Requirements by state
Minnesota contractor license requirements
Quick answer
Minnesota contractor license requirements
Minnesota licenses Residential Contractors and Remodelers through the Department of Labor and Industry. You need 2 years of verifiable experience, must pass an open-book, Minnesota-specific PSI exam (110 questions, 70 percent passing, $85 fee), and pay a license fee tiered $500 to $700 by gross receipts. Minnesota uses a Contractor Recovery Fund instead of a bond.
At a glance
- Exam
- Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) exam (PSI)
- Vendor
- PSI
- Fees
- PSI exam fee $85; Initial license fee (tiered by gross annual receipts) $500 to $700; Renewal fee $505 to $705
- NASCLA accepted
- No
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-28
License classes
- Residential Contractor
- Residential Building Contractor : New residential construction.
- Residential Remodeler
- Residential Remodeler : Remodeling and repair work.
Minnesota regulates contracting through a state-level general contractor license. This page lays out exactly what Minnesota 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 Minnesota
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) is the licensing authority. Residential Contractor and Remodeler licenses are required for residential building and remodeling work.
Experience and qualification
2 years of verifiable residential construction experience within the past 10 years.
License classes
- Residential Contractor (Residential Building Contractor): New residential construction.
- Residential Remodeler: Remodeling and repair work.
Exam
A Minnesota-specific, open-book PSI exam: 110 questions, 4 hours, 70% passing, $85 fee. DLI supplies reference materials; candidates cannot bring their own copy of the IRC.
Fees
- PSI exam fee: $85
- Initial license fee (tiered by gross annual receipts): $500 to $700
- Renewal fee: $505 to $705
Financial responsibility
Minnesota uses insurance in place of a bond as its financial-responsibility mechanism. No surety bond is required. Minnesota instead runs the Contractor Recovery Fund (Minn. Stat. 326B.89), funded by a $25 annual contribution built into the license fee, paying up to $50,000 per homeowner claim. At least $100,000 per-occurrence / $300,000 aggregate general liability insurance is also required.
Reciprocity and the NASCLA exam
Minnesota 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 Minnesota’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: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), www.dli.mn.gov. The NASCLA participating-agencies determination above is drawn from NASCLA’s own list, nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24.
Sources: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) (www.dli.mn.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.