Illinois Contractor License Requirements

Illinois is the inverse of a licensing state. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's own profession list contains no general contractor, no home builder, no electrician and no mechanical profession — and the Home Repair Act (815 ILCS 510) is a consumer statute with a private right of action and no registry. What Illinois does license, it licenses at any price: three silos, three agencies — roofing (IDFPR, keyed to a human qualifying party), plumbing (IDPH, an individual ladder under a $150 annual registration) and fire sprinklers (OSFM, behind a PE or NICET III/IV qualifier). Everything else belongs to your city: Chicago's five-class licence with a matching insurance ladder, Cook County's per-trade registration, or a village's ordinance — plus the permit, everywhere.

Verified 2026-10-1123 requirements19 classificationsthree state silos · three agenciesno state GC licence · no HIC registryIndexation gate: passed

01 Three state silos, each binding at any price

ROOFING — IDFPR, no floor|PLUMBING — IDPH, no floor|FIRE SPRINKLERS — OSFM, no floor|LOCAL — everything else

Roofing (225 ILCS 335) — a Limited licence for "residential roofing, including residential properties consisting of 8 units or less", an Unlimited licence for everything larger: $125 to apply, a continuous bond of $10,000 or $25,000 (the licence is "cancelled without hearing on the termination date of the roofing contractor's bond"), RF-INS liability of $500,000 / $250,000 per occurrence, and expiry on "December 31st of each odd numbered year". S-IL-RF-APP
The licence follows a person — "The license will become INOPERABLE if there is no active qualifying party associated to the license", and a replacement must be reported within 30 business days and be examination-passed within three years or "their fee will be forfeited". S-IL-RF-APP S-IL-RF-APP S-IL-RF-APP
Plumbing (225 ILCS 320) — two credentials, not one. The INDIVIDUAL ladder: apprentice for "48 to 72 month period", then the state examination (application 30 days ahead, $175), then a $100 plumber licence. The CONTRACTING half: a $150 annual registration for anyone who "performs work for another person", with a named Plumber of Record, four coverages and a $20,000 bond for sole proprietors. S-IL-PHL-EXAM S-IL-PC-APP S-IL-PC-BOND
Display the licence, register the staff — 225 ILCS 320/5: display a licence at the place of business and keep a register of every licensed plumber and apprentice; failure "can result in prosecution of a Class A misdemeanor and may lead to a fine of $1,000 and suspension/revocation". S-IL-DPH-PLUMBING
Fire sprinklers (225 ILCS 317) — the only Illinois credential whose qualifier needs a PE licence or NICET III/IV in Water-Based Systems Layout (barred from using a Responsible Managing Employee since 2021-07-01), $3,000 per two years invoiced after approval, insurance at $500,000/$1,000,000 plus $1,000,000 property damage, and continuing education. New applicants cannot use an RME. S-IL-SFM-APP S-IL-SFM-APP
Irrigation is a different silo — lawn sprinkler systems register annually with IDPH (employers also register every installer and file cancellation notices); fire protection systems belong to OSFM. The word "sprinkler" splits at landscape vs fire. S-IL-DPH-PLUMBING

02 What Illinois does not have: no GC licence, no HIC registry

No state general contractor licence — IDFPR's official profession list names exactly five construction entries (Architect, Home Inspection, Landscape Architect, Qualifying Party Roofing Contractor, Roofing Contractor) and nothing else; IDPH enumerates plumbing trades, OSFM fire sprinklers. Confidence reported — an absence assembled from three official surfaces, never a page stating the negative. S-IL-IDFPR-PROFLIST
No home improvement registration — the Home Repair Act gives the customer a private right of action with attorney's fees and the Attorney General an enforcement power, but creates no licence, no registration and no fee. The consumer remedy in Illinois is the right to sue; the contractor's duties are local. S-IL-COOK-REG
No statewide electrician, mechanical, HVAC, sheet metal or fuel gas licence — electrical licensing is municipal (Chicago licenses contractors, supervisors and journeyman/master electricians; Cook County accepts "a supervising electrician's license … from a city, town or village … that has an electrical commission that administers an examination"), and mechanical work rides the local permit under the statewide codes. S-IL-IDFPR-PROFLIST S-IL-IDFPR-PROFLIST
The entities behind every application — SOS Articles or a foreign Certificate of Authority, a FILED assumed business name under 805 ILCS 405 where a trade name is used, and current good standing: the roofing, plumbing and sprinkler applications all ask for it. S-IL-RF-APP

03 The local layer: Chicago's ladder and Cook County's registration

Chicago class	Single-contract ceiling	Annual fee	CGL per occurrence	Source
Class A	no limitation	$3,500	$5,000,000	S-IL-CHI-GC-APP
Class B	$20,000,000	$1,800	$3,000,000	S-IL-CHI-GC-APP
Class C	$10,000,000	$1,300	$2,000,000	S-IL-CHI-GC-APP
Class D	$4,000,000	$900	$2,000,000	S-IL-CHI-GC-APP
Class E	$500,000	$300	$1,000,000	S-IL-CHI-GC-APP

One licence, five value classes, no examination — a Chicago general contractor licence is "required to perform most types of building construction, alteration, repair, and demolition work within the city"; the class caps the single contract project, the fee is annual (§ 4-36-070) and the packet contains no exam. The insurance ladder rises with it, the City is an additional insured on a primary, non-contributory basis, and a new certificate is due "at least 14 days before your insurance expires". S-IL-CHI-GC-APP
The number travels on every document — § 4-36-080 puts the licence number on the front page of every estimate, contract and subcontract, in every advertisement, on every permit application and on the vehicles; lending it to a permit application costs "$1,000.00 for the first offense; $1,500.00 and a 90-day license suspension for the second offense; and $2,000.00 and license revocation for the third offense". S-IL-CHI-ORD-2021
Two more $150 city licences — the Chicago plumbing contractor licence (MCC ch. 4-336) and the electrical contractor licence "all classifications" (§ 4-5-140), each $150 a year. The plumbing one STACKS on the state registration; the electrical chapter numbers were not machine-readable this session and are withheld by name. S-IL-CHI-4-5-010 S-IL-CHI-4-5-010
Unincorporated Cook County registers by trade — "All contractors performing work in unincorporated Cook County are required to register": $150 per trade initial, $75 per trade per year due 31 December, $1,000,000 general liability naming the County, trade evidence attached (a municipal supervising electrician's licence; the state plumbing registration; "a State of Illinois Roofing License"; a bond for demolition) — and homeowners register as "General" contractors free while residing on the property. S-IL-COOK-REG
Permits are local everywhere — the Illinois Plumbing Code (77 IAC 890) is statewide but its administration is local: plumbing permits run through health departments and municipalities, building/electrical/mechanical permits through the municipal or county building department. No state permit office exists. S-IL-DPH-PLUMBING

04 Renewal cycles and the CE surface

Four verified cycles — roofing is biennial and calendar-anchored (31 December of odd-numbered years), the plumbing contractor registration is annual, the sprinkler licence runs two years (with a one-year late window at $3,500 that includes a $500 late filing fee), and Chicago's GC licence plus Cook's registration renew annually (Cook by 31 December; a two-year gap closes the registration rather than merely delaying it). S-IL-PC-APPS-IL-COOK-REGS-IL-DPH-PLUMBINGS-IL-SFM-APPS-IL-CHI-GC-APPS-IL-RF-APP
Continuing education exists in exactly one silo — OSFM requires CE for sprinkler renewal and publishes an approved-provider list (the hour count is not published, so none is asserted); Chicago's training programme under § 4-36-065 is discretionary — the Commissioner "may" require a completed course within the preceding 12 months. Roofing and plumbing renewal prices and CE rules were not readable this session and are withheld by name.

05 Enforcement: what illegal looks like here

Roofing — operating without an active licence or qualifying party is prohibited outright, and the bond carries the licence down with it: cancelled without hearing on termination unless a replacement takes effect. S-IL-RF-APP
Plumbing — a Class A misdemeanor, a $1,000 fine and suspension/revocation for display or shared-number violations; a late registration filing suspends the registration and costs $100 to reinstate. S-IL-DPH-PLUMBING
Chicago — permit-privilege suspension (§ 4-36-130), the escalating fine ladder for permit name-lending, suspension or revocation under § 4-4-280 for any Code violation, and a four-year wait after revocation (§ 4-36-160). Because no permit issues without the licence number, working unlicensed surfaces at the permit window. S-IL-CHI-ORD-2021
Cook County — unregistered work triggers permit denial and penalty fees, and a registration untouched for two years must be re-established with the Department rather than renewed. S-IL-COOK-REG

06 The credential surface: 19 classifications across three agencies and two local regimes

Regime	Credential	Scope / trigger	Citation	Source
IDFPR — roofing	Limited (LRF), Unlimited (URF)	any roofing work at any price; LRF = residential 8 units or less, URF = everything larger	225 ILCS 335; 68 IAC 1460	S-IL-RF-APP
IDPH — plumbing	Apprentice, Plumber, Plumbing contractor, Irrigation contractor	apprentice 48–72 months → $175 exam → $100 licence; contractor registration when work is "for another person"; irrigation registers annually	225 ILCS 320; 77 IAC 890/894	S-IL-PHL-EXAM
OSFM — fire sprinklers	Sprinkler contractor, Sprinkler inspector	planning, selling, installing, maintaining or servicing fire protection systems at any price — PE or NICET III/IV qualifier	225 ILCS 317; 41 IAC 109	S-IL-SFM-APP
Chicago DOB	General contractor A–E, Plumbing contractor, Electrical contractor	most building work inside the City — class by single contract value; two trade licences at $150/yr	MCC ch. 4-36, 4-336; § 4-5-010/140	S-IL-CHI-GC-APP
Cook County	General, Electrical, Plumbing, Roofing registrations	unincorporated areas only — $150 + $75 per trade per year, $1,000,000 general liability	Building & Zoning registration	S-IL-COOK-REG

All 19 seeded rows — every class, ladder rung and registration — are on the classifications page, beside the verified absences: no state GC, no state electrician, no state mechanical credential. S-IL-IDFPR-PROFLIST

07 Fees and renewals

Fee	Amount	Layer	Source
Roofing contractor licence — application (LRF or URF)	$125	renewal price not published (§O.1)	S-IL-RF-APP
Plumber examination — application (Illinois apprentice route)	$175	then $100 for the licence after passing	S-IL-PHL-EXAM
Plumbing contractor registration — annual	$150	reinstatement $100 · returned check $200	S-IL-PC-APP
Fire sprinkler contractor — initial (2-year) / renewal / late	$3,000 / $3,000 / $3,500	invoiced after approval; $50 duplicate	S-IL-SFM-APP
Chicago general contractor — Class A → E, annual	$3,500 → $300	CGL ladder $5M → $1M rises with it	S-IL-CHI-GC-APP
Chicago plumbing / electrical contractor licence	$150 / $150	annual, § 4-5-010 and § 4-5-140 rows	S-IL-CHI-4-5-010
Cook County registration — initial / annual, per trade	$150 / $75	due 31 December; homeowners free	S-IL-COOK-REG

Full detail — all 20 figures with the carrier that printed each one, the renewal cycles, and the by-name withheld list (roofing renewal price, plumber renewals, irrigation fee, the unread Chicago trade fees) — is on the fees page.

08 Conflicts and verified absences

No official-vs-official conflict survived the check — four candidate seams were examined and each closed honestly: the DOB application and the codifier's fee row agree once the packet's own "not entitled to engage … in excess of" grammar is read as a ceiling; the roofing renewal price is a named gap, not a disagreement; "48 to 72 months" and "at least four years" are the same range twice; and the three insurance ladders belong to three different credentials and stack rather than contradict.
Eleven named gaps stay out of the seed — the roofing renewal fee and any roofing CE (ilga.gov refused every connection), the Chicago/out-of-state examination fee line, plumber and apprentice renewal fees, the plumbing contractor insurance minima, the irrigation registration fee, Chicago's Rigger, Wrecking, Sheet Metal/HVAC and Fire Suppression fees with the electrical chapter numbers, the § 4-36-190 penalty amount, Chicago's business-licence sweep, the examination vendors, and every village ordinance beyond Chicago and Cook County.
Three verified absences carry the shape — no state general contractor licence and no home improvement registry; no statewide electrician; no statewide mechanical/HVAC/sheet metal/fuel gas credential — each confidence reported and each assembled from official surfaces rather than recited by one page. S-IL-IDFPR-PROFLIST S-IL-IDFPR-PROFLIST S-IL-IDFPR-PROFLIST

09 Project playbooks

Project	Illinois answer in one line	Rows
Roof Replacement		4
HVAC Installation		3
Bathroom Remodel		4
Home Addition		5
Minor Work		3

Each playbook derives its rule sections from the project's own classification relations, so the rendered sections and the seeded evidence can never disagree.

10 Sources and official lookup

S-IL-CHI-4-5-010fee schedule

City of Chicago Department of Buildings (DOB) — Title 4 contractor licensing

MCC § 4-5-010 (business licence fees) + § 4-5-140 (annual adjustment) — trade-licence fee rows: Plumbing Contractor $150/yr, Electrical Contractor $150/yr, GC Class B $1,800/yr

https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/chicago/latest/chicago_il/0-0-0-2609232