Requirements by state
Connecticut contractor license requirements
Quick answer
Connecticut contractor license requirements
Connecticut requires Home Improvement Contractor registration, not a tested license, once a job exceeds $200 or total work exceeds $1,000 in 12 months. There is no exam: registration costs a $120 application fee plus a $100 annual Home Improvement Guaranty Fund fee, and contractors carry at least $20,000 in liability insurance instead of posting a bond.
At a glance
- Exam
- Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (Home Improvement Contractor registration) requirements (no state exam)
- Vendor
- No state exam vendor
- Fees
- Application fee $120; Home Improvement Guaranty Fund fee (annual) $100
- NASCLA accepted
- No
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-28
License classes
- HIC
- Home Improvement Contractor registration : Covers residential home improvement work; new home construction is registered separately.
Connecticut regulates contracting through a state contractor registration (bond and insurance based, not a competency exam). This page lays out exactly what Connecticut requires: the licensing agency, who must be licensed, experience, exams, fees, the financial responsibility mechanism, and reciprocity, every figure sourced and dated below.
Who must be licensed in Connecticut
Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (Home Improvement Contractor registration) is the licensing authority. Home improvement contracts over $1,000 in any 12 months, or any single job over $200.
Experience and qualification
No experience documentation or competency exam is required for Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) registration.
License classes
- HIC (Home Improvement Contractor registration): Covers residential home improvement work; new home construction is registered separately.
Exam
Connecticut’s HIC registration requires no exam. It is a registration system, not a tested license.
Fees
- Application fee: $120
- Home Improvement Guaranty Fund fee (annual): $100
Financial responsibility
Connecticut uses insurance in place of a bond as its financial-responsibility mechanism. No bond; contractors contribute to the state Home Improvement Guaranty Fund instead, and must carry general liability insurance of at least $20,000.
Reciprocity and the NASCLA exam
Connecticut is not on NASCLA’s participating-agencies list, confirmed directly against NASCLA’s own page, so a NASCLA Accredited Examination credential from another state does not by itself satisfy Connecticut’s requirements. See contractor license reciprocity for what does carry over, and the 50-state comparison for which states do accept the NASCLA exam.
Official source
Verify everything at the source: Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (Home Improvement Contractor registration), portal.ct.gov. The NASCLA participating-agencies determination above is drawn from NASCLA’s own list, nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24.
Sources: Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (Home Improvement Contractor registration) (portal.ct.gov, reviewed 2026-07-28); NASCLA participating state agencies list (nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24). Fee, bond, and experience figures are compiled from the agency's published requirements and current industry compliance guides as of 2026-07-28; treat any figure not independently reconfirmed against a fetched primary-source page as reported pending the next freshness review, per this site's standard practice.