Virginia Contractor License FAQs

The class is set by dollar value — either the value of a single contract or your total value of work over any 12-month period. Whichever threshold you cross determines the class you must hold.

Read the two columns as either/or, not both. A contractor whose largest single job is $40,000 but who does $1.2 million in total work over twelve months needs Class A, because the annual figure alone triggers it. This catches people who assume their project size is the only thing that counts.

Note also that these thresholds were amended by the General Assembly in 2025. Older figures still circulating online — $10,000, $120,000, $750,000 — are out of date.

Source: Va. Code § 54.1-1100 (definitions of Class A, B, and C contractors).

Class C begins at work valued over $1,000. Below that figure, contractor licensure under Chapter 11 is generally not triggered.

Treat this as a floor, not a loophole. The threshold is measured by fair market value, and when a contractor performs or supervises the work, the contract price is prima facie evidence of that value — so you cannot simply write a small number on the contract. Splitting one project into several sub-$1,000 contracts to stay under the line is the kind of arrangement that draws enforcement attention.

Separately, local permit and zoning requirements apply regardless of value, and other credentials (such as a tradesman license) may still be required for the work itself.

Source: Va. Code § 54.1-1100 (Class C definition; definition of "value").

There is no limit on how many projects you may run concurrently. The class limits are about dollar value, not project count.

What you must watch is the rolling 12-month total. A Class B contractor running four $90,000 jobs simultaneously is fine on single-contract value, but $360,000 counts toward the annual figure — and Class B tops out below $1 million. As that number climbs across a year, so does the class you need.

Because the 12-month total accumulates whether or not you were watching it, contractors who expect steady growth often apply for the highest class they qualify for at the outset rather than upgrading mid-year.

Source: Va. Code § 54.1-1100.

There is a real case for applying at the highest class you qualify for — but it rests on avoiding a second application, not on any protection that Virginia grants for going in high.

The genuine advantages:

• You are never in the position of turning down a job because the contract value exceeds your class.
• Moving up later means a Change in License Class application, meeting the new class's requirements, and in most cases sitting for additional exam portions.
• A Class A applicant must pass three exam portions; Class B requires two. Taking all three at once costs $85 rather than $72 now and $40 later.

What is not true: Virginia does not "grandfather" you against future rule changes because you licensed early. Every licensee must continue to meet the current qualifications for their class at each renewal. Anyone telling you that a license locks in today's requirements permanently is mistaken.

The honest counterweight is that Class A carries a $45,000 net worth requirement against Class B's $15,000, and requires five years of qualifying experience against three. If you cannot document those, the higher class is not available regardless of ambition.

Source: 18VAC50-22-60, -50, -130; DPOR Change in License Class application.

They are two distinct roles. The Designated Employee satisfies the class requirement. The Qualified Individual satisfies the classification or specialty requirement. One person may fill both roles, but the requirements are separate.

• Designated Employee (DE) — required for Class A and Class B only. Must be at least 18, must be a full-time employee of the firm or a member of responsible management, and must pass the board-approved business and law examination. Class C licenses do not name a DE.
• Qualified Individual (QI) — required for every classification or specialty on the license, at every class including Class C. Must be at least 18, a full-time employee or member of responsible management, must have the required years of experience in that specific classification or specialty, and must satisfy the exam or credential requirement for it.

"Full-time employee" has a defined meaning here: at least 30 hours a week carrying out the work of the licensed contracting business, receiving an IRS Form W-2 annually.

If you want two specialties on one license, you need a QI qualified for each — though the same person can qualify for both if they meet the experience and exam requirements for each.

Source: 18VAC50-22-40, -50, -60; Va. Code § 54.1-1100.

Experience attaches to the Qualified Individual, and it must be in the specific classification or specialty being applied for — not general construction experience.

The regulations set a minimum number of years; they do not require the years to be consecutive, and there is no rule disqualifying an applicant for gaps in employment. What the Board evaluates is whether the required years of relevant experience are documented.

The word doing the work here is relevant. Five years of commercial framing does not automatically qualify someone as the QI for a Highway/Heavy license. Match the experience to the specialty you are naming.

Source: 18VAC50-22-40 B, -50 C, -60 C.

Nothing in the regulations restricts qualifying experience to a single employer, to self-employment, or to work performed inside Virginia.

The requirement is stated as years of experience in the classification or specialty. It does not carve out or exclude experience by employer or by state. DPOR provides a Contractor Experience Verification form for documenting it.

One point that trips up out-of-state contractors: qualifying experience earned elsewhere is a separate question from whether you must sit for Virginia's exams. Holding a license in another state does not by itself excuse the examination — Virginia recognizes only a short, specific list of waiver agreements. See the exam waiver question below.

Source: 18VAC50-22-40 B, -50 C, -60 C; DPOR Contractor Experience Verification form (A501-27EXP).

The regulations require years of experience in the classification or specialty. They do not establish a formula for converting classroom time into experience years.

Where formal training carries clear weight is different from a substitution: for a number of classifications and specialties, a specific license or certification is the prerequisite that replaces the trade exam entirely. Electrical requires a master electrician license; plumbing a master plumber; HVAC a master HVAC tradesman; gas fitting a master gas fitter. For those, the credential is not extra credit — it is the requirement.

For HIC, RBC, CIC and H/H, no such prerequisite credential exists, so the path runs through documented experience plus the specialty exam.

If your situation is genuinely borderline, the Board evaluates applications individually and the Licensing Section at (804) 367-8511 will tell you how they treat your specific background. That is a better use of a phone call than guessing.

Source: 18VAC50-22-61 (prerequisites and board-approved examinations by classification and specialty).

Disclosure requirements are real, specific, and easy to underestimate. They cover the firm, all of responsible management, the Designated Employee, and the Qualified Individual.

Criminal history. All applicants must disclose all non-marijuana misdemeanor convictions within three years of the date of application, and all felony convictions with no time limit.

Financial history. The firm must report outstanding past-due debts and judgments, outstanding tax obligations, defaults on bonds, and pending or past bankruptcies. The look-back period varies by class: three years for Class C, four for Class B, five for Class A.

Prior licensure. Current or previous contractor licenses in Virginia or any other jurisdiction, and any disciplinary action taken on them — penalties, fines, suspensions, revocations, or a license surrendered or voluntarily terminated in connection with discipline.

Furnishing substantially inaccurate or incomplete information to the Board is itself a prohibited act. Disclosure does not automatically disqualify you; concealment is the greater risk.

Source: 18VAC50-22-40 C–E, -50 E–G, -60 E–G, -260 B 2; Va. Code § 54.1-204.

Virginia's requirement is net worth, not a bond. A surety bond exists only as an optional substitute, and only for Class A and Class B.

Two details worth fixing in your head. First, the bond amount is $50,000 for both Class A and Class B — it does not scale with the class, even though the net worth figures do. Second, "net worth" is defined as assets minus liabilities, and assets exclude any property owned as tenants by the entirety or any property not titled in the name of the business entity. A jointly-held family home does not count toward it.

You verify net worth one of three ways: a completed financial statement with supporting documentation, a financial statement reviewed by a CPA, or a CPA audit. Choose the bond route if documenting net worth is impractical — it is an alternative, not an addition.

Specialties carry no financial requirement of any kind. Adding HIC, RBC, CIC or H/H to a license changes nothing about net worth or bonding.

Source: 18VAC50-22-60 D, -50 D, -40, -10; DPOR financial verification forms (required of Class A and B applicants only).

No. Neither Chapter 11 of Title 54.1 nor the Board for Contractors regulations require general liability insurance for any class of contractor license or any classification or specialty.

There is exactly one insurance requirement in the entire chapter, and it does not apply to contractors: a residential building energy analyst firm must carry a minimum of $500,000 in general liability coverage. That is a separate license type, not a contractor class or specialty.

Not required by the Board is not the same as unnecessary. Customers frequently demand a certificate of insurance before signing, general contractors require it of subcontractors, lenders and sureties often condition on it, and localities may require it for certain permits. Workers' compensation is governed by an entirely different body of law and may apply to you based on employee count.

We are an exam preparation company, not insurance advisors — talk to a commercial insurance agent about what coverage your actual work calls for.

Source: 18VAC50-22-62 C (the sole insurance provision, applicable to RBEA firms); absence of any such requirement in 18VAC50-22-40, -50, -60.

It is a consumer relief fund, financed by assessments on licensees, that can compensate eligible consumers who lose money through the improper or dishonest conduct of a licensed contractor.

You pay into it as a condition of licensure: a $25 Recovery Fund assessment accompanies each initial license application, and a $30 assessment accompanies each contractor license renewal. If you apply but do not become licensed, the initial assessment is refunded.

Two things it is not. It is not insurance protecting you — it protects your customers, and filing a claim does not guarantee payment. And a license suspended for nonpayment of a Recovery Fund assessment blocks any new license until the past-due assessments are paid.

Every residential contract you write must include a statement notifying the consumer that the Fund exists, along with information on how to contact the Board for claim information. Omitting it is a prohibited act.

Source: 18VAC50-22-90, -100, -140, -260 B 9 k; Va. Code § 54.1-1119.

The business and law examination is administered by PSI and comes in three portions. Class A requires all three. Class B requires two. Class C requires none.

Each portion is scored and passed independently against its own raw number-correct threshold. There is no single overall percentage you are chasing.

Content is heavily weighted toward business, law, and Virginia-specific regulation rather than field construction knowledge. The Virginia portion covers regulation of contractors, board rules, building codes, the Transaction Recovery Fund, and erosion and sediment control. The General portion covers business organization, estimating and bidding, contract management, project management, risk management, safety, labor laws, financial management, taxes, and lien law. The Advanced portion covers the same territory at greater depth.

That weighting is why experienced contractors are caught off guard. Decades on job sites prepare you for very little of what is actually tested.

Source: DPOR / PSI Contractor Examination Candidate Information Bulletin (examinations taken by the Designated Employee), Examination Content Outlines.

A Class C license requires no business and law exam. It does not follow that Class C is exam-free — the Qualified Individual still has to satisfy the exam or credential requirement for each classification or specialty.

So a Class C contractor seeking the HIC specialty takes no business and law portions, but the QI must still pass the HIC specialty exam and document one year of HIC experience. A Class C contractor seeking an electrical classification must have a QI holding a master electrician license.

This is the class-versus-specialty distinction doing real work. Dropping to Class C reduces what you can contract for and removes the business exam; it does not remove the trade requirement for the work you actually perform.

Source: 18VAC50-22-40 B 4, -61; DPOR/PSI business exam bulletin (portions not required for Class C).

Yes — all of them, business portions and specialty exams alike. But the rules on what you may bring are strict, and candidates lose references at the door over them.

• You bring your own references. None are provided at the test site.
• References may be highlighted, underlined, and indexed before the exam.
• Reference materials containing any writing will not be allowed in, and you may not write in them during the session.
• Permanent tabs only. Removable tabs — Post-it flags and the like — are not permitted.
• No study guides and no sample examinations.
• No loose or unbound papers. Anything downloaded must be spiral bound, hole-punched in a binder, or stapled at the corner.

Open book rewards preparation rather than replacing it. A candidate who has never opened the reference before exam day will not find answers fast enough within the time limit. Knowing where things are is the skill being tested.

Source: DPOR / PSI Candidate Information Bulletin, Examination Reference Materials and Security Procedures.

There is no mandatory waiting period. You may retest as soon as you can re-register and find an available seat — which in practice can be within a couple of days.

PSI's own bulletin gives the example directly: a candidate who tests unsuccessfully on a Wednesday can call Thursday and retest as soon as Friday, subject to seat availability. The only hard restriction is that you cannot book a new appointment on the same day you tested, because scores have to process.

To retake, you re-register and pay the examination fee again, then schedule. You will receive an unsuccessful result on screen immediately along with a diagnostic report showing your strengths and weaknesses by content area — useful information for a second attempt.

You retake only the portion or portions you failed, not the whole exam. Each portion stands on its own.

Any claim you encounter about a 30-day or 60-day mandatory wait after failing a Virginia contractor exam is simply incorrect.

Source: DPOR / PSI Candidate Information Bulletin, Scheduling a Re-examination and Score Reporting.

Only under a small number of specific agreements the Board has approved. Experience alone never waives the exam, and most states have no agreement with Virginia.

DPOR currently lists these examination waiver agreements:

• North Carolina RBC contractors — Residential Building Contracting examination waiver
• North Carolina CBC contractors — Commercial Building Contractor examination waiver
• Ohio — Business and Law, waived against Virginia's Advanced and General Law examinations

Anyone applying under one of these must meet every term of the agreement and submit a complete application together with verification of licensure from the out-of-state board. The Board's Licensing Section at (804) 367-8511 confirms whether your specific credential qualifies.

Separately, the regulations allow licensure by reciprocity or substantial equivalency for firms originally licensed in a state with which the Board has such an agreement, and Virginia offers a temporary license for firms holding a comparable license elsewhere while a full application is processed. Neither is a general-purpose route around the exam.

Source: DPOR Board for Contractors (reciprocal licensing and examination agreements); 18VAC50-22-70, -65.

PSI administers the exams, typically Monday through Friday, with no application deadline. Fees are paid directly to PSI and are based on how many portions you sit for.

At a test center. Virginia centers are located in Vienna, Richmond, Roanoke, Virginia Beach and Charlottesville, with additional centers in Johnson City, Tennessee and Salisbury, Maryland. Northern Virginia candidates generally use the Vienna center.

Online, from home or the office. PSI also offers these exams by live remote proctoring, so you do not have to travel to a test center. A proctor monitors the session in real time through your webcam. You will need a private, quiet room where you will not be interrupted, a working webcam and microphone, and a stable internet connection, and you will complete an ID check and a room scan before the exam begins.

Two cautions specific to the online option. First, your computer must meet PSI's current system requirements — as of October 14, 2025, PSI no longer permits live remote proctored exams on machines running Windows 10 or macOS Ventura (13.x), because those operating systems are past end of support. Check your machine well before exam day, not the morning of. Second, because these exams are open book, confirm with PSI how reference materials are handled in a remote session before you choose that format. The rules on what you may have on your desk are enforced by the proctor and are not identical to walking into a test center with a box of books.

Two practical notes that apply either way. Specialty examinations require pre-approval from DPOR before you can test. And exam fees are not refundable or transferable — a missed appointment or a late cancellation forfeits the fee, as does arriving after the start time or without two valid forms of ID.

Contact PSI at (855) 340-3910 to register or schedule.

Source: DPOR Board for Contractors, Education & Exams; PSI Candidate Information Bulletin.

Every new contractor license — Class A, B, and C — requires eight hours of pre-license education. It is a separate requirement from the examination, and it does not replace it.

Who has to complete it depends on your class:

• Class A and Class B — a member of responsible management or the Designated Employee.
• Class C — a member of responsible management.

The course is a basic business course covering the regulations, statutes, and requirements relevant to running a contracting business. It is not specific to any classification or specialty, so there is no separate version for HIC or H/H. A Board-approved advanced contractor class also satisfies the requirement.

Providers must be board-approved and must electronically report your completion to the Board within seven days.

See our pre-license course dates and details →

Source: DPOR Board for Contractors, Pre-License Education; 18VAC50-22-300 through -320.

Board fees are fixed and published. Here is what DPOR charges — note that these were increased in 2025, so older figures you may find elsewhere are low.

On top of the Board fees: PSI examination fees of $40 to $85 depending on portions, and the pre-license course. Effective July 1, 2026, certain fees also include a separate Technology Fee of $7.25 per year, in place through June 30, 2030.

All Board fees are nonrefundable. The one exception is the initial Recovery Fund assessment, which is refunded if you do not become licensed.

What is not on this list: any bond premium (only if you choose the bond over documenting net worth) and any insurance premium (not required by the Board at all).

Source: 18VAC50-22-100, -140, -170; DPOR Technology Fee notice.

DPOR does not publish a guaranteed processing time, and it varies with application volume and completeness. What we can tell you is the sequence and the deadlines that are actually fixed in the regulations.

What you can control is the order you work in. There are six steps, and taking them out of sequence is the most common self-inflicted delay:

1. Complete the 8-hour Virginia Pre-License Course. Required before you submit your application, so it belongs first — not last.
2. Choose your license class. A, B, or C, based on the contract values and annual volume you expect. This decision determines whether you owe a business exam at all, and what net worth you must document.
3. Pass the Business and Law exam, if required. Class A and B only. You do not need DPOR approval first, so this step can begin immediately — which is exactly why it should. It is the most common bottleneck in the entire process.
4. Choose your classification or specialty. HIC, RBC, CIC, H/H, or another designation matching the work you intend to perform.
5. Submit your application to DPOR with your documentation and fees — QI experience verification, and for Class A or B, net worth or bond.
6. Pass your specialty exam. This comes after the application because specialty exams require DPOR pre-approval before you may sit for them.

The sequencing point worth internalizing: step 3 has no gate in front of it and step 6 does. Contractors who wait to start on the business exam until after DPOR responds add weeks for no reason. Contractors who try to book the specialty exam before applying find they cannot.

See the full six-step walkthrough →

The fixed rules: you have 12 months from the Board's receipt of your application to complete the application process, or you must submit a new one. Applicants are notified if an application is incomplete. And you must immediately report any change in the information you supplied before the license is issued.

If you need to begin work before a standard application finishes processing, Virginia offers a temporary license to firms holding a comparable license in another state — valid until the license is issued or 45 days from issuance of the temporary, whichever comes first. It is issued once and is not renewable.

The single biggest controllable factor is application completeness. Incomplete applications generate correspondence and delay.

Source: 18VAC50-22-35, -65; DPOR examination notice.

Licenses expire two years from the last day of the month in which they were issued. Not three years.

The renewal rules are unforgiving in a specific way worth understanding:

• Your completed renewal and fees must be received within 30 days of the expiration date.
• The license is not valid during that 30-day window. It is not a grace period for working — it is 30 extra days to complete paperwork without paying the reinstatement fee. Contracting during it may constitute unlicensed activity.
• Miss the 30 days and you must reinstate, at the higher reinstatement fee.
• A license may be reinstated for up to 24 months after expiration. After that it cannot be reinstated at all — you apply as a new applicant under whatever requirements exist at that time.
• Receipt date governs, not postmark. DPOR states plainly that late fees are not waived, including for licensees who never received a renewal card.

At renewal you must continue to meet all the qualifications for your class — including the net worth or bond requirement for Class A and B. Renewal is not automatic.

There is no continuing education requirement for ordinary renewal. Remedial education is a separate matter, ordered by the Board as part of a disciplinary or consent order.

Source: 18VAC50-22-110 through -180.

Several changes carry hard reporting deadlines, and missing them is a violation in its own right.

One that surprises people: if the legal business entity holding the license is dissolved or altered to form a new entity, the original license becomes void. It must be returned within 30 days and you must apply for a new license within 30 days. Licenses are issued to firms and are not transferable — this covers the death of a sole proprietor, the death or withdrawal of a general partner, and the formation or dissolution of a corporation or LLC.

Source: 18VAC50-22-210 through -240, -260 B 23.

HIC provides for repairs or improvements to dwellings and townhouses as defined in the Uniform Statewide Building Code, or to structures annexed to them.

The specialty definition itself draws three lines you need to know:

• Residential only. Dwellings and townhouses as the USBC defines them. Commercial work is outside HIC entirely.
• No electrical, plumbing, HVAC, or gas fitting. These are excluded from HIC by definition.
• No new construction beyond the existing building structure — with a narrow carve-out for decks, patios, driveways, and utility outbuildings that do not require a permit under the USBC.

Within those lines, HIC is broad. The regulations expressly note that the HIC specialty also provides for the functions of drywall, finish carpentry, flooring and floor covering, framing, glass and glazing, insulation and weather stripping, landscape service, masonry, painting and wallcovering, roofing, steel erection, and tile/marble/ceramic/terrazzo work — when performed on residential property. That is why HIC functions as an umbrella rather than a narrow trade card.

The RBC classification also provides for HIC functions, so an RBC holder does not need HIC separately.

Source: 18VAC50-22-30 (definition of home improvement contracting and the specialties that reference it).

HIC requires a Qualified Individual with the experience for your class in home improvement contracting, and that person must pass the HIC specialty examination. There is no prerequisite license or certification that substitutes for it.

Experience required of the QI, in home improvement contracting specifically: five years for Class A, three for Class B, one for Class C.

Note that HIC is not on the list of designations for which a prerequisite credential replaces the exam — that list covers electrical, plumbing, HVAC, gas fitting, asbestos, lead abatement, elevators and similar. For HIC the exam is the route, and DPOR pre-approval is required before you can sit for it.

See our HIC exam prep course →

Source: 18VAC50-22-40 B, -50 C, -60 C, -61; exam specifications per PSI/DPOR.

No. The HIC specialty does not provide for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, or gas fitting functions. That exclusion is written into the definition itself.

You may of course manage a kitchen remodel that includes all of them — you subcontract that work to properly licensed contractors. What you cannot do is perform it under your HIC designation.

To hold those classifications yourself, the license needs the corresponding designation, and each one requires a QI holding the relevant master tradesman license: master electrician for ELE, master plumber for PLB, master HVAC tradesman for HVA, master gas fitter for GFC. For electrical, plumbing and HVAC at Class C, the Code itself requires a master tradesman license as a condition of licensure.

One more point with teeth: contracting with an unlicensed or improperly licensed contractor or subcontractor is itself a prohibited act. Verifying your subs' licenses protects you, not just the customer.

Source: 18VAC50-22-30, -61, -260 B 29; Va. Code § 54.1-1100.

RBC is a classification, not a specialty, and it is substantially broader than HIC. It covers construction, remodeling, repair, improvement, removal, or demolition of dwellings and townhouses as defined in the USBC, including accessory buildings or structures on the property.

The decisive difference is new construction. HIC is limited to repairs and improvements and cannot go beyond the existing building structure except for decks, patios, driveways and non-permitted utility outbuildings. RBC has no such limit — it covers building a house from the ground up, additions, and demolition.

RBC also expressly includes the functions of the concrete, home improvement, industrialized building, landscape service, masonry, painting and wallcovering, roofing, and swimming pool specialties when performed on residential property. Because the RBC classification provides for home improvement contracting, an RBC holder does not need HIC as well.

What RBC does not provide for: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, or gas fitting services, and any work on commercial, industrial, institutional, or governmental structures outside dwellings and townhouses.

Practical rule: if the job adds new structure or builds something new on residential property, you are in RBC territory, not HIC.

Source: 18VAC50-22-20 (residential building contractors) and -30 (home improvement contracting).

RBC requires a Qualified Individual with the experience for your class in residential building contracting, and that person must pass the RBC examination — the one with the most questions of the four umbrella exams.

Experience required of the QI, in residential building contracting: five years for Class A, three for Class B, one for Class C.

If you previously held or studied for what was called the Building Technical (BLD) specialty, this is its successor — the designation is now Residential Building Contractor.

One reciprocity note: DPOR lists a Residential Building Contracting examination waiver for North Carolina RBC contractors. If you hold that credential, contact the Board before registering to test.

See our RBC exam prep course →

Source: 18VAC50-22-40 B, -50 C, -60 C, -61; DPOR examination agreements; exam specifications per PSI/DPOR.

Yes. An addition is new construction beyond the existing building structure, which HIC does not cover, and how often you do it is irrelevant.

Two lawful ways to handle it: add the RBC classification to your license, or subcontract that portion of the work to a properly licensed RBC contractor.

Adding RBC means a $125 addition application and a QI who meets the RBC experience requirement for your class and has passed the RBC exam. It does not require a new license or a new class.

The consequence of doing neither is not trivial. Practicing in a classification or specialty for which the contractor is not licensed is a prohibited act, and contracting without the proper license for the work undertaken is a Class 1 misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $500 for each day in violation.

Source: 18VAC50-22-240, -260 B 27; Va. Code § 54.1-1115.

CIC provides for repair or improvement to structures not defined as dwellings and townhouses in the USBC. It is the commercial counterpart to HIC, and the two are mutually exclusive by property type.

CIC does not provide for the construction of new buildings or accessory buildings, nor for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, or gas work. So the same "improvements, not new construction" boundary that applies to HIC applies here — just on the commercial side.

Like HIC, CIC is an umbrella: the regulations note that the CIC specialty also provides for drywall, finish carpentry, flooring and floor covering, framing, glass and glazing, insulation and weather stripping, landscape service, masonry, painting and wallcovering, roofing, steel erection, and tile/marble/ceramic/terrazzo functions on commercial property.

Two relationships worth knowing. The CBC (Commercial Building Contractor) classification also provides for CIC functions and additionally covers new commercial construction. And an HIC designation gives you nothing on commercial property — if you work on both, you need both designations, or a broader classification.

Source: 18VAC50-22-30 (commercial improvement contracting) and -20 (commercial building contractors).

Same structure as HIC: a Qualified Individual with the experience for your class in commercial improvement contracting, who has passed the CIC examination.

Experience required of the QI, in commercial improvement contracting: five years for Class A, three for Class B, one for Class C.

The exam specifications match HIC exactly, but the content does not — the subject matter is commercial. Experience must likewise be commercial. Residential remodeling experience does not qualify a QI for CIC.

See our CIC exam prep course →

Source: 18VAC50-22-40 B, -50 C, -60 C, -61; exam specifications per PSI/DPOR.

H/H is a classification covering construction, repair, improvement, or demolition of heavy civil infrastructure. It is one of the broadest designations Virginia issues.

The regulations name the structures directly: bridges, dams, drainage systems, foundations, parking lots, public transit systems, railroads, roads, runways, streets, structural signs and lights, and tanks.

The functions carried out under it include building demolition, clearing, concrete work, excavating, grading, nonwater well drilling, paving, pile driving, road marking, and steel erection.

H/H contractors also install, maintain, or dismantle:

• Power systems for generation and primary and secondary distribution of electric current ahead of the customer's meter
• Pumping stations and treatment plants
• Telephone, telegraph, or signal systems for public utilities
• Water, gas, and sewer connections to residential, commercial, and industrial sites, subject to local ordinances

H/H additionally provides for the functions of asphalt paving and sealcoating, billboard/sign, concrete, environmental monitoring well, environmental specialties, landscape irrigation, landscape service, marine facility, masonry, recreational facility, steel erection, swimming pool construction, underground utility and excavating, and vessel construction contracting. It also permits installation of backflow prevention devices incidental to the work where the installer has board-approved formal vocational training in them.

What H/H does not cover is building construction — residential or commercial. For that you need the appropriate building classification or specialty.

Source: 18VAC50-22-20 (highway/heavy contractors) and -30.

A Qualified Individual with the experience for your class in highway/heavy contracting, who has passed the H/H examination — the longest sitting of the four.

Experience required of the QI, in highway/heavy contracting: five years for Class A, three for Class B, one for Class C. The experience must be in heavy civil work — roads, bridges, utilities, site work — not building construction.

H/H candidates should account for the breadth of the classification when preparing. The exam ranges across road construction, drainage and erosion control, utilities, concrete structures, steel, and safety, because the classification itself ranges that widely.

Because public and institutional owners make up much of this market, H/H contractors frequently need Class A — the $150,000 single-contract and $1 million annual thresholds arrive quickly on infrastructure work.

See our H/H exam prep course →

Source: 18VAC50-22-40 B, -50 C, -60 C, -61; exam specifications per PSI/DPOR.

Yes, and this is the normal way contractors expand. You add designations to your existing license rather than obtaining a second license.

To add one, submit the Board's addition form with the $125 fee. The firm must name a Qualified Individual who meets the requirements for the new classification or specialty at your class — the correct years of experience in that designation, and its exam or prerequisite credential. The same person can serve as QI for multiple designations if qualified for each.

Deleting works the same way in reverse, in writing. One caution: if your license carries only one classification or specialty, deleting it terminates the license.

Because each designation requires separate qualification, it is usually more efficient to apply initially for the broadest umbrella designation you are eligible for. RBC covers HIC functions; CBC covers CIC functions. Choosing the wider one at the outset can save a later application and exam.

Source: 18VAC50-22-240, -100.

The consequences are more serious than most contractors expect, and they stack — criminal, regulatory, civil, and contractual all at once.

Criminal. Contracting for or bidding upon work without a license, or without the proper class of license for the value of the work, is a Class 1 misdemeanor — punishable in Virginia by up to twelve months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

Per-day fine. On top of those penalties, anyone who undertakes work without a valid license, or without the proper class for the work undertaken, "shall be fined an amount not to exceed $500 per day for each day that such person is in violation." A long job compounds this quickly.

Consumer protection. Working without any valid license also constitutes a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act where a consumer transaction is involved, exposing you to that Act's full enforcement provisions.

You may not be able to collect. A construction contract entered into by a person undertaking work without a valid Virginia contractor's license is generally not enforceable by that unlicensed contractor. You can complete the work and be unable to sue for payment.

Board discipline. Practicing in a classification, specialty service, or class of license for which you are not licensed is a prohibited act, and the Board may impose remedial education, monetary penalties, or suspend or revoke the license.

The lesson is not to be timid — it is to check the class threshold and the designation scope before you sign, and to add the designation or subcontract the portion you are not licensed for.

Source: Va. Code § 54.1-1115; § 18.2-11; 18VAC50-22-200, -260 B 27.

Residential contracting requires a legible written contract, signed by both the consumer and the licensee before work begins or payments are accepted. The Board specifies the minimum contents, and omissions are prohibited acts.

Every such contract must include:

• When work is to begin and the estimated completion date
• A statement of total cost, in the form matching your contract type — total value, cost-plus (identifying fee or percentage and a cap), or time and materials (a fixed price for labor including wages, overhead, general and administrative costs, and materials)
• Amounts and schedule for progress payments, with a specific statement of the down payment
• A listing of specified materials and work requested by the consumer
• A plain-language exculpatory clause for events beyond your control, explaining that such delays are not abandonment
• Assurance you will comply with local permit, inspection, and zoning requirements
• Disclosure of both parties' cancellation rights
• A signed acknowledgment that the consumer received and read DPOR's statement of protection
• Your name, address, license number, class of license, and classifications or specialty services
• A statement that any modification changing cost, materials, work, or completion date must be in writing and signed by all parties
• Notice of the Virginia Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund and how to contact the Board for claim information

Note the consumer acknowledgment requirement was broadened — it is no longer limited to door-to-door solicitations. You must also deliver a fully executed copy to the consumer before work commences, obtain written change orders signed by both parties, and retain all contract documents for five years.

Source: 18VAC50-22-260 B 8 through 11, B 31.