Requirements by state
Michigan contractor license requirements
Quick answer
Michigan contractor license requirements
Michigan requires a Residential Builder license through LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes for residential construction contracting. There is no fixed years-of-experience rule; instead you complete 60 hours of approved prelicensure education, pass a closed-book PSI exam, pay a $195 application fee, and carry at least $100,000 in general liability insurance in place of a state bond.
At a glance
- Exam
- Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Construction Codes exam (PSI)
- Vendor
- PSI
- Fees
- License application fee $195; PSI exam fee set by PSI, not independently verified
- NASCLA accepted
- No
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-28
License classes
- Residential Builder
- Residential Builder : Covers one- and two-family residential construction.
Michigan regulates contracting through a state-level general contractor license. This page lays out exactly what Michigan 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 Michigan
Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Construction Codes is the licensing authority. A Residential Builder license is required for residential construction contracting.
Experience and qualification
No fixed statewide years requirement; 60 hours of LARA-approved prelicensure education is required before the exam instead.
License classes
- Residential Builder: Covers one- and two-family residential construction.
Exam
A closed-book PSI exam, no reference materials permitted in the testing center.
Fees
- License application fee: $195
- Exam fee: set by PSI. Reported figures for this fee vary by source and could not be pinned to one verifiable published schedule, so no specific amount is published here; confirm the current fee directly with PSI when you register.
Financial responsibility
Michigan uses insurance in place of a bond ($100,000 general liability minimum) as its financial-responsibility mechanism. Michigan does not require a state bond for Residential Builder licensure; the Occupational Code sets a $100,000 per-occurrence general liability insurance minimum instead.
Reciprocity and the NASCLA exam
Michigan 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 Michigan’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: Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Construction Codes, www.michigan.gov. The NASCLA participating-agencies determination above is drawn from NASCLA’s own list, nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24.
Sources: Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Bureau of Construction Codes (www.michigan.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.