Who must be licensed as a contractor in the State of California?
All businesses or individuals who construct or alter any building,
highway, road, parking facility, railroad, excavation, or other
structure in California must be licensed by the California Contractors
State License Board (CSLB) if the total cost (labor and materials)
of one or more contracts on the project is $500 or more. Contractors,
including subcontractors, specialty contractors, and persons
engaged in the business of home improvement (with the exception
of joint ventures and projects involving federal funding) must
be licensed before submitting bids. Licenses may be issued to
individuals, partnerships, corporations, or joint ventures.
Is anyone exempt from the requirement to be licensed?
Yes.
Here are some of the exemptions:
Work on a project for which the combined value of labor, materials,
and all other items on one or more contracts is less than $500
falls within the minor work exemption; work which is part of
a larger or major project, whether undertaken by the same or
different contractors, may not be divided into amounts less
than $500 in an attempt to meet the $500 exemption;
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An employee who is paid wages, who does not usually work in
an independently established business, or who does not have
direction or control over the performance of work, or who
does not determine the final results of the work or project;
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Public personnel working on public projects;
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Officers of a court acting within the scope of their office;
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Public utilities working under specified conditions;
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Contractors operating on federally owned property;
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Oil and gas operations performed by an owner or lessee;
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Owner-builders who build or improve existing structures on
their own property if they either do the work themselves or
use their own employees (paid in wages) to do the work. This
exemption is only valid if the structure is not intended or
offered for sale within one year of completion;
-
Owner-builders who build or improve existing structures on
their own property if they contract for the construction with
a licensed contractor or contractors;
-
Owner-builders who improve their main place of residence,
have actually resided there for one year prior to completion
of the work, and who complete the work prior to sale. (This
exemption is limited to two structures within a three-year
period);
-
Sale or installation of finished products that do not become
a fixed part of the structure. (This exemption applies to
a seller of installed carpets who holds a retail furniture
dealer's license but who contracts for installation of the
carpet with a licensed carpet installer. This exemption does
not apply to material suppliers or manufacturers who install
or contract for installation of products, nor does it apply
to those who install mobile homes or mobile home accessory
structures);
-
Security alarm company operators (licensed by the Bureau of
Security and Investigative Services) who install, maintain,
monitor, sell, alter, or service alarm systems (fire alarm
company operators must be licensed by the CSLB); and,
-
Persons whose activities consist only of installing satellite
antenna systems on residential structures or property. These
persons must be registered with the Bureau of Electronic and
Appliance Repair.
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