How to Become a General Contractor: Steps, Licensing and Timeline

Here’s how to become a general contractor: build hands-on construction experience, learn the business side, then get whatever license or registration your state and city require. That can mean documented experience, exams, and proof of insurance, a bond or net worth. Then you set up the business and take on your first jobs.

How long it takes depends on your state. Washington registers contractors with no exam. Virginia asks for five years of experience for its top license class.

This is general information, not legal advice. Licensing rules vary by state and city, and they change. Check with your state’s board before you bid, starting with our state license guides.

How to become a general contractor in 7 steps

1. Get field experience, ideally across several trades.
2. Learn the business side: estimating, plans, codes, contracts and scheduling.
3. Get licensed or registered where you’ll work.
4. Get insured and bonded.
5. Set up the business: entity, EIN, bank account and books.
6. Price your work and put it in writing.
7. Win your first jobs, starting small.

Step 3 is the gate. In a state that requires a license, don’t bid or sign a contract until you hold one.

What does a general contractor do?

A general contractor (GC) signs the contract with the owner and takes responsibility for the whole job. The GC prices the work, pulls permits, hires and schedules subcontractors, orders materials, handles change orders and billing, and answers for quality and safety. That’s why so many states want proof you can do it before you sign for it.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) doesn’t track “general contractor” as its own job. Its closest category is construction managers, and BLS notes that people who come up through a trade with years of experience are more likely to become self-employed general contractors than hired managers. Self-employed workers make up 38% of construction managers.

How to become a contractor: start in the field

If you’re working out how to become a general contractor from scratch, this is the longest stretch. Every licensing path assumes you know how buildings go together, and many state licenses ask you to document it. Ways to get it:

• Work for a GC or remodeler, and ask to sit in on estimates and client meetings, not just the field work.
• Learn a trade first, like carpentry or tile. It gives you a skill to fall back on and a feel for how subs work.
• Try a registered apprenticeship. The Department of Labor describes these as paid jobs with structured on-the-job training and classroom instruction, ending in a nationally recognized credential.
• Consider school. BLS says construction managers typically hold a bachelor’s degree, though the state requirements below don’t include one.

Keep a log of every job as you go: the address, dates, scope, your role and who supervised you. Boards often ask for signed experience forms or project references, and rebuilding that history years later is hard. Georgia, for example, asks Residential-Basic applicants to show significant responsibility for at least two residential projects in the past two years.

Then learn the business side. Learn to read plans and the local building code, build an estimate from your own costs (see how to estimate construction costs), and write a scope, a contract and a change order. OSHA’s 10-hour and 30-hour Outreach courses are voluntary, though OSHA notes some states and cities may require them. And if you’ll work on older homes, anyone paid to disturb paint in housing or child-occupied facilities built before 1978 must be certified under the EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, sole proprietors included.

Step 3: How to get a general contractor license

This is where the answer to how to become a general contractor changes most. There’s no national license. Each state decides whether to license GCs, at what job size, and what you must show. Some license statewide, some only register contractors, and some leave it to cities. Five approaches, from official sources checked October 17, 2026:

Virginia: the class follows the job size

Virginia requires a license for a single contract over $1,000 (Va. Code § 54.1-1100):

• Class C: jobs under $30,000 and under $250,000 a year. One year of experience and no business exam.
• Class B: jobs under $150,000 and under $1 million a year. Three years of experience, $15,000 net worth, General and Virginia exams.
• Class A: no dollar limits. Five years of experience, $45,000 net worth, Advanced, General and Virginia exams.

All classes need a pre-license course, and application fees run $274.50 to $439.50. See the Virginia license guide.

North Carolina: licensed at $40,000 and up

A license is required when a project costs $40,000 or more (G.S. 87-1). Each license caps single projects at $750,000 (limited), $1.5 million (intermediate) or no limit (unlimited). A qualifier must pass the Board’s exam, which covers plan reading, the State Building Code, estimating and contractor law. The statute sets no minimum years of experience but requires financial responsibility (G.S. 87-10). See the North Carolina license guide.

Georgia: two years of residential experience

A Residential-Basic license requires being at least 21, two years of proven experience working as or for a residential contractor, $300,000 of general liability insurance, and workers’ compensation as state law requires (Rule 553-3-.01). See the Georgia license guide.

Washington: register, no exam

Every contractor registers with the Department of Labor & Industries, after registering the business with the Department of Revenue. There’s no exam. You need a $30,000 bond as a general contractor ($15,000 for a specialty contractor, who can’t hire subs), liability insurance of $250,000 combined (or $200,000 and $50,000 split), and a $150.20 fee. See the Washington license guide.

Colorado: licensing is local

The state licensing division lists electrical and plumbing contractor licenses, but no general contractor license. Cities, counties and regional departments license contractors instead, like the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department for Colorado Springs and El Paso County. See the Colorado license guide.

What the exams look like

Expect business and law topics, and often a trade portion. NASCLA’s national Commercial General Building exam is accepted by 20 agencies in 17 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, including North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. Some add conditions; Florida still requires its own business and building code portions. Trade work usually needs its own license too: in North Carolina, electrical contracting is licensed by a separate board (G.S. 87-43). Our post Do you need a contractor license? covers how to check local rules.

Step 4: Get insured, bonded and financially ready

• General liability. Some states set minimums, like Georgia’s $300,000 or Washington’s $250,000.
• Workers’ compensation. The SBA lists workers’ compensation, unemployment and disability insurance as required for businesses with employees.
• A license bond, like Washington’s $30,000.
• Net worth, like Virginia’s $15,000 for Class B and $45,000 for Class A.
• Project bonds. Public work often requires bid, performance and payment bonds. The SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee program backs bonds for small businesses on contracts up to $9 million (non-federal) or $14 million (federal).

The SBA suggests comparing offers from more than one licensed agent.

Steps 5 to 7: Set up the business and land your first jobs

Set up the business

Pick a structure: the SBA notes a sole proprietor can be held personally liable for business debts, while an LLC protects owners in most instances. Get a free EIN from the IRS, open a business bank account, and track money by job. Our how to start a construction company checklist goes deeper, and for home work see how to start a remodeling business.

Price and paper every job

Price every job from your own costs: a labor rate that covers taxes, insurance and unbilled time, materials with waste, subs, permits and disposal. Then add overhead and profit; remember a 25% markup is only a 20% margin (see markup vs. margin). Use a written contract on every job, starting from our contract template with your attorney’s review.

Win your first jobs

• Start small and inside your limits. A bathroom or a deck teaches you to run a job without betting the business. Watch your license class, too.
• Sub for established GCs. You get paid while you see how they run jobs.
• Work your network. Past employers, suppliers, agents and other trades all hear about work.
• Call leads back fast, and ask for a review after every finished job.

How long does it take to become a general contractor?

• No set experience: Washington, and North Carolina’s statute (you still pass its exam).
• Two years: Georgia Residential-Basic.
• One to five years: Virginia, by class.
• Depends on the city: Colorado.

For most people, the path to becoming a general contractor is several years of field work, then time to study, test, get insured and wait on the application. BLS notes new construction managers usually work under an experienced one for up to a year. Do the same: run smaller jobs before big ones.

FAQ

Can you become a general contractor without experience?

In some places. Washington registers contractors with no exam or experience requirement, and North Carolina’s statute sets no minimum years, though you must pass its exam. Georgia asks for two years for a Residential-Basic license, and Virginia asks for one to five years by license class. Either way, running jobs without field experience is a big risk.

Do you need a license to be a general contractor?

It depends on your state, your city and the job size. Virginia requires a license for jobs over $1,000, North Carolina at $40,000 and up, and Colorado leaves it to local building departments. Check your state’s board before you bid.

How much does a general contractor make?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t track general contractors as a separate job. Its closest category, construction managers, had a median pay of $114,990 a year in May 2025. A self-employed GC’s income depends on how many jobs they run and the profit they keep on each.

Can a general contractor do electrical work?

Often not without a separate trade license. North Carolina, Washington and Colorado all license electrical work apart from general contracting. Most GCs hire licensed subs for electrical, plumbing and HVAC work.

Do you need a degree to become a general contractor?

Not for the Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia or Washington requirements covered here. BLS says construction managers typically have a bachelor’s degree, but notes that tradespeople with years of experience are more likely to become self-employed general contractors.

How ECHOPS helps

Once you’ve worked out how to become a general contractor in your state and you’re licensed, ECHOPS runs the office in one place: a lead board with follow-ups counted for you, estimates from your own price book, e-signatures, change orders that bill on an invoice of their own, project schedules, a crew portal for subs, and a profit per job report. It runs in your phone’s browser. Plans start at $149 a month for three users, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card. It can’t tell you whether you need a license.

Sources

1. BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Construction Managers
2. U.S. Department of Labor, Apprenticeship 101
3. OSHA, Outreach Training Program
4. EPA, Renovation, Repair and Painting Program: Contractors
5. Code of Virginia § 54.1-1100
6. Virginia DPOR, Contractor License Application A501-27LIC (08/01/2026)
7. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 87-1
8. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 87-10
9. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 87-43
10. Georgia Rules, Chapter 553-3, Residential Contractor qualifications
11. Washington L&I, Register as a Contractor
12. Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations, Occupational Professions
13. Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, License Types
14. NASCLA, Participating State Agencies
15. SBA, Get business insurance
16. SBA, Surety bonds
17. SBA, Choose a business structure
18. IRS, Get an employer identification number