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District of Columbia: under $300 a job, per homeowner per year, without a contractor license
In the District of Columbia a home improvement job under $300 needs no license, but one homeowner's jobs within 12 months are added up. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC: district license. Read from the District of Columbia's own pages, checked November 6, 2026.
The limit in the District of Columbia
The limit: Under $300 per job, with one homeowner's jobs over 12 months added up (homes). The line is under $300 per job, and one homeowner's jobs within 12 months are added together. In short: Home improvement contractor license needed for residential jobs of $300 or more (same homeowner's jobs added up over 12 months)
What counts: Home improvement contract - an agreement for the performance of home improvement work in the District for a contract price of three hundred dollars ($ 300) or more. This term shall also include the second or any subsequent agreements entered into between the same contractor and the same homeowner within any twelve (12) month period, if the total of the contract prices of all the agreements aggregate three hundred dollars ($ 300) or more. The state's words do not say whether materials count toward the limit.
Conditions: Jobs for the same homeowner within 12 months are added together; Residential property only; other construction is general contracting; Licensed electricians, plumbers/gasfitters and refrigeration/AC mechanics working only within their trade are outside home improvement work; Unlicensed persons may not take any payment before the work is fully completed (16 DCMR 800.1)
Licenses in the District of Columbia
General contractors: District license. District-wide basic business license with a General Contractor/Construction Manager endorsement for any construction for another (commercial or residential); holders don't also need the home improvement license. Residential remodel/repair of $300+ needs the Home Improvement Contractor license instead.
Plumbing: District license. District license (Plumber/Gasfitter) via the Board of Industrial Trades (D.C. Code §§ 47-2853.04(a)(27), 47-2853.02).
Electrical: District license. District electrician license via the Board of Industrial Trades (D.C. Code §§ 47-2853.04(a)(14), 47-2853.02).
HVAC: District license. District 'Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanic' license (D.C. Code § 47-2853.04(a)(36)).
Your license number in the District of Columbia
Your license number: General contractors must show the number on estimates, contracts, subcontracts and advertising. Home improvement contractors must show the number on contracts and advertising. None of these rules names invoices.
In the rule's words: “A licensee shall print his or her license number legibly on the front page of every estimate, contract, and subcontract.” (17 DCMR 3905.1, 3905.7, 3904.1 (general contractors: estimates, contracts, subcontracts, ads); 16 DCMR 808.9, 807.1 (home improvement contractors: contracts, ads))
The District of Columbia's board, and when this was checked
The board: DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP); Board of Industrial Trades for plumbers, electricians and refrigeration/AC mechanics. As of November 6, 2026. Dates on the state's pages: 16 DCMR ch. 8 and 17 DCMR ch. 39: final rulemaking 56 DCR 3098, effective April 24, 2009.
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.
Compare the District of Columbia with every state's limit.
Official sources for the District of Columbia
11 of the District of Columbia's own pages, each quoted with its link:
- 16 DCMR 899 — Definitions (Home Improvements) (16 DCMR 899.1): “Home improvement contract - an agreement for the performance of home improvement work in the District for a contract price of three hundred dollars ($ 300) or more.”
- 16 DCMR 899 — 'home improvement work' exclusions (16 DCMR 899.1): “work performed by licensed electricians, plumbers and gasfitters, or refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics, so long as the work performed by them is limited to that of their licensed occupation”
- 16 DCMR 800 — General provisions (16 DCMR 800.1): “No person shall require or accept any payment for a home improvement contract to be undertaken in the District in advance of the full completion of all work required to be performed under the contract, unless that person is licensed as a home improvement contractor”
- 16 DCMR 808 — Home improvement contracts (16 DCMR 808.9): “Each contract for home improvement work shall bear the name, address, and telephone number of the home improvement contractor and his home improvement contractor's license number.”
- 16 DCMR 807 — Advertising (16 DCMR 807.1): “In any advertisement, the licensee shall include his or her license number.”
- 17 DCMR 3900 — General Contractor/Construction Manager (17 DCMR 3900.1): “Each person engaged in general contracting or construction management in the District shall apply to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (Department) for a basic business license with a General Contractor/Construction Manager endorsement (license).”
- 17 DCMR 3905 — Contracts (17 DCMR 3905.1): “A licensee shall print his or her license number legibly on the front page of every estimate, contract, and subcontract.”
- 17 DCMR 3999 — Definitions (17 DCMR 3999.1): “General contractor means any person who, for a fee, is contracted to do construction on real property owned, controlled, or leased by another person of commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental, residential or accessory use buildings or structures.”
- D.C. Code § 47-2853.02 (D.C. Code § 47-2853.02(a)): “No person shall practice, attempt to practice, or offer to practice an occupation or profession for which a license, certification, or registration is required under this subchapter without a current valid license”
- D.C. Code § 47-2853.04 — Regulated occupations (D.C. Code § 47-2853.04(a)): “(14) Electrician; ... (27) Plumber/Gasfitter; ... (36) Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanic”
- DLCP — Contractor and Construction Services: “General Contractor (A, B, C, G & H)/Construction Manager”
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