Idaho minor work: no exam-based contractor license exists for private work (verified absence — 'The Act requires registration, not licensure'), but a Contractor Registration with DOPL is required when the job exceeds $2,000 (materials + labor). Below $2,000 the § 54-5205(2)(f) casual/minor exemption applies with its anti-splitting proviso; owners on their own property are exempt with the 12-month sale limitation. Unregistered contracting costs lien rights and exposes the contractor to a misdemeanor and a court-action bar. Every claim sourced and dated.
No exam-based contractor license for private work (verified absence) — DOPL FAQ verbatim: 'The Act requires registration, not licensure.' Nothing in the Idaho Contractor Registration Act (ch. 52, title 54) sets an examination, experience or continuing-education requirement for private-work contractors — the credential is a REGISTRATION with the Idaho Contractors Board. The only exam-based contractor licence Idaho issues is the PUBLIC WORKS Contractor licence (ch. 19), which attaches to government-funded contracting, not private residential work. S-ID-CON-FAQ
Contractor registration required above $2,000 (materials + labor) — DOPL FAQ verbatim: 'Any person who engages in a construction job with a dollar amount exceeding $2000.00 (materials & labor) and is not otherwise exempt' must register. § 54-5204(1): 'On and after January 1, 2006, it shall be unlawful for any person to engage in the business of, or hold himself out as, a contractor within this state without being registered as required in this chapter.' § 54-5204(2) makes it unlawful to engage an unregistered subcontractor required to register. S-ID-54-5204
Registration exemptions (§ 54-5205 + DOPL FAQ summary) — § 54-5205(1): persons 'licensed, registered, or otherwise regulated by the state of Idaho' acting within their profession (including chapters 3, 10, 12, 19, 26, 45 and 50 of title 54 — public works licensees, electricians, plumbers, HVAC, architects, engineers, surveyors) need not register 'so long as such person is not acting with the intent to evade this chapter' and may not hold themselves out as registered contractors. § 54-5205(2): wage/salary employees and bona fide volunteers; government representatives; PUC utilities; oil/gas/mineral operations; suppliers who do not install or fabricate; 'casual, minor, or inconsequential' projects under $2,000 (with the anti-splitting proviso); farmers/ranchers; exempt agricultural buildings; water-delivery entities; rural fire-prevention clearing; owners contracting with registered contractors on their own property (void if building to sell during construction or within 12 months); owners on their own personal residential real property (similar limitation unless occupied 12 months prior to sale); commercial owners/lessees with their own employees; real-estate licensees on nominal maintenance; logging forest-access roads; industrial chemical process buildings; modular buildings built in Idaho for out-of-state installation. S-ID-54-5205
Unregistered contractors: lien denial, misdemeanor, court-action bar — § 54-5208 verbatim: an unregistered contractor 'shall be denied and shall be deemed to have conclusively waived any right to place a lien upon real property as provided for in chapter 5, title 45, Idaho Code' (registered subs and unaware employees/suppliers protected). § 54-5217(1): unregistered contracting 'shall be guilty of a misdemeanor … punished by a fine of not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not to exceed six (6) months, or by both.' § 54-5217(2): no unregistered person 'may bring or maintain any action in any court of this state for the collection of compensation' without proving registration or exemption at all times during performance. S-ID-54-5208
02 Which credentials this project can touch
Project
Credential
Relation
Rule
Source
minor-work
Registered Contractor (individual or business entity)