Requirements by state
Illinois contractor license requirements
Quick answer
Illinois contractor license requirements
Illinois licenses only two trades at the state level: roofing and plumbing, both through IDFPR. General contracting and every other specialty is licensed entirely at the city and county level, with requirements that vary by jurisdiction and do not transfer between them.
At a glance
- Exam
- Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR): roofing and plumbing statewide; all other trades are local requirements (no state exam)
- Vendor
- No state exam vendor
- Fees
- See fee structure below
- NASCLA accepted
- No
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-28
License classes
- Limited Roofing
- Limited Roofing License (Residential) : Residential properties up to 8 units.
- Unlimited Roofing
- Unlimited Roofing License : Residential, commercial, and industrial roofing.
Illinois regulates contracting through state licensing for specialty trades only, not general contracting. This page lays out exactly what Illinois 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 Illinois
Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR): roofing and plumbing statewide; all other trades are local is the licensing authority. Illinois issues state licenses only for roofing and plumbing; general contracting and every other trade is licensed city by city and county by county.
This is an honest gap, not a coverage failure: Illinois 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 Illinois stacks up against every other jurisdiction, and the do I need a contractor license guide for what that means in practice.
Experience and qualification
Set by IDFPR for the roofing license and separately by each municipality for general contracting.
License classes
- Limited Roofing (Limited Roofing License (Residential)): Residential properties up to 8 units.
- Unlimited Roofing (Unlimited Roofing License): Residential, commercial, and industrial roofing.
Exam
The statewide Roofing Contractor License requires passing an exam through IDFPR; general contracting has no state exam because there is no state general contractor license.
Financial responsibility
Illinois uses surety bond as its financial-responsibility mechanism. A contractor bond is required for the state roofing license; general contractor bonding requirements are set locally.
Reciprocity and the NASCLA exam
Illinois 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 Illinois’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: Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR): roofing and plumbing statewide; all other trades are local, idfpr.illinois.gov. The NASCLA participating-agencies determination above is drawn from NASCLA’s own list, nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24.
Sources: Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR): roofing and plumbing statewide; all other trades are local (idfpr.illinois.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.