Requirements by state
Georgia contractor license requirements
Quick answer
Georgia contractor license requirements
Georgia requires a license once a general contracting job reaches $2,500 in combined labor and materials. Applicants pass two sealed exams, Business and Law plus a Trade or NASCLA exam, both at 70 percent and $110 per part, and a full General Contractor license needs a CPA-prepared financial statement showing net worth of $150,000 or more.
At a glance
- Exam
- Georgia State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors (SLBRGC) exam (PSI)
- Vendor
- PSI
- Fees
- Examination fee, per part $110
- NASCLA accepted
- Yes
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-28
License classes
- Residential-Basic
- Residential-Basic Contractor : $300,000 minimum general liability insurance.
- Residential-Light Commercial
- Residential-Light Commercial Contractor : $500,000 minimum general liability insurance.
- General Contractor
- General Contractor : $500,000 minimum general liability insurance; requires $150,000+ net worth.
Georgia regulates contracting through a state-level general contractor license. This page lays out exactly what Georgia 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 Georgia
Georgia State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors (SLBRGC) is the licensing authority. $2,500 or more in combined materials and labor for general contracting work.
Experience and qualification
No fixed statewide years-of-experience minimum is published; net worth and passing both exams are the qualifying gates.
License classes
- Residential-Basic (Residential-Basic Contractor): $300,000 minimum general liability insurance.
- Residential-Light Commercial (Residential-Light Commercial Contractor): $500,000 minimum general liability insurance.
- General Contractor: $500,000 minimum general liability insurance; requires $150,000+ net worth.
Exam
Two sealed exams: Business and Law (60 questions, 180 minutes, 70% passing) and the General Contractor Trade exam or NASCLA Commercial General Building exam (115 questions, 330 minutes, 70% passing). Exam fee is $110 per part.
Fees
- Examination fee, per part: $110
Financial responsibility
Georgia uses net worth / financial statement ($150,000+ for General Contractor) as its financial-responsibility mechanism. A CPA-prepared financial statement showing net worth of $150,000 or more for a full General Contractor license; Georgia’s financial responsibility system also allows surety bonds or net-worth affirmations for lower classifications.
Reciprocity and the NASCLA exam
Georgia accepts the NASCLA Accredited Examination for the commercial building classification, confirmed against NASCLA’s own participating-agencies list. If you already hold a NASCLA credential from another participating state, it can satisfy Georgia’s trade exam requirement (any state-specific business and law exam is still required). See the NASCLA exam explained and contractor license reciprocity for the full picture, and the 50-state comparison for which other states accept it.
Official source
Verify everything at the source: Georgia State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors (SLBRGC), sos.ga.gov. The NASCLA participating-agencies determination above is drawn from NASCLA’s own list, nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24.
Sources: Georgia State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors (SLBRGC) (sos.ga.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.