New Jersey Contractor License Fees

The 23 verified whole-dollar state and local fees New Jersey publishes — each one read off an official administrative rule or city page on 2026-10-12: the HIC registration ladder in N.J.A.C. 13:45A-17.14, the three boards' schedules in 13:32, 13:31 and 13:32A, and Newark's own licence page. New Jersey prices registrations and trades, not general contracting — there is no state GC fee because there is no state GC licence — and where a figure could not be verified, the row says so instead of inventing one.

Verified 2026-10-1223 published figureswhole-dollar onlyone registration · three boards · one cityIndexation gate: passed

01 Fee vs security vs insurance vs permit

REGISTRATION / LICENCE FEE≠SECURITY: $10,000 / $25,000 / $50,000≠INSURANCE: CGL $500,000 + WC≠MUNICIPAL PERMIT FEE

The fee is the small number — $110 to register a home improvement business, $160 to hold a master plumber or master HVACR licence, $225 triennially to be an electrical contractor: what a credential costs is separate from what it requires — tiered security and insurance in the tens and hundreds of thousands. S-NJ-SA-56-8-142
Financial security is a CHOICE of instrument, not a fee — the HIC's $10,000 / $25,000 / $50,000 ladder (by contract value) can be satisfied by surety bond, irrevocable letter of credit or other acceptable form under 56:8-142(f)-(g); buying any of them is a private-market price and is never seeded. S-NJ-SA-56-8-142
Insurance attaches once, at the registration — CGL $500,000 per occurrence plus workers' compensation under 56:8-142(a), rising to $1,000,000 for home elevation work; the three boards price no insurance minimum of their own. S-NJ-SA-56-8-142
There is no state GC fee to compare against — New Jersey issues no general contractor licence, so the comparison other states make (state fee vs local fee) does not exist here: the municipality charges (Newark: $200+) or nothing does. S-NJ-AC-1345A-17 S-NJ-NEWARK-BC

02 Consumer Affairs — HIC registration: $110 in, $90 a year, and the ladder that follows

Fee	Amount	Kind	Charged by	Source
Home improvement contractor registration — initial 13:45A-17.14 verbatim (Cornell): 'Initial registration fee $110.00'.	$110	application	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-1345A-17
Home improvement contractor registration — ANNUAL renewal (April 1 – March 31) 13:45A-17.14: 'Renewal registration fee $90.00'; the ANNUAL period is 13:45A-17.5 (April 1 – March 31) — New Jersey's HIC renewal is annual, not biennial (research §D). Late $25, reinstatement $50, duplicate certificate $20 on the same schedule.	$90	renewal	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-1345A-17
HIC registration — replacement/duplicate certificate 13:45A-17.14: 'Replacement or duplicate certificate fee $20.00'.	$20	miscellaneous	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-1345A-17
HIC registration — late fee 13:45A-17.14: 'Late fee $25.00'.	$25	miscellaneous	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-1345A-17
HIC registration — reinstatement 13:45A-17.14: 'Reinstatement fee $50.00'. On lapse/revocation/nonrenewal the contractor must return the certificate and remove the registration number from vehicles, advertising and displays (13:45A-17.11).	$50	miscellaneous	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-1345A-17

The registration year runs April 1 – March 31 (13:45A-17.5), so the $90 renewal lands annually rather than biennially — one of New Jersey's quiet differences from every trade board here. Lapse and the ladder adds up: $25 late, $50 reinstatement, $20 for a duplicate certificate — and on revocation or nonrenewal the certificate must be returned and the registration number stripped from vehicles, advertising and displays (13:45A-17.11). S-NJ-AC-1345A-17

03 Board of Master Plumbers — application, licence, renewal, registrations

Fee	Amount	Kind	Charged by	Source
Master plumber — late renewal (within 30 days) 13:32-5.1 late fee; 13:32-2.6 sets the 30-day window (licence stays valid inside it) and the suspension-without-hearing consequence after it. Reinstatement $150 (see FEE-NJ-PLUMB-REINSTATEMENT-001).	$50	miscellaneous	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32
Master plumber — reinstatement 13:32-5.1: reinstatement $150; initial/replacement pressure seal $25, duplicate licence $25, replacement wall certificate $40 on the same schedule.	$150	miscellaneous	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32
Master plumber — application ($50 with prior registration) 13:32-5.1 (Cornell): $100 without prior registration; $50 with prior registration. The EXAMINATION fee is not on this schedule (research §O.4) — no second amount is asserted.	$100	application	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32
Master plumber — initial licence ($160 in the first biennial year / $80 in the second) 13:32-5.1: $160 first year, $80 second year of the biennium (proration).	$160	license	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32
Master plumber — biennial renewal (five CE credits per period) 13:32-5.1 renewal $160 biennial; CE five credits per biennium, first renewal exempt (13:32-6.1); renewal within 30 days on fee + $50 late, then suspension without hearing (13:32-2.6). The fixed calendar expiry date is search-level only (§O.7) and is NOT seeded.	$160	renewal	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32
Journeyman plumber — registration ($50 with prior registration) 13:32-5.1: $75 without prior registration; $50 with prior registration.	$75	license	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32
Apprentice plumber — registration 13:32-5.1: 'registration as an apprentice plumber', $50.	$50	license	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32

Plumbing prices a LADDER: $100 to apply, then the licence split across the biennial period ($160 in the first year / $80 in the second), then $160 to renew with five CE credits — first renewal exempt. The journeyman ($75) and apprentice ($50) registrations ride the same biennial schedule as the master; late renewal is $50 within 30 days and reinstatement $150. The fixed calendar expiry (search listings said June 30 of odd years) is NOT seeded — only the verified cycle (research §O.7).

04 Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors — the triennial licence plus the SEPARATE business permit

Fee	Amount	Kind	Charged by	Source
Electrical — application fee, ALL licences 13:31-1.6 (Cornell): 'application fee for all licenses' — $100.	$100	application	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-31
Electrical contractor — initial licence ($225 / $150 / $75 by triennial year) 13:31-1.6: $225 first year, $150 second, $75 third of the triennial (proration by year paid).	$225	license	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-31
Electrical contractor — triennial renewal (34 CE credits incl. 10-h in-person NEC) 13:31-1.6 renewal $225 triennial; CE 34 credits per triennial incl. the 10-hour in-person NEC course, first triennium exempt (13:31-1.7). $50 late within 30 days, $100 reinstatement.	$225	renewal	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-31
Electrical BUSINESS PERMIT — separate triennial ($150 / $100 / $50; $150 renewal) 13:31-1.6 lists the business permit SEPARATELY from the contractor licence: $150/$100/$50 initial by triennial year, $150 renewal, $25 late — a New Jersey quirk: the electrical business owes two triennial payments, the licence and the permit.	$150	license	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-31
Class A journeyman electrician — initial licence ($150 / $100 / $50; $150 renewal) 13:31-1.6: $150/$100/$50 initial by triennial year; $150 renewal; 15 CE credits per triennial (13:31-5.5).	$150	license	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-31
Electrical — late renewal (within 30 days) $50; reinstatement $100 13:31-1.6 / 13:31-2.4: $50 late within the 30-day window (licence stays valid inside it), suspension without hearing after; reinstatement $100.	$50	miscellaneous	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-31

Electrical is the only TRIENNIAL family here — and the only one with two credentials for one company: the contractor licence ($225 / $150 / $75 by triennial year, $225 renewal) and the separate electrical business permit ($150 / $100 / $50, $150 renewal). The $100 application fee covers every licence class; the Class A journeyman rides at $150 triennial with 15 CE credits, and the 34-credit contractor renewal includes the 10-hour in-person NEC course. Late renewal $50 within 30 days; reinstatement $100.

05 Board of Examiners of HVAC Contractors — the biennial master licence

Fee	Amount	Kind	Charged by	Source
Master HVACR contractor — application 13:32A-6.1 (Cornell): application $100.	$100	application	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32A
Master HVACR contractor — initial licence ($160 first biennial year / $80 second) 13:32A-6.1: $160 first year, $80 second year of the biennium (proration).	$160	license	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32A
Master HVACR contractor — biennial renewal (five CE credits per period) 13:32A-6.1 renewal $160 biennial; CE five credits per biennium, first renewal exempt (13:32A-4.1); renewal within 30 days on fee + $50 late, then suspension without hearing (13:32A-3.1).	$160	renewal	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32A
Master HVACR contractor — late renewal (within 30 days) $50; reinstatement $150; pressure seal $25 13:32A-6.1: $50 late, $150 reinstatement, $25 initial/replacement pressure seal, $25 duplicate licence, $40 replacement wall certificate.	$50	miscellaneous	New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety	S-NJ-AC-13-32A

HVACR mirrors plumbing's biennial rhythm — $100 application, $160/$80 initial, $160 renewal with five CE credits — with its own late ladder ($50 late, $150 reinstatement) and the $25 entity pressure seal. What HVACR does NOT print here is a contract-value threshold: the circulating $7,500 line is withheld under CONFLICT-NJ-001 because N.J.A.C. 13:32A as machine-read carries none. S-NJ-AC-13-32A

06 Municipal — Newark Building Contractor licence, the verified local example

Fee	Amount	Kind	Charged by	Source
Newark Building Contractor licence (local) — 'Price: $200+' + $20 police-record check newarknj.gov prints 'Price: $200+' as a FLOOR, not a fixed figure (machine-read 2026-10-12), plus a separate '$20' police-record-check fee; the amount here records the published floor and this note keeps the exact wording. New Jersey has NO statewide general contractor licence — this is the local layer (REQ-NJ-LOCAL-LAYER-001). Jersey City and Passaic figures did not extract (research §O.9) and are NOT seeded.	$200	license	City of Newark — Construction Department (local Building Contractor licence)	S-NJ-NEWARK-BC

Newark's Building Contractor licence is the one municipal price that machine-read this session: "Price: $200+" plus a $20 police-record check — charged by the City, not Consumer Affairs. Jersey City and Passaic's regimes were identified but their fee text did not extract (research §O.9), and every other municipality stays LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED. S-NJ-NEWARK-BC

07 Withheld on purpose — never guessed

NOT PUBLISHED as a whole-dollar figure

The HVACR $7,500 contract threshold — the circulating formulation, attributed to N.J.S.A. 45:16, could not be verified against any machine-readable official carrier on 2026-10-12 (the statute page was unreadable; the agency FAQ returned 403). Withheld under CONFLICT-NJ-001 — no FEE, requirement or scope row asserts it.
Jersey City and Passaic municipal fees — both regimes were identified as real, but the fee text did not extract from the city surfaces (research §O.9); they are named, not priced.
Fixed calendar expiry dates for the boards — search listings circulated dates (e.g. June 30 of odd years for plumbing); only the verified cycle lengths (12 / 24 / 36 months) are seeded.
Every municipality beyond Newark — no other local licence fee machine-read this session; each is marked LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED on its row.
Bond and letter-of-credit premiums, insurance premiums — private-market prices, not state fees; the statute prices only the MINIMUM security.

08 Sources

S-NJ-AC-13-31regulation

New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Department of Law and Public Safety

N.J.A.C. 13:31 — Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors: the five-year contractor rule (13:31-2.3), renewal (13:31-2.4), supervision (13:31-3.4), fees incl. the separate business permit (13:31-1.6), CE (13:31-1.7), the Class A journeyman ladder (13:31-5.1/5.2/5.5) (Cornell LII reproduction)

https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/new-jersey/N-J-A-C-13-31-2-3