How much work can you do without a contractor license? Every state

The short answer

Most states let you take small jobs without a contractor license, up to a dollar limit. Of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 32 set a limit like that. In 6 of them (Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico and Pennsylvania) it is a 12-month total of all your jobs, not a per-job amount, and the District of Columbia adds up one homeowner's jobs over 12 months.

Alaska, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey have no small-job exemption at all: every paid job needs a license or registration. In 6 states there is no state license for general or handyman work: cities and counties license it, and in 7 more (Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming) no statewide license was found, though no state page says so in words.

Plumbing, electrical and HVAC are different. 40 states license electrical work statewide, 41 plumbing and 27 HVAC, usually whatever the job size, so the handyman limit rarely covers that work.

This is a summary of each state's own pages as of November 6, 2026, not legal advice. Rules change, and cities and counties add licenses of their own. Check with your state's board, linked on this page, before you rely on it.

Every state, in a line

Each state has its own page: the full answer, what counts toward the limit, the trades, the license-number rule and every official source, quoted.

• Alabama — up to $10,000 per job (homes); home roofing over $2,500 needs a license; HVAC contractors must put the license number on invoices
• Alaska — no small-job exemption: every paid job needs a license or registration; all registered contractors must put the license number on advertising and contracts, not invoices
• Arizona — under $1,000 per job; only if no building permit is needed, casual or minor work; licensed contractors must put the license number on bids, estimates and advertising and more, not invoices (not fully confirmed)
• Arkansas — up to $2,000 per job (homes); HVACR licensees must put the license number on advertising and vehicles, not invoices
• California — under $1,000 per job; only if no permit is needed and you have no employees; licensed contractors must put the license number on contracts, subcontracts and calls for bid and more, not invoices
• Colorado — no statewide license found — check with the board and your city or county; no state rule found for the license number (not fully checked) (not fully confirmed)
• Connecticut — up to $1,000 a year, all jobs together (homes); licensed tradespeople must put the license number on invoices
• Delaware — no small-job exemption: every paid job needs a license or registration; plumbers, HVACR and electrical contractors must put the license number on vehicles, not invoices
• District of Columbia — under $300 per job, with one homeowner's jobs over 12 months added up (homes); the license number goes on estimates, contracts and subcontracts and more, depending on who you are, not invoices
• Florida — under $2,500 per job; casual or minor work only; contractors must put the license number on offers of services, business proposals and bids and more, not invoices
• Georgia — up to $2,500 per job (homes); conditioned air (HVAC) contractors must put the license number on invoices
• Hawaii — up to $1,500 per job; only if no building permit is needed · a bill may raise it; contractors must put the license number on written contracts with homeowners and advertising, not invoices
• Idaho — under $2,000 per job; casual or minor work only; registered contractors must put the license number on place of business, advertising and contracts and more, not invoices
• Illinois — no state license; the license number goes on contracts, bids and advertising and more, depending on who you are, not invoices (not fully confirmed)
• Indiana — no state license; no state rule found for the license number (not fully checked)
• Iowa — under $2,000 a year, all jobs together; plumbing, HVAC and other mechanical contractors must put the license number on written advertising, not invoices
• Kansas — no statewide license found — check with the board and your city or county; roofing contractors must put the license number on vehicles, business signs and cards and more, not invoices (not fully confirmed)
• Kentucky — no statewide license found — check with the board and your city or county; the license number goes on advertising and vehicles, depending on who you are, not invoices (not fully confirmed)
• Louisiana — under $7,500 per job (an existing home); plumbing and gas fitting businesses must put the license number on invoices (not fully confirmed)
• Maine — no state license; no state rule found for the license number (not fully checked)
• Maryland — no small-job exemption: every paid job needs a license or registration; home improvement contractors must put the license number on contracts, advertising and vehicles, not invoices
• Massachusetts — under $500 per job (owner-occupied homes); the license number goes on written contracts over $1,000 and advertising, depending on who you are, not invoices (not fully confirmed)
• Michigan — under $600 per job (homes); licensed residential builders and contractors must put the license number on advertising, not invoices
• Minnesota — up to $15,000 a year, all jobs together (homes); only with a state certificate of exemption; licensed residential contractors must put the license number on contracts, business cards and advertising, including signs, vehicles and websites, not invoices
• Mississippi — up to $10,000 per job (an existing home); residential builders and remodelers must put the license number on a sign at the permitted job site, not invoices
• Missouri — no statewide license found — check with the board and your city or county; no state rule found that puts the license number on paperwork (not fully confirmed)
• Montana — under $2,500 per job; casual or minor work only; the board says every contractor needs a license; no state rule found for the license number (not fully checked)
• Nebraska — under $5,000 a year, all jobs together; no state rule found for the license number (not fully checked)
• Nevada — under $1,000 per job; repair or maintenance only, no permit, no plumbing, electrical or HVAC work; licensed contractors must put the license number on bids, contracts and advertising and more, not invoices
• New Hampshire — not confirmed — see the board; no state rule found for the license number (not fully checked) (not fully confirmed)
• New Jersey — no small-job exemption: every paid job needs a license or registration; home improvement contractors must put the license number on contracts, business documents and correspondence with customers and more, not invoices
• New Mexico — up to $7,200 a year, all jobs together; with a yearly handyman certificate, one job at a time, no electrical, plumbing or gas work; licensed contractors must put the license number on written bids and building permit applications, not invoices
• New York — no state license; home improvement contractors with a local license must put the license number on written home improvement contracts over $500, not invoices (not fully confirmed)
• North Carolina — under $40,000 per job; licensed general contractors must put the license number on contracts and bids, not invoices
• North Dakota — up to $4,000 per job; no state rule found that puts the license number on paperwork
• Ohio — no state license; state-licensed commercial trade contractors must put the license number on contracts, advertising and vehicles and more, not invoices
• Oklahoma — no state license; plumbing, electrical and mechanical contractors must put the license number on advertising, contracts and bids and more, not invoices
• Oregon — under $1,000 per job; casual or minor work only; licensed contractors must put the license number on written bids, building contracts and written inspection reports and more, not invoices
• Pennsylvania — under $5,000 a year, all jobs together (home improvement); registered home improvement contractors must put the license number on advertising, contracts and estimates and more, not invoices
• Rhode Island — under $500 per job; casual or minor work only, nothing structural; all registered contractors must put the license number on invoices
• South Carolina — up to $500 per job (homes); commercial mechanical contractors licensed in air conditioning, heating or packaged equipment must put the license number on invoices
• South Dakota — no statewide license found — check with the board and your city or county; no state rule found for the license number (not fully checked) (not fully confirmed)
• Tennessee — under $25,000 per job; $3,000 for home improvement in 9 counties, incl. Davidson and Shelby; home improvement contractors must put the license number on advertising, not invoices
• Texas — no statewide license found — check with the board and your city or county; plumbers, electrical contractors and air-conditioning and refrigeration contractors must put the license number on invoices
• Utah — under $7,000 per job; over $3,000, a one-time insurance filing with the state; no state rule found for the license number (not fully checked)
• Vermont — up to $10,000 per job (homes); no state rule found for the license number (not fully checked)
• Virginia — up to $1,000 per job; residential contractors must put the license number on written contracts, not invoices
• Washington — under $500 per job; registered contractors must put the license number on advertising and materials that ask retail customers for work (the state reads this as estimates and bid proposals), not invoices
• West Virginia — under $5,000 per job (homes); licensed contractors must put the license number on advertising and contracts, not invoices
• Wisconsin — no dollar limit: a state certification is needed to pull a home building permit; electrical contractors must put the license number on bids and contracts, not invoices
• Wyoming — no statewide license found — check with the board and your city or county; no state rule found for the license number (not fully checked) (not fully confirmed)

What this means for you

Under your state's limit, you may still need a license from your city or county, and some states ask for a business or tax registration whatever the job size: Delaware wants a contractor business license and a Department of Labor registration, and South Dakota a contractor's excise tax license. Check locally before your first job.

The trades are the exception to the limit. In most states, plumbing, electrical and HVAC work need their own license at any price, even when a handyman job of the same size would not.

Your license number has to go on the paperwork the rule names, and the rules name different things: contracts, bids, ads, vehicles. Only 7 states name invoices, and most only for some trades: Alabama, HVAC contractors; Connecticut, licensed tradespeople; Georgia, conditioned air (HVAC) contractors; Louisiana, plumbing and gas fitting businesses; Rhode Island, all registered contractors; South Carolina, commercial mechanical contractors licensed in air conditioning, heating or packaged equipment; Texas, plumbers, electrical contractors and air-conditioning and refrigeration contractors.

Starting out? The guides walk through the rest of the setup, licensing included:

• How to start a handyman business
• How to start a plumbing business
• How to start an electrical business
• How to start an HVAC business
• How to start a painting business
• How to start a cleaning business
• How to start a lawn care business
• How to start a pressure washing business

Check an invoice against these rules: paste it into the free invoice checker and pick your state, and it asks for your license number where the state's rule names invoices.

About this data

Every answer comes from the state's own pages: its statutes, its rules and its licensing board, each linked with the words it says on that state's page. Nothing was filled in from a blog or a summary site. Checked November 6, 2026.

"Not fully confirmed" marks 12 states (Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota and Wyoming) where a state page could not be opened, or where "no state license" rests on finding none rather than on a page that says so. Where a state's own pages disagree, the state's page says so and which one it follows.

Cities and counties are not covered: many license contractors on their own, at their own limits.

Where our data comes from

From your first job to getting paid

Once you are set up, Workeey keeps the work in one app on your phone: a quick estimate prices each job from your own rates, and one tap turns the estimate into the invoice. See pricing for what each plan includes.