's license, is required in nine named counties (Bradley, Davidson, Hamilton, Haywood, Knox, Marion, Robertson, Rutherford, and Shelby) for residential remodel work between 3,000 and just under 25,000 dollars. Alarm system contractors sit under an entirely separate agency, the Tennessee Alarm Systems Contractors Board.

A common misconception about the BC A and BC B classifications

Several third party exam prep sites describe BC A (Residential) as an unlimited classification and BC B (Commercial) as hard capped at 1,500,000 dollars. That is backwards. Tennessee's own Classification Outline shows the 1,500,000 dollar hard cap belongs to BC b(sm), Small Commercial, a narrower classification than full BC B; BC B itself has no flat dollar ceiling beyond the standard financial statement based monetary limit.

What changed

Recent changes in Tennessee contractor licensing

The Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors' Trade Exam Waiver Reciprocity form, revised June 2026, updated the list of states whose trade exam results Tennessee will accept in place of its own trade exam. Georgia was removed from that list, West Virginia was added, and Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina now carry broader trade coverage than the list previously showed.

The workers' compensation exemption for a Construction Services Provider is capped at three owners, officers, partners, or members per entity, under T.C.A. 50-6-903 and the Board's own Workers' Compensation Exemption Questionnaire.

Prov, Inc. became the Board's contracted exam vendor effective July 1, 2026. PSI Services LLC, the prior vendor, kept administering exams already on its schedule only through September 2026. Any new Tennessee exam candidate going forward should expect to test with Prov rather than PSI.

The board

Who licenses general contractors

The Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors, part of the Department of Commerce and Insurance in Nashville, licenses contractors statewide. Tennessee does not split trades across separate boards. This one board issues the general Building classifications along with Electrical, Mechanical/Plumbing/HVAC, Masonry, Fire Sprinkler, Heavy Construction, Highway/Railroad/Airport, Municipal Utility, and dozens of Specialty and Environmental classifications, all through one application process, under the Board's own Classification Outline with Trade Exam Requirements and its Contractor's License Application packet, Rev 02/25. Governing law is Tennessee Code Annotated Title 62, Chapter 6, with Board rules at Chapter 0680.