Vermont contractor license requirements

Quick answer

Vermont registers residential contractors through the Office of Professional Regulation for jobs of $10,000 or more, with no exam, no experience verification, and no bond. Registration costs $75 for individuals or $250 for businesses, and contractors must carry at least $1,000,000 per-occurrence general liability insurance instead of a bond.

Last reviewed 2026-07-28 by Contractor Exam Pro editorial team

At a glance

Agency: Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), residential contractor registration
Exam: Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), residential contractor registration requirements (no state exam)
Vendor: No state exam vendor
Fees: Application fee, individuals $75; Application fee, businesses $250
NASCLA accepted: No
Last reviewed: 2026-07-28

License classes

Residential: Residential contractor registration : No exam, no bond, no continuing education.

Vermont regulates contracting through a state contractor registration (bond and insurance based, not a competency exam). This page lays out exactly what Vermont 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 Vermont

Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), residential contractor registration is the licensing authority. Registration required for residential contracting work of $10,000 or more.

Experience and qualification

No experience verification and no exam for residential contractor registration.

License classes

Residential (Residential contractor registration): No exam, no bond, no continuing education.

Exam

No exam.

Fees

Application fee, individuals: $75
Application fee, businesses: $250

Financial responsibility

Vermont uses insurance in place of a bond ($1,000,000 / $2,000,000) as its financial-responsibility mechanism. No bond is required. Vermont instead requires general liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate.

Reciprocity and the NASCLA exam

Vermont 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 Vermont’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: Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), residential contractor registration, sos.vermont.gov. The NASCLA participating-agencies determination above is drawn from NASCLA’s own list, nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24.

Sources: Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), residential contractor registration (sos.vermont.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.

Frequently asked questions

Does Vermont require a contractor exam?

No. Vermont's residential contractor registration has no exam, no experience verification, and no continuing education requirement.

What insurance does Vermont require instead of a bond?

At least $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate general liability insurance, in place of a surety bond.