Alaska minor work: there is NO dollar threshold for registration — 'A person may not submit a bid or work as a contractor' until registered (AS 08.18.011(a)), and the base registration has no exam. The handyman category is a BOND TIER for one project with an aggregate contract price of $10,000 or less ($100 + $250 fees, $5,000 bond), barred by 12 AAC 21.700 from administrator or endorsement work and written to defeat anti-evasion splitting; owners on their own existing structure and the capped owner-builder (one structure per two years) are the statutory exemptions. Every claim sourced and dated.
Certificate of registration required before ANY bid or work (no dollar threshold) — AS 08.18.011(a) verbatim: 'A person may not submit a bid or work as a contractor until that person has been issued a certificate of registration as a contractor by the department.' AS 08.18.171(4) defines contractor to reach any person who undertakes, offers to perform, claims capacity to perform or SUBMITS A BID for construction, alteration, repair, moving or demolition of a building or fixed structure — there is NO dollar threshold anywhere in the chapter (the $10,000 figure is the handyman bond tier, not an exemption). § 08.18.011(b): a general contractor may not 'use a bid or proposal from, award a bid or proposal to, contract with, or allow a person required to be registered under this chapter to work for the general contractor as a specialty contractor unless the person is registered as a specialty contractor under this chapter.' S-AK-AS-0818
No base examination exists for contractor registration (verified absence) — Nothing in AS 08.18 conditions a certificate of registration on an examination. The chapter's examinations are: the residential contractor examination (§ 08.18.025(b)(2) — the endorsement), the home-inspector examinations (§ 08.18.022), and the AS 08.40 electrical/mechanical administrator licences (§§ 08.18.026, 08.18.028). The application forms 08-4815 and 08-4816 request no exam, no experience and no qualifying party — only application, fees, insurance, workers' compensation (when applicable) and the bond. S-AK-CON4815
Handyman category: one project with aggregate contract price ≤ $10,000 — AS 08.18.071(b)(4) verbatim: the $5,000 bond covers a 'contractor whose work on one project with an aggregate contract price of $10,000 or less, including all labor, materials, and other items, when the work is not part of a larger or major operation or otherwise divided into contracts of less than $10,000 to evade a higher bonding requirement.' 12 AAC 21.700: a handyman registrant 'may (1) only submit bids for or work on projects within the scope of a contractor; (2) not perform or employ a person to perform activities requiring an electrical or mechanical administrator under AS 08.40; and (3) not perform or employ a person to perform activities requiring a residential contractor endorsement under AS 08.18.025.' FAQ verbatim: 'Starting January 1, 2015, a professional "General Contractor - Handyman" license is required. If someone is doing business under this license, the aggregate total of the project must not exceed $10,000 and they must carry public liability and property damage insurance as required by AS 08.18.101.' S-AK-CON4816
Twelve statutory exemptions — including the one-structure-per-two-years owner-builder — AS 08.18.161 verbatim (abridged list): the chapter does not apply to '(1) an authorized representative of the United States government, the state, or a political subdivision or agency of the state; (2) an officer of a court when acting within the scope of office; (3) a public utility operating under the regulations of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska in construction, maintenance, or development work incidental to its own business; (4) a construction, repair, or operation incidental to the discovering or producing of petroleum or gas … or a surface or underground mine … when performed by an owner or lessee; (5) the sale or installation of finished products, materials, or articles of merchandise that are not actually fabricated into and do not become a permanent, fixed part of a structure; (6) construction, alteration, or repair of personal property; (7) a person who only furnished materials, supplies, or equipment …; (8) an owner who contracts for a project with a registered contractor; (9) a person working on an existing structure on that person's own property … and a person working on that person's own existing residence …; (10) an owner or tenant of commercial property who uses the owner's or tenant's own employees to do maintenance, repair, and alteration work on that property; (11) an owner who acts as the owner's own contractor … in this case, the owner shall be limited to construction of one home, duplex, triplex, four-plex, or commercial building every two years; an owner who advertises the structure under construction for sale or sells the structure during the period of construction or within two years after the period of construction begins shall file … a notice …; (12) a person performing construction work incidental to farming, dairying, agriculture, horticulture, stock or poultry raising, mining, logging, fishing, clearing, or other work on the land in rural districts for fire prevention purposes, or access road building, unless the person is a licensee.' S-AK-AS-0818
Bonds are priced separately — $25,000 general / $20,000 exclusively-residential endorsed / $10,000 mechanical or specialty / $5,000 handyman (AS 08.18.071(b)). Municipal permit fees are LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED and are not published here.