Virginia General Contractor License Requirements: Class A, B & C, the New 2025 Thresholds & the 8-Hour Course (2026)

If you’re planning to run a general contractor business in Virginia, you need a state license before you take any job over $1,000, and the class you hold sets a hard ceiling on what you can bid. The Board for Contractors, inside the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, licenses business entities rather than individuals in three classes. Class A has no cap. Class B and Class C are limited by both single-project value and 12-month gross volume. Those monetary limits were raised by the 2025 General Assembly effective July 1, 2025, which means most guides published before that date list the wrong numbers. Getting licensed means designating a qualified individual with class-specific experience, completing an 8-hour pre-license course, passing the PSI exam for Class A or B, and documenting net worth or posting a $50,000 bond. This page covers the current thresholds, the classifications, the Recovery Fund, and what unlicensed work actually costs.

Licensing rules vary a lot from one state to the next. Some hand the job to local governments entirely, while others run one central program that every contractor answers to. The demand behind those rules is steady either way. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025 count about 380,360 construction managers, 812,210 first-line supervisors of construction trades, 146,720 construction and building inspectors, and roughly 1,096,780 construction laborers working nationwide. Construction manager jobs are on track to rise 9% between 2024 and 2034, well ahead of the pace for the average occupation.

Virginia pays construction managers better than any other state in this series. BLS state figures (Virginia OEWS, May 2025) count 7,290 construction managers earning a mean of $61.15 an hour, or $127,200 a year, with a median of $119,110. There are 24,970 first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers at an $81,790 mean, 25,830 construction laborers at $43,670, and 6,550 construction and building inspectors at $76,220. The standout concentration figure is inspectors, at a location quotient of 1.69, the highest in this series. Virginia employs code officials at nearly 1.7 times the national rate, which fits a state with dense, well-staffed local building departments across Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. Construction managers, by contrast, sit at 0.73, so the state runs proportionally fewer of them despite paying them the most.

Quick answer: do you need a general contractor license in Virginia?

Yes, and the threshold is low. Any single contract over $1,000 for construction, removal, repair, or improvement requires a license from the Virginia Board for Contractors.

Virginia licenses business entities, not individuals, which is a structural difference from most states. Your license has two components:

• A class (A, B, or C) that sets your monetary limits
• A classification or specialty that defines the type of work you may perform

The class thresholds, as raised effective July 1, 2025, are:

Class	Single contract or project	12-month aggregate
Class A	$150,000 or more	$1,000,000 or more
Class B	$30,000 to under $150,000	$250,000 to under $1,000,000
Class C	Over $1,000 but under $30,000	Under $250,000

Note the dual trigger. You cannot stay in a lower class by keeping individual contracts small if your annual volume pushes you up. Both metrics apply, and DPOR examines both during audits and investigations.

Every class requires a designated employee, a qualified individual, and an 8-hour pre-license course. Class A and B add an exam and a financial requirement.

What changed on July 1, 2025

This is the single most important thing to get right, because the internet is full of superseded numbers.

DPOR announced in April 2025 that Governor Youngkin had signed legislation from the 2025 General Assembly session taking effect July 1, and that the measures included raising the monetary project limits for Class A, B, and C contractors so that contractors could take on projects matching current construction costs and market demands.

The same legislation improved the Virginia Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund:

Recovery Fund item	Before	After July 1, 2025
Payment limit per claim	$20,000	$30,000
Maximum biennial aggregate per contractor	$40,000	$100,000

Why this matters commercially: if a guide says Class C tops out at $10,000 per project and $150,000 a year, or Class B at $120,000 and $750,000, it is describing the pre-July-2025 regime. The current limits in § 54.1-1100 are the higher figures above. Under the old rules a $25,000 job needed Class B. Now Class C covers it.

If you were licensed before the change, your class did not change but your headroom did. A Class C contractor declining $20,000 jobs should re-read the current thresholds.

Classifications and specialties

Your class sets the dollars. Your classification sets the work.

The main building classifications for general contractors are:

• RBC Residential Building Contractor, for residential building work
• CBC Commercial Building Contractor, for commercial building work
• BLD Building Contractor, covering both residential and commercial
• H/H Highway and Heavy, for infrastructure work

Beyond those, DPOR maintains dozens of specialty designations covering electrical (ELE), plumbing (PLB), HVAC (HVA), home improvement (HIC), gas fitting (GFC), masonry (BRK), and more. The specialty appears as a designation on the license record.

Virginia consolidates far more trade licensing under one board than most states, rather than spreading it across separate boards the way Texas or South Carolina do. The practical consequence for a general contractor is convenient: one lookup tool verifies your electrical, plumbing, and HVAC subs.

The designated employee and the qualified individual

Because Virginia licenses businesses, two named people carry the license, and they can be the same person in a small firm.

The designated employee is the individual designated by the firm as the one who will be responsible for the firm’s compliance with the licensing statute and Board regulations.

The qualified individual (QI) is the person whose experience supports the classifications on the license. Experience requirements scale with class:

Class	QI experience required
Class A	5 years
Class B	3 years
Class C	1 year

Two rules catch applicants out. The experience must be in the classification being sought, so five years of commercial building does not qualify you for a plumbing specialty. And the QI must be a full-time employee, owner, or officer. Borrowing a qualifier is not permitted and is a disciplinary matter for both parties.

If your QI leaves, that is a licensing event rather than a staffing one.

The 8-hour pre-license course

Every applicant, in every class, completes a Board-approved pre-license education course of 8 hours before applying. The requirement sits in 18VAC50-22-90.

The mechanics matter. You must request that the provider electronically submit proof of completion to the Board, identifying the course, provider, completion date, and the individual who took it. You do not mail a certificate yourself, and DPOR maintains the approved class list on its website.

Applications arriving without the course record are rejected or delayed, and for Class A and B the course is a prerequisite for exam approval. The sequence is: course, exam, application.

Exams: who takes them and who does not

Virginia runs its contractor exams through PSI, with test centers in Richmond, Virginia Beach, Roanoke, and Fairfax, plus remote proctoring.

Class	Exam requirement
Class A	Virginia contractor license exam, all required portions
Class B	Virginia contractor license exam, required portions
Class C	Generally exam-exempt for most specialties

Class A carries the most extensive testing, Class B a reduced set, and Class C qualified individuals are exam-exempt for most specialties. That exemption is a genuine on-ramp: a one-person specialty firm doing sub-$30,000 jobs can get licensed with a course, an experience record, and an application, without sitting an exam at all.

Virginia also accepts the NASCLA Accredited Examination for the CBC Commercial Building classification, which is useful for contractors who already hold NASCLA from another state.

The Virginia portion is not generic construction knowledge. It covers Title 54.1 licensing, the DPOR disciplinary process, preliminary lien notices and bonding off liens, Department of Taxation and Employment Commission payroll registration, and safety. Study Virginia specifics rather than a national prep book.

Financial requirements: net worth or a bond

Class A and Class B each carry a financial test. Class C does not.

Class	Net worth required	Bond alternative
Class A	$45,000	$50,000 surety bond
Class B	$15,000	$50,000 surety bond
Class C	None	Not applicable

The bond alternative is worth knowing about, because it changes who can qualify. A capable contractor whose balance sheet does not show $45,000 in net worth can post a $50,000 surety bond on the Board’s own form instead. In practice that means paying a premium rather than tying up capital, which is often the faster route for a growing firm.

Which route to choose comes down to two questions. Do you already have a CPA relationship? If so, a review is a modest incremental cost. If you are newer and doing your own books, a bond is often cheaper and faster. And how is your credit? Surety pricing is credit-driven.

One thing the bond does not do is substitute for the Recovery Fund. Posting a bond does not reduce your assessment or your exposure to a claim.

On the net worth route, DPOR does not accept self-prepared balance sheets for Class A. A CPA compilation, review, or audit is required, and the balance sheet must be dated within 12 months of your application. Informal statements printed from accounting software are returned. Budget for the CPA engagement and the time it takes, since a stale statement is as much of a problem as an unverified one.

Virginia does not mandate general liability insurance for contractors at the state licensing level, which surprises people given the rest of the system’s rigor. In practice it is required anyway: localities commonly require proof of coverage to issue residential building permits, and commercial owners require it contractually.

The DPOR application path, step by step

Step 1: Pick your class and your classification

Run both numbers: the largest single contract you expect to bid and your projected 12-month gross volume. Whichever pushes you higher sets your class. Then choose RBC, CBC, BLD, H/H, or the specialty designations you need.

Step 2: Register the business with the SCC

Virginia licenses entities, so you need a business registered with the State Corporation Commission before you apply. Your SCC information goes on the application.

Step 3: Name your designated employee and qualified individual

The QI needs 5, 3, or 1 years of experience in the classification sought, depending on class, and must be a full-time employee, owner, or officer.

Step 4: Complete the 8-hour pre-license course

Take it from a Board-approved provider and ask them to submit proof electronically to the Board. Do this before scheduling any exam.

Step 5: Pass the PSI exam, if Class A or B

Register with PSI once your course is on record. Class C qualified individuals are generally exempt for most specialties. NASCLA is accepted for CBC.

Step 6: Prepare your financials or your bond

$45,000 net worth for Class A with a CPA review or compilation, $15,000 for Class B, or a $50,000 surety bond on the Board’s form for either.

Step 7: Submit the application with fees

Mail the completed Standard Contractor Application with payment to the Board for Contractors, DPOR, 9960 Mayland Drive, Suite 400, Richmond, VA 23233-1485. A Recovery Fund assessment is collected alongside the license fee. Confirm the current fee schedule with DPOR before you write the check, since fees are updated periodically.

Step 8: Register locally in every city and county

DPOR states plainly that although a Virginia contractor’s license may be granted to your business, the business must also comply with local licensing requirements set by the cities, towns, and counties where it plans to work. Contact each locality’s Commissioner of the Revenue and Building Official.

The exemption affidavit, and when a license is not required

Virginia’s exemptions are narrow, and the affidavit route is worth understanding because it is the mechanism localities actually use.

Because § 54.1-1111 bars building officials from issuing a permit without a state license, the statute also provides for a signed exemption affidavit. That is the path an owner takes when they qualify for an exemption under § 54.1-1101 and want a permit anyway. It is not a contractor workaround.

The exemption most homeowners rely on is for work on their own property. An owner acting as their own contractor can get a permit by affidavit rather than a license. A contractor working under someone else’s owner affidavit while functioning as the de facto GC is not exempt. They are unlicensed.

Below $1,000, no license is required, though codes and permitting still apply. Compare that with Vermont’s $10,000 trigger and Virginia looks strict by design, which fits a state that also runs a Recovery Fund and staffs code enforcement at nearly 1.7 times the national rate.

Local licensing and the permit prerequisite

Virginia ties the state license directly into the local permit process, which makes compliance non-optional in a way it is not in some states.

Under § 54.1-1111, local building officials are barred from issuing a building permit without a state contractor license or a signed exemption affidavit. So the permit counter is the enforcement point. There is no path where you quietly pull a permit and sort licensing later.

Separately, localities run their own business licensing through the Commissioner of the Revenue, and most assess a Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax on gross receipts. Here Virginia is more contractor-friendly than the “register everywhere” advice you often see, and the governing statute is § 58.1-3715 rather than § 58.1-3714.

The rule works like this. Once you have paid the local license tax in the locality where your principal office sits, no other Virginia locality may require a further license, unless the amount of business you do in that other locality exceeds $25,000 in a year. Above $25,000, that locality may require its own license, and you may then deduct the gross receipts taxed there from what you report to your home locality, so you are not taxed twice on the same revenue.

A separate provision covers itinerant work: a contractor operating in a locality for fewer than 30 days without a definite place of business anywhere in Virginia is subject to that locality’s license fee or tax where its business there exceeds or will exceed $25,000 for the license year.

BPOL also has gross receipts floors under § 58.1-3706. No local license tax may be imposed on a business with gross receipts under $100,000 in a locality with population over 50,000, or under $50,000 in a locality of 25,000 to 50,000.

So the practical rule for a Virginia GC is not “register in every county you touch.” It is: register where your office is, then watch the $25,000 line in each other locality. Confirm with each Commissioner of the Revenue, since localities set their own rates and some impose a flat fee rather than a gross receipts tax.

The high inspector concentration in Virginia is relevant here too. With 6,550 building inspectors at a location quotient of 1.69, this is a state with well-staffed code enforcement, so inspections happen on schedule more often than in thinly staffed states, and non-compliance gets noticed.

One lookup tool for every trade

Virginia’s single-board structure makes verification easier here than in almost any state, and there is one lookup tool for everything.

The DPOR License Lookup covers contractor licenses, tradesman licenses, and specialty designations, searchable by number, business name, or individual name. Because electricians, plumbers, and HVAC contractors all sit under the same board, one search verifies your whole sub list.

Four things to confirm before signing a subcontract:

• Class, and whether it covers the value of the work you are giving them
• Classification or specialty, matched to the actual scope
• Status and expiration, active through your completion date
• The entity name, matching your subcontract and their certificate of insurance

The class check is the one people skip. A sub with a valid Class C license taking a $45,000 portion of your project is outside their scope, and that becomes your problem. Building officials verify licensure at permit intake, so your schedule absorbs the delay.

The Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund

Virginia operates something most states do not: a fund that pays consumers who hold qualifying judgments against licensed contractors.

Under § 54.1-1123, a consumer with a qualifying residential construction judgment against a licensed contractor can claim from the Fund. As of July 1, 2025, the limits are $30,000 per claimant per transaction and $100,000 aggregate per contractor per biennium.

Two implications. You pay into it: an assessment is collected with your license fee and the Board can levy more. And when the Fund pays a claim arising from your conduct, that has consequences for your license. It is not insurance protecting you, it is consumer protection funded by licensees.

Penalties for unlicensed contracting

Virginia’s penalties are among the sharper ones in this series, combining criminal and civil exposure.

Unlicensed contracting is a Class 1 misdemeanor under § 54.1-1115, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, plus a civil penalty of up to $500 per day of violation. The per-day accrual is what makes this expensive: a project run unlicensed for four months carries a very different number than a single fine.

Working in the wrong class counts. A Class C contractor bidding a $40,000 project is operating outside the licensed scope, and Virginia treats that as a violation rather than a technicality. Upgrading mid-project is not a fix; it requires a new application, and depending on class an exam and financial statement as well.

Civil penalties under § 54.1-111 run from $200 to $5,000 per violation, capped at $25,000 per year against one entity, alongside injunctions and cease-and-desist orders. During a declared emergency, § 54.1-1106.2 allows up to $10,000 per violation for fraudulent conduct, aimed at post-storm roofing fraud.

Licensed contractors face discipline under 18VAC50-22-200 and § 54.1-1110, including monetary penalties, suspension or revocation, and mandatory remedial education. DPOR investigators review contracts, financial records, and project documentation when a complaint arrives.

Financial records being on that list matters: a Board investigation into a workmanship complaint can surface a class violation you had not thought about.

The most common enforcement pattern in Virginia is not working with no license. It is a licensed contractor operating outside their class or classification because the business grew and the license did not. Preventable with a rolling revenue figure and an annual look at the thresholds.

Moving up a class as you grow

Virginia’s dual-trigger structure makes class upgrades a normal part of growing rather than an unusual event, so it is worth knowing the path before you need it.

An upgrade is a new application rather than an amendment. Moving from Class C to Class B means your qualified individual now needs three years rather than one in the classification, you sit the PSI exam, and you produce $15,000 in net worth or a $50,000 bond. Moving from B to A raises the experience requirement to five years, extends the exam, and raises net worth to $45,000 with a CPA review or compilation attached.

Two timing problems follow from that.

You cannot upgrade fast enough to catch an opportunity. If a $200,000 project lands while you hold Class B, bidding it and filing paperwork afterwards is not an option. Exams, CPA engagements, and Board processing take weeks at minimum.

The 12-month gross test can force an upgrade you did not plan. A Class B firm running $80,000 jobs comfortably inside its per-project limit crosses $1,000,000 in trailing revenue and now needs Class A, having never bid anything near $150,000. Their volume changed, not their work.

The defensive habit: track trailing twelve-month contracted revenue as a running number. Inside 15% of your ceiling on either metric, start the upgrade.

Renewal, continuing education, and staying current

Virginia contractor licenses renew on a two-year cycle with continuing education.

Between renewals, the conditions that supported your license have to keep holding. Your QI must remain a full-time employee, owner, or officer. Your class must still match your volume on both tests. And local business licenses run on their own cycles that do not align with DPOR’s.

Review the class question annually rather than at renewal. Growth is the usual cause of accidental violation here. Watch the trailing twelve months, not the calendar year.

Tradesman licenses and the trades under the same board

Virginia’s consolidation of trade licensing is unusual enough to explain properly, because it changes how a general contractor manages subs.

In most states, electricians answer to an electrical board and plumbers to a plumbing board. In Virginia, the Board for Contractors licenses those businesses through specialty designations on a contractor license, and separately issues tradesman licenses to the individuals doing the work.

So an electrical subcontractor has two credentials in play: the company’s contractor license carrying the ELE specialty, and individual tradesman licenses held by the electricians on the crew.

Trade	How it appears in Virginia
Electrical	ELE specialty on a contractor license
Plumbing	PLB specialty on a contractor license
HVAC	HVA specialty on a contractor license
Gas fitting	GFC specialty on a contractor license
Home improvement	HIC specialty on a contractor license
Individual tradespeople	Separate DPOR tradesman licenses
Lead-safe renovation	U.S. EPA firm certification, federal

The practical benefit is a single verification workflow. The practical risk is assuming the company license is enough. On a project where an inspector questions who performed the rough-in, the individual tradesman license is the answer, and it is not covered by the company’s specialty designation.

The EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting rule sits on top of everything and is federal. Virginia has substantial pre-1978 housing stock, particularly in older Richmond, Alexandria, and Norfolk neighborhoods, so RRP certification applies to a large share of residential remodeling here.

Entity, taxes, and payroll registrations

Entity formation. Register with the State Corporation Commission. Because Virginia licenses entities rather than people, this is a prerequisite rather than a parallel step.

EIN. Free from the IRS.

State taxes. Register with the Virginia Department of Taxation for withholding and sales and use tax. The Virginia portion of the contractor exam covers this, which tells you how seriously the Board treats it.

Payroll. Register with the Virginia Employment Commission for unemployment insurance when you have employees.

Workers’ compensation. Virginia requires coverage for businesses with more than two employees, and subcontractors can count toward that number depending on the arrangement. Confirm your position with the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission rather than assuming, because the counting rules catch contractors who use regular subs.

What the whole process costs

Startup cost	Typical amount
8-hour pre-license course	Varies by Board-approved provider
PSI exam, Class A or B	Paid to PSI per attempt
DPOR application fee	Varies by class, verify current schedule
Recovery Fund assessment	Collected with the license fee
CPA-reviewed financial statement	Varies by firm, required for Class A
$50,000 surety bond, if used	Premium rather than full amount
SCC entity registration	Filed with the State Corporation Commission
Local business licenses	Varies by city and county
General liability insurance	Not state-mandated, required in practice

Confirm every fee with DPOR before budgeting. Fee schedules and Recovery Fund assessments are adjusted periodically.

Workers’ compensation: the subcontractor counting rule

Virginia requires coverage once an employer regularly employs more than two part-time or full-time employees. Three or more, in other words. The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission defines employee broadly: part-time, seasonal and temporary workers, executive officers, LLC managers, minors, trainees, and working family members all count.

Then comes the rule that catches general contractors. If you hire subcontractors to assist in your trade or to fulfill a contract, you must count the subcontractor’s employees along with your own. The Commission states this applies regardless of whether the subcontractor carries their own coverage. So a two-person firm that regularly uses a three-person framing sub is over the threshold and required to carry coverage, even though every sub on the job is insured.

That is worth reading twice, because it is the opposite of what most contractors assume. Using insured subs does not keep you under the line. It means your carrier should not charge you premium for those subs, so collect certificates from all of them to establish that.

Two more points:

• There are no waivers and no exceptions. For employers required to have coverage it is mandatory, and Virginia provides no exemption or waiver form for businesses below the threshold.
• The statutory employer doctrine applies. A general contractor can be held responsible for workers’ compensation benefits to the employees of an uninsured subcontractor.

The penalty is calculated by the day. An employer who fails to insure when required faces a civil penalty of up to $250 for each day uninsured, capped at $50,000 plus costs under § 65.2-805, and remains liable to the injured employee for compensation.

One connection worth knowing: under § 58.1-3714, a locality may not issue or reissue a business license to a contractor who has not obtained or is not maintaining required coverage, and every contractor must certify compliance in writing when applying. Localities collect this on the Commission’s Form 61A through the Commissioner of the Revenue, so your coverage is checked at the local license counter too.

Nine mistakes that delay DPOR applications

Using pre-2025 threshold numbers. The July 1, 2025 changes raised all three class limits. Check § 54.1-1100 rather than an old guide.

Watching only project size. The 12-month gross test can push you up a class even if every individual job is small.

Borrowing a qualified individual. The QI must be a full-time employee, owner, or officer of the firm.

Mismatched QI experience. The experience must be in the classification being sought, not construction generally.

Skipping the course before the exam. The 8-hour course is a prerequisite for exam approval, not a parallel task.

Submitting a self-prepared balance sheet. Class A requires a CPA review or compilation.

Forgetting local licensing. DPOR says explicitly that a state license does not satisfy city, town, or county requirements.

Assuming no insurance is needed. The state does not mandate it, but localities and owners effectively do.

Bidding above your class to win work. It is a violation, and upgrading requires a fresh application.

Counting only your own employees for workers’ comp. Subcontractor employees count toward the more-than-two threshold even when the sub is insured.

What general contractors earn in Virginia

Virginia, May 2025	Employment	Mean hourly	Mean annual	Median annual	10th percentile	90th percentile
Construction managers	7,290	$61.15	$127,200	$119,110	$79,940	$183,980
First-line supervisors, construction trades	24,970	$39.32	$81,790	$78,640	$54,340	$117,500
Construction and building inspectors	6,550	$36.65	$76,220	$75,660	$50,090	$104,480
Construction laborers	25,830	$21.00	$43,670	$43,560	$32,900	$57,110

Three things stand out. Virginia construction managers earn the highest mean in this series at $127,200, with a 10th percentile of $79,940 above the median in several states. Building inspectors run at a location quotient of 1.69, the highest anywhere in the series, reflecting dense code enforcement across Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. And laborers, at $43,670, sit near the bottom despite the strong management pay, producing the widest management-to-crew gap of any state covered here. Virginia rewards the credentialed and financially qualified end of the business, consistent with a system built on class limits and net worth tests. For how these figures compare across states, see our contractor and construction manager salary breakdown.

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General information, not legal advice. Class thresholds, fees, and Recovery Fund limits change, and were amended effective July 1, 2025. Verify with the Virginia Board for Contractors and the Commissioner of the Revenue and Building Official in every locality where you work.

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