Alabama Contractor License Requirements

01 The Alabama model

Alabama is not California, Florida, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Nevada, Colorado, Washington, North Dakota or Maine. It does not have one contractor threshold — it has two, split by whether the work is residential, and five boards that are never collapsed into a single "Alabama contractor license".

• Two thresholds decide the board — non-residential work of $100,000+ (pools $5,000) is the ALBGC's; residential work over $10,000 (roofing over $2,500) is the HBLB's. (Rule AL-TWO-THRESHOLD.) S-AL-GC-LAW
• Non-residential general contractor license — required where the cost of the undertaking including labor and materials is $100,000 or more; subcontractors on ≥$100,000 contracts under a licensed prime must also be licensed. (Rules AL-GC-LICENSE, AL-GC-SUBCONTRACTOR.) S-AL-GC-LAW
• Residential home builder license — required to build or improve a residence when the cost of the undertaking exceeds $10,000, licensed annually through a qualifying representative, with residential roofing from $2,500. (Rules AL-HB-LICENSE, AL-HB-ROOFER.) S-AL-HBLB-LAW
• The three trade boards are separate — electrical (AECB, ch. 36), plumbing and gas fitting (PGFB, ch. 37) and HVAC/R (HACR, ch. 31) each hold their own credential, tested against the exemption before it is asserted. (Rules AL-ELEC-LICENSE, AL-PLUMB-LICENSE, AL-HVAC-LICENSE.) S-AL-AECB-LAW
• LOCAL permits are a separate layer — state licensing decides WHO may contract; the municipal building department issues the building permit and the city/county issues a business licence. (Rule AL-LOCAL-PERMIT.) S-AL-GC-LAW

02 Who regulates

03 State vs local

Alabama splits the state credential from the local permit; the state boards decide who may work, the municipality issues the permit:

04 The two thresholds

• The residential threshold is an order of magnitude lower — $10,000 (roofing $2,500) against the non-residential $100,000. A residence under $10,000 is the only "unlicensed contractor" band Alabama recognises for residential work. S-AL-GC-LAW
• Subcontractors share the threshold — on ≥$100,000 contracts ($5,000 pools) under a licensed prime they must be licensed; a prime awarding such a subcontract becomes an awarding authority. S-AL-GC-LAW
• Swimming pools are the exception — the pool threshold is $5,000, but Act 2026-396 (effective 2026-10-01) exempts residential swimming-pool construction and repair (CONFLICT-AL-003). S-AL-GC-EXEMPTIONS-2026
• Residential roofing is licensed from $2,500 — the roofer tier is the lowest residential threshold in Alabama, and an Unlimited home builders licence covers roofing without a separate roofer licence. (Rule AL-HB-ROOFER.) S-AL-HBLB-LAW

05 The credential families

The 17 classification rows below are the complete state credential surface, across five families that are never collapsed:

Full classification scopes, conditions and rules →

06 Exemptions and owner rights

Alabama's exemption lists are statutory and specific — the licence is tested against the exception BEFORE it is asserted:

• General contractor — §34-8-7 — exempts the owner of property acting as their own contractor; temporary labour provided by a labour broker under a general contractor's supervision (§34-8-7(a)(8), Act 2024-277; a labour broker may not act as a subcontractor); and, from 2026-10-01 (Act 2026-396), the construction and repair of residential swimming pools and certain routine or regular maintenance, repair, cleaning and facility-support services. (Rule AL-GC-EXEMPTIONS.) S-AL-GC-EXEMPTIONS-2026
• Residential home builder — §34-14A-6 — exempts subcontractors employed by a licensee (own portion over $10,000 still needs a licence), government employees, general contractors licensed by the ALBGC before 1992 (number ≤ 18907), real estate licensees / engineers / architects within scope, homeowners building their OWN residence (nontransferable; sale within one year forfeits), mobile homes / Alabama Manufactured Housing Commission structures, and agricultural buildings except residences therein. (Rule AL-HB-EXEMPTIONS.) S-AL-HBLB-EXEMPTIONS
• Owner-occupant cautions — a homeowner who compensates anyone to supervise the build is NOT acting as their own contractor, and the exemption jeopardises Homeowners' Recovery Fund protection. S-AL-HBLB-EXEMPTIONS

07 Bond and insurance

A consumer should still ask any contractor for a certificate of insurance — but Alabama requires a coverage amount only as a statutory condition of residential home building (§34-14A-19), and the amount is not board-published.

08 Renewal

Renewal mechanics differ across the five boards — the general contractor renewal carries the statutory $200 fee within 30 days of expiration (§34-8-2), the home builders licence is annual on a January 1 cycle, and the electrical and plumbing/gas credentials carry continuing-education conditions:

General contractor: Code of Alabama §34-8-2 provides that 'application for renewal of a license, together with the payment of a fee of two hundred dollars ($200), received by the board at least 30 days prior to' expiration renews the licence. The ALBGC publishes annual 2026 renewal forms and processes renewals through its roster system. S-AL-CODE-34-8-2

Electrician CE: The AECB publishes: '2027 is a CE year. All Electrical Contractors are required to obtain 14 hours of' continuing education. The board processes online renewals for electrical contractors and journeyman electricians. S-AL-AECB

Plumber / gas fitter renewal: The PGFB renewal period runs October 1 through December 31 each year (the board home describes the 2027 renewal period as October 1–December 31, 2026); continuing education (4 hours) must be completed by the CE deadline (2026-11-01) to avoid a deficiency plan and deficiency fee. Certificates expire December 31 and are annual. S-AL-PGFB

09 State fees

The 3 verified state fees — the statutory general contractor renewal and the two Administrative Code electrical amounts. Everything else (the ALBGC application amount, the HBLB tier amounts, the plumbing/gas schedule and all municipal permit fees) is deliberately withheld:

Full fees page → · The Alabama Administrative Code (chapter 303-X, Electrical Contractors) sets the fee schedule: 'Electrical Contractor License Fee $150.00'; 'Journeyman Electrician License Fee $35.00'; and a reciprocal electrical contractor licence fee. The board also publishes that 2027 is a continuing-education year, requiring electrical contractors to obtain 14 hours of CE. S-AL-ADMINCODE-303

10 Trade credentials across the five boards

• General contractor — examination — licensure runs through the board's examination (Alabama business & law plus the trade examination, §34-8-3). (Rule AL-GC-EXAM.) S-AL-GC-LAW
• Electrical — §34-36-13 bars engaging in the electrical contracting business or working as a master/journeyman electrician without an AECB licence; §34-36-7 provides examinations with state reciprocity. (Rules AL-ELEC-LICENSE, AL-ELEC-EXAM.) S-AL-AECB-EXAM
• Plumbing and gas fitting — the PGFB examines, certifies and regulates plumbers, gas fitters and medical gas piping fitters (§34-37-1); a journeyman applicant shows two years of current work experience (§34-37-6). (Rules AL-PLUMB-LICENSE, AL-PLUMB-EXAM.) S-AL-PGFB-LAW
• Gas fitting has a floor credential — "a minimum of an Apprentice card is required in order to perform gas fitting"; a master/journeyman uses a board form to declare whether they perform gas fitting. (Rule AL-PLUMB-GAS.) S-AL-PGFB-FORMS
• HVAC/R — chapter 31 regulates the heating, air conditioning and commercial refrigeration contractors industry; localities may not impose further testing (§34-31-28). (Rule AL-HVAC-LICENSE.) S-AL-HACR-LAW
• HVAC/R fee framework — The HACR board charges an annual licence fee and an examination fee and operates an online profile for CE-hour verification and renewals. Commercial training sources report an annual licence fee of about $220 and an examination fee of about $175, but the board's own page read on 2026-10-05 does not itemise the amounts, so they are reported (not confirmed). S-AL-HACR
• Plumbing fee framework — §34-37-9 authorises the board to set the necessary fees to administer the chapter, and the Administrative Code chapter 720-X-4 holds the fee schedule. The specific renewal and examination amounts were NOT extractable from the official sources read on 2026-10-05, so no figure is published here. (Commercial training pages circulate different figures — master $75/$150, journeyman $25/$50, apprentice $12/$25 — which do not agree, so none is asserted.) S-AL-ADMINCODE-720

11 The Homeowners' Recovery Fund

• Recovery fund — §34-14A-15 authorises the board's Homeowners' Recovery Fund to pay actual economic damages (no interest or court costs) caused by a licensee's violation, only to homeowners who complain under §34-14A-8 and never on consent judgments. The per-transaction maximum was raised from $20,000 to $30,000; each licensee contributes up to $60 a year. (Rule AL-HB-RECOVERY.) S-AL-HBLB-RECOVERY
• Home builder liability insurance — §34-14A-19 requires proof of liability insurance before construction; the obligation is statutory, the amount is not board-published. (Rule AL-HB-INSURANCE.) S-AL-HBLB-LAW
• Residential renewal cycle — residential home builder licences are ANNUAL, on a 12-month period beginning January 1 (§34-14A-5). (Rule AL-RENEWAL.) S-AL-HBLB-LAW

12 Solar

• No standalone solar license — verified absence — rooftop photovoltaics are electrical construction work, so an AECB electrical contractor licence (§34-36-13) is the credential, with a journeyman electrician holding the individual certificate. (Rule AL-ELEC-LICENSE.) S-AL-AECB-LAW
• Solar-thermal limb — solar heating tied to HVAC equipment can fall within the HACR licence scope (chapter 31). S-AL-HACR-LAW

Solar installation project page →

13 Official lookup

Before hiring, check the official lookups — linked, not mirrored, so the status vocabulary is whatever the agency publishes:

• Alabama Licensing Board for General Contractors (ALBGC) — https://genconbd.alabama.gov/
• Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board (HBLB) — https://hblb.alabama.gov/
• Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors (AECB) — https://aecb.alabama.gov/
• Alabama State Plumbers and Gas Fitters Examining Board (PGFB) — https://pgfb.alabama.gov/
• Alabama Board of Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors (HACR) — https://hacr.alabama.gov/
• The Code of Alabama (ALISON) and the Alabama Administrative Code are the primary authority; the board law pages/PDFs reproduce the operative sections, and the Administrative Code holds the rule-set amounts. S-AL-CODE-34-8-2

14 Project examples

15 Sources

Blue badge = official source with a retrieval/verification date. Every Alabama source was read on an official *.alabama.gov board page or the Alabama Administrative Code with HTTP 200. Retrieval limitation: the ALISON code viewer is script-driven and returns no extractable text to this harness, so Code sections are cited through the official board pages/PDFs that reproduce them and through the Administrative Code.

16 Known conflicts and limitations