Does Delaware license general contractors?

No. Delaware has no state general contractor competency license or exam. Contractors need a $75 Division of Revenue business license and Department of Labor contractor registration, not a tested credential.

Delaware contractor license requirements

Q: Do out-of-state contractors need a bond in Delaware?

Yes. Resident contractors post no state bond, but a non-resident contractor must file a surety bond equal to 6 percent of the contract price on any job of $20,000 or more.

Delaware regulates contracting through no state contractor licensing at all. This page lays out exactly what Delaware 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 Delaware

Delaware Division of Revenue (business license only); Office of Contractor Registration, Delaware Department of Labor is the licensing authority. No state contractor competency license or exam exists at any project size.

This is an honest gap, not a coverage failure: Delaware genuinely does not run the kind of statewide general contractor competency system that states like California or Georgia do. See the national comparison for how Delaware stacks up against every other jurisdiction, and the do I need a contractor license guide for what that means in practice.

Experience and qualification

None required; Delaware issues a business license, not a competency credential.

Exam

No state exam for general contracting. Trade licenses for electricians, plumbers, and HVACR contractors are issued statewide through the Division of Professional Regulation.

Fees

Division of Revenue business license (annual): $75

Financial responsibility

Delaware uses no bond or net worth requirement as its financial-responsibility mechanism. No state bond for resident contractors. A non-resident contractor must file a surety bond equal to 6 percent of the contract price on jobs of $20,000 or more.

Reciprocity and the NASCLA exam

Delaware 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 Delaware’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: Delaware Division of Revenue (business license only); Office of Contractor Registration, Delaware Department of Labor, revenue.delaware.gov. The NASCLA participating-agencies determination above is drawn from NASCLA’s own list, nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24.

Sources: Delaware Division of Revenue (business license only); Office of Contractor Registration, Delaware Department of Labor (revenue.delaware.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.