Roof Replacement — South Dakota license requirements

Verified 2026-10-097 official sources3 classification relations5 scope assertionsIndexation gate: passed

01 The project

The starting point is the work itself — Roof Replacement in South Dakota. The job determines which trades are involved, and the trades determine which license classifications may be required.

Component	Trade
Roof cover system	Roofing

02 Jurisdiction

This project is evaluated for South Dakota — the no-general-contractor-licence state. The State Electrical Commission (SDCL ch. 36-16) licenses only electrical, and only on its own terms: no dollar threshold, a $10,000 undertaking with liability insurance, biennial June 30 even-year renewal; the State Plumbing Commission (SDCL ch. 36-25) runs the plumbing ladders on annual December 31 licences; and every person entering a construction contract needs DOR's 2% contractor's excise licence. Local permits and any municipal registration are a separate layer under SDCL 36-16-35. South Dakota jurisdiction page.

Limitation — the statute host and the municipal layer are retrieval-limited

sdlegislature.gov serves a JavaScript app shell to this project's fetcher, so SDCL ch. 36-16 and ARSD 20:44 were read IN FULL from DLR's official Wiring Bulletin PDF and ARSD 20:53 from the Commission's LRC-approved rule package PDF; the ch. 36-25 penalty cross-reference (§ 36-25-30) is surfaced from the official rule page and flagged reported. Permit fees, local construction rules and any municipal business-licence rate were not researched and remain LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED. Both conflicts ($15/$20 wiring-permit caps; annual vs "2026-2027" specialty term) are published side by side. State requirements are not the complete story for any locality.

03 Trade → license

Relations below are recorded per state — only this jurisdiction's classifications are shown.

Trades involved: Roofing.

May require ELECTRICAL-CONTRACTOR — Electrical Contractor (SD Electrical Commission) confirmed S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN rule SD-ELEC-LICENSE
Roofing ITSELF is an unlicensed trade at state level (verified absence — rule SD-NO-GC on this page); the state credential that can attach to a roof job is the electrical licence, for any wiring inside it (vents, fans, edge heating, a solar array) — SDCL 36-16-1, no threshold.
Alternative path CLASS-B-ELECTRICIAN — Class B Electrician (SD Electrical Commission) confirmed S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN rule SD-ELEC-CONTRACTING
If the electrical portion of a RESIDENTIAL roof job is contracted, a Class B electrician may hold that contract (farm/residential only, SDCL 36-16-14); commercial electrical work needs the electrical contractor class.
Component basis JOURNEYMAN-ELECTRICIAN — Journeyman Electrician (SD Electrical Commission) confirmed S-SD-ELEC-LICENSING rule SD-ELEC-EXPERIENCE
The electrical portion is performed by a journeyman (4 years'/8,000 hours licensed experience, Commission exam at 70%) working under the contracting licence — a journeyman may practise but never contract (rule SD-ELEC-EXPERIENCE). The roofing labour itself needs no state credential; local permit + the 2% excise licence apply.

04 Scope

What the official sources say about the work involved — typed assertions, never a boolean "covers". Interpretations are marked as such.

Officially excluded CLASS-B-ELECTRICIAN Commercial Electrical Contracting (may_not_perform) SDCL 36-16-14 S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN
The hard commercial boundary — a Class B licence never covers a commercial electrical contract; the electrical contractor class does.
Officially included CLASS-B-ELECTRICIAN Farm And Residential Electrical Contracting (may_perform) SDCL 36-16-14 S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN
The Class B carve-out — contracting rights exist, but only for farm/residential wiring (rule SD-ELEC-CONTRACTING).
Officially excluded JOURNEYMAN-ELECTRICIAN Enter An Electrical Contract With Others (may_not_perform) SDCL 36-16-13, 36-16-14 S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN
A journeyman may perform electrical work but may not hold the contract — the distinction that keeps SD from presenting one 'electrician licence' as a contractor licence.
Our interpretation roof-replacement Roofing Work Without Any State Credential (may_perform) S-SD-BOARDS — our reading of the statute, not an official SD DLR (Electrical / Plumbing Commissions) / DOR statement.
D_interpretation_ours + reported: an ASSEMBLED absence, labelled as ours. It is published affirmatively (never as a gap) beside the two credentials that DO exist.
Officially included ELECTRICAL-CONTRACTOR Contract Electrical Work Of Any Kind (may_perform) SDCL 36-16-13, 36-16-14 S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN
The only class that may contract electrical work of any kind (rule SD-ELEC-CONTRACTING).

05 Requirements

Requirement	Kind	Statement	Source
No state roofing, HVAC/refrigeration, solar, general carpentry or painting licence (verified absence) DLR Boards & Commissions list (dlr.sd.gov, read 2026-10-09)	exemption	Beyond electrical and plumbing, South Dakota licenses NO construction trade at state level: roofing, HVAC/refrigeration, solar installation, framing/carpentry, painting, drywall, masonry, flooring and general building work are unlicensed trades at state level. Evidence (machine-read 2026-10-09): the DLR boards list contains no such board; the Plumbing Commission's occupation list (its front page + licensing page) covers only plumbing-adjacent occupations; the Electrical Commission covers only electrical work; DOR's page routes contractors to the excise tax licence. Any credential for these trades would come from a municipality or county (LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED).	S-SD-BOARDS Source S-SD-BOARDS — South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation (DLR) DLR — Boards & Commissions under the direction of the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation (the absence evidence) — DLR Boards & Commissions list (dlr.sd.gov, read 2026-10-09) https://dlr.sd.gov/boards_commissions_councils.aspx Retrieved 2026-10-09 · last verified 2026-10-09 Machine-read 2026-10-09 (HTTP 200). Lists every occupational/professional licensing board DLR directs: Abstracters' Board, Athletic Commission, Board of Accountancy, Board of Barber Examiners, Board of Technical Professions, Cosmetology Commission, ELECTRICAL Commission, PLUMBING Commission, Real Estate Commission — plus Banking, Human Rights, advisory councils and 'Other occupational and professional licensing boards and commissions, including those not under DLR'. NO general/building/roofing/HVAC contractor board exists. Together with the two trade chapters and DOR's excise page this is the evidence base for REQ-SD-NO-GC-LICENSE-001 and REQ-SD-NO-TRADE-LICENSE-001 (both confidence 'reported' — an assembled absence, never a gap).
Contractor's excise tax licence required for any construction contract (2%) DOR Contractor's Excise Tax page (dor.sd.gov, read 2026-10-09)	license	SD Department of Revenue (machine-read 2026-10-09) verbatim: 'Any person entering into a contract for construction services (as defined in Division C of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual of 1987) or engaging in services that include the construction, building, installation, or repair of a fixture to real property must have a South Dakota contractor's tax license. The excise tax imposed on the gross receipts for construction projects is at a rate of 2%.' Two project types apply — qualified utility projects (SDCL 10-46B) and everything else (SDCL 10-46A); a bid factor of 2.041% may be used to collect the full tax; returns are due the 20th of the month (25th if electronic); a prime contractor must issue exemption certificates to its subcontractors, and a subcontractor without one is treated as a prime contractor.	S-SD-DOR-EXCISE Source S-SD-DOR-EXCISE — South Dakota Department of Revenue (DOR) South Dakota Department of Revenue — Contractor's Excise Tax (the licence every contractor needs) — DOR Contractor's Excise Tax page (dor.sd.gov, read 2026-10-09) https://dor.sd.gov/businesses/taxes/contractors-excise-tax/ Retrieved 2026-10-09 · last verified 2026-10-09 Machine-read 2026-10-09 (HTTP 200). Verbatim: 'Any person entering into a contract for construction services (as defined in Division C of the Standard Industrial Classification Manual of 1987) or engaging in services that include the construction, building, installation, or repair of a fixture to real property must have a South Dakota contractor's tax license. The excise tax imposed on the gross receipts for construction projects is at a rate of 2%.' Two project types: qualified utility projects (SDCL 10-46B) and non-qualified (SDCL 10-46A); returns due the 20th of the month (paper/ACH the 25th electronic); bid factor 2.041%; prime contractors must issue exemption certificates to subcontractors (a subcontractor without a certificate is treated as a prime contractor); owner-occupied dwellings rules; Indian Country guidance to check with the tribe. No licence APPLICATION fee is published on the page — so no excise fee row is seeded (§O).
Only an electrical contractor may contract electrical work; Class B is limited to farm/residential SDCL 36-16-13, 36-16-14 (dlr.sd.gov Wiring Bulletin, read 2026-10-09)	license	SDCL 36-16-14 verbatim (official Wiring Bulletin, read 2026-10-09): 'No contract, agreement, or understanding with another for the installation of electrical wiring or the installation of electrical parts of other apparatus shall be entered into by anyone not an electrical contractor. Provided, however, that a Class B electrician, as defined in § 36-16-2, is authorized to enter into a contract, undertaking, or agreement for the installation of electrical wiring and his authority under the contract, undertaking or agreement is limited to the installation of farm electrical wiring, residential electrical wiring, the installation of electrical equipment, appliances and apparatus, in relation to said farm and residential wiring.' SDCL 36-16-13 separately licences contracting 'for a fixed sum, price, fee, percentage, or other consideration' after the examination.	S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN Source S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN — South Dakota State Electrical Commission (within DLR) SD Electrical Commission — Wiring Bulletin: SDCL ch. 36-16 (Electricians and Electrical Contractors) + ARSD article 20:44, official reproduction — SDCL 36-16-13, 36-16-14 (dlr.sd.gov Wiring Bulletin, read 2026-10-09) https://dlr.sd.gov/electrical/documents/wiring_bulletin.pdf Retrieved 2026-10-09 · last verified 2026-10-09 Downloaded and read IN FULL 2026-10-09 (pdftotext, 3,106 lines) — the Commission's official PDF reproduction of the entire electrical statute chapter AND its administrative rules, used because sdlegislature.gov serves a JavaScript shell to the fetcher. Sections credited: § 36-16-1 (licence required; Class 2 misdemeanor), § 36-16-2 (definitions — apprentice, Class B with 36 months, electrical contractor, inspector, journeyman with 4 years, maintenance, 501(d)), § 36-16-13 (contracting licence after examination; exam fee ≤$150, application ≤$100), § 36-16-14 (only an electrical contractor may contract; Class B limited to farm/residential wiring), § 36-16-15 (owner exemption for own residence/farmstead/new owner-occupied single-family; >60 A entrances inspected; failure to report = Class 2 misdemeanor), § 36-16-16 (nine occupational exemptions), § 36-16-17 (biennial fee caps: EC $200, journeyman $80, Class B $200, inspector $120, maintenance $120, 501(d) $120), § 36-16-19 (2 yrs journeyman or 1 yr commercial Class B for the EC), § 36-16-20 ($10,000 undertaking + liability insurance $100k/$300k + $50 deposit; no additional undertaking for a municipal licence), § 36-16-21 (apprentice registration ≤$20, even years, personal supervision), § 36-16-23 (reciprocity), § 36-16-25 (two-year term expiring midnight June 30 of even-numbered years, renewal within 30 days; emergency farm/residential repairs exempt), § 36-16-27 (wiring permit before service connection; rule fee cap $15, late cap $750), § 36-16-30 (inspection fee caps incl. wiring permits ≤$20), § 36-16-33 (five discipline grounds incl. NEC non-compliance and aiding an unlicensed person), § 36-16-34 (Class 2 misdemeanor), § 36-16-34.1 (injunction), § 36-16-35 (localities may impose MORE STRINGENT requirements), § 36-16-38 (reinstatement ≤$100); rules ARSD 20:44:16:03 (exam written from NEC + statutes/rules, 70% pass, 90-day/30-day/90-day windows), 20:44:16:04 ($60 application fee every class), 20:44:16:05 (apprentice supervision), 20:44:16:06 (1 year = 2,000 hours), 20:44:16:15 (biennial fees: EC $200, journeyman $80, Class B $100, inspector $100, 501(d) $80), 20:44:16:16 (temporary journeyman $10), 20:44:16:17 (apprentice registration $20), 20:44:16:18 (reinstatement $50 within one year), 20:44:17:01 (16 h CE per biennium), 20:44:17:02 (≤8 h online per biennium).
Localities may impose MORE STRINGENT requirements than the state chapter SDCL 36-16-35, 36-16-20 (dlr.sd.gov Wiring Bulletin, read 2026-10-09)	permit	SDCL 36-16-35 verbatim (official Wiring Bulletin, read 2026-10-09): 'Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit any municipality, rural electric cooperative, private utility, or political subdivision of the state from making and enforcing more stringent requirements than those set forth in this chapter, and such requirements shall be complied with.' § 36-16-20 adds the flip side: a licensed electrical contractor or Class B electrician need not furnish any additional undertaking for a MUNICIPAL licence. Municipal zoning/planning runs under SDCL ch. 11-4/11-6 (chapter index surfaced).	S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN Source S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN — South Dakota State Electrical Commission (within DLR) SD Electrical Commission — Wiring Bulletin: SDCL ch. 36-16 (Electricians and Electrical Contractors) + ARSD article 20:44, official reproduction — SDCL 36-16-35, 36-16-20 (dlr.sd.gov Wiring Bulletin, read 2026-10-09) https://dlr.sd.gov/electrical/documents/wiring_bulletin.pdf Retrieved 2026-10-09 · last verified 2026-10-09 Downloaded and read IN FULL 2026-10-09 (pdftotext, 3,106 lines) — the Commission's official PDF reproduction of the entire electrical statute chapter AND its administrative rules, used because sdlegislature.gov serves a JavaScript shell to the fetcher. Sections credited: § 36-16-1 (licence required; Class 2 misdemeanor), § 36-16-2 (definitions — apprentice, Class B with 36 months, electrical contractor, inspector, journeyman with 4 years, maintenance, 501(d)), § 36-16-13 (contracting licence after examination; exam fee ≤$150, application ≤$100), § 36-16-14 (only an electrical contractor may contract; Class B limited to farm/residential wiring), § 36-16-15 (owner exemption for own residence/farmstead/new owner-occupied single-family; >60 A entrances inspected; failure to report = Class 2 misdemeanor), § 36-16-16 (nine occupational exemptions), § 36-16-17 (biennial fee caps: EC $200, journeyman $80, Class B $200, inspector $120, maintenance $120, 501(d) $120), § 36-16-19 (2 yrs journeyman or 1 yr commercial Class B for the EC), § 36-16-20 ($10,000 undertaking + liability insurance $100k/$300k + $50 deposit; no additional undertaking for a municipal licence), § 36-16-21 (apprentice registration ≤$20, even years, personal supervision), § 36-16-23 (reciprocity), § 36-16-25 (two-year term expiring midnight June 30 of even-numbered years, renewal within 30 days; emergency farm/residential repairs exempt), § 36-16-27 (wiring permit before service connection; rule fee cap $15, late cap $750), § 36-16-30 (inspection fee caps incl. wiring permits ≤$20), § 36-16-33 (five discipline grounds incl. NEC non-compliance and aiding an unlicensed person), § 36-16-34 (Class 2 misdemeanor), § 36-16-34.1 (injunction), § 36-16-35 (localities may impose MORE STRINGENT requirements), § 36-16-38 (reinstatement ≤$100); rules ARSD 20:44:16:03 (exam written from NEC + statutes/rules, 70% pass, 90-day/30-day/90-day windows), 20:44:16:04 ($60 application fee every class), 20:44:16:05 (apprentice supervision), 20:44:16:06 (1 year = 2,000 hours), 20:44:16:15 (biennial fees: EC $200, journeyman $80, Class B $100, inspector $100, 501(d) $80), 20:44:16:16 (temporary journeyman $10), 20:44:16:17 (apprentice registration $20), 20:44:16:18 (reinstatement $50 within one year), 20:44:17:01 (16 h CE per biennium), 20:44:17:02 (≤8 h online per biennium).

06 Rule: SD-ELEC-LICENSE

SDCL 36-16-1 (machine-read from DLR's official Wiring Bulletin): 'Any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation engaged, or offering to engage, in business as an electrical contractor as defined in § 36-16-2 or any person performing the work as defined in this chapter, shall obtain a license from the State Electrical Commission before any person may undertake and perform such work … It is a Class 2 misdemeanor' to do so without compliance. There is NO dollar threshold on any electrical licence — the duty attaches to the work itself.

Outcome	Conclusion	Caveats
unlicensed-electrical-work	electrical_license_required	Who may CONTRACT the work is answered separately by SD-ELEC-CONTRACTING. The Class 2 fine/day range (SDCL 22-6-2) was not machine-read and is NOT published (research §O).
licensed-electrical-work	electrical_license_held	Verify the licence is current through the DLR Boards and Commissions portal; the licensee search was linked but not machine-read this phase.
no-electrical-work	no_electrical_license_needed_for_this_work	Plumbing work on the same project is gated separately (SD-PLB-LICENSE), and the excise licence still applies to the contract (SD-EXCISE).

07 Rule: SD-ELEC-CONTRACTING

SDCL 36-16-14 (machine-read): 'No contract … for the installation of electrical wiring … shall be entered into by anyone not an electrical contractor. Provided, however, that a Class B electrician … is authorized to enter into a contract … limited to the installation of farm electrical wiring, residential electrical wiring, the installation of electrical equipment, appliances and apparatus, in relation to said farm and residential wiring.' § 36-16-13 conditions contracting on passing the examination; § 36-16-2 defines the classes (Class B needs 36 months' experience, journeyman 4 years, apprentice registered and personally supervised).

Outcome	Conclusion	Caveats
electrical-contractor-may-contract	may_contract_electrical_work	The undertaking and insurance conditions apply to this licence (SD-ELEC-BOND, SD-ELEC-INSURANCE).
class-b-farm-or-residential	class_b_may_contract_farm_residential_only	Commercial work needs an electrical contractor licence (second outcome).
class-b-outside-scope	class_b_may_not_contract_commercial_work	—
journeyman-or-apprentice-cannot-contract	may_practise_but_not_contract	The journeyman may perform the work under an electrical contractor; the CONTRACT still needs the contractor's licence.
no-electrical-credential	may_not_contract_or_perform_electrical_work	—

08 Rule: SD-ELEC-EXPERIENCE

DLR licensing page verbatim (machine-read 2026-10-09): 'After completing four years (for a total of 8,000 hours) as a licensed apprentice electrician working under the employment and supervision of an electrical contractor, you will be ready to write the journeyman's exam. It will then take another two years as a licensed journeyman (with a total of 4,000 hours of additional work … including a minimum of 2,000 hours of commercial work) to write the electrical contractor's exam' — and 'Experience hours must be licensed in order for the working time to count.' ARSD 20:44:16:06 fixes one year of experience at 2,000 hours. SDCL 36-16-19 sets the statutory floor for the contractor licence: two years as a journeyman OR one year of commercial experience as a Class B electrician; SDCL 36-16-2 sets Class B at 36 months.

Outcome	Conclusion	Caveats
journeyman-ready	ready_for_journeyman_examination	Unlicensed hours do not count: 'Experience hours must be licensed in order for the working time to count' (DLR). The exam itself is answered by SD-ELEC-EXAM.
journeyman-not-ready	apprentice_hours_insufficient	Continue registered as an apprentice electrician ($20 registration, SDCL 36-16-21).
electrical-contractor-ready	ready_for_electrical_contractor_examination	The undertaking and insurance conditions attach to this licence (SD-ELEC-BOND, SD-ELEC-INSURANCE).
electrical-contractor-not-ready	contractor_experience_not_met	—
class-b-experience-met	class_b_experience_met	Class B still requires the exam (SD-ELEC-EXAM) and the undertaking/insurance (SD-ELEC-BOND, SD-ELEC-INSURANCE).
class-b-experience-short	class_b_experience_not_met	—

09 Rule: SD-NO-TRADE

Verified absence: South Dakota issues NO state credential for roofing, HVAC/refrigeration, general building, painting, framing, solar or landscaping contracting. None of these trades appears in the DLR boards list (machine-read 2026-10-09) or in either Commission's occupation list (electrical: SDCL 36-16-2 classes; plumbing: the Commission's front-page occupations). Work in those trades is gated only by local permits and any municipal registration (`LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED`), plus the universal excise tax licence (SD-EXCISE) and the electrical/plumbing licences whenever those trades are touched (SD-ELEC-LICENSE, SD-PLB-LICENSE). Confidence `reported` — an assembled absence.

Outcome	Conclusion	Caveats
no-state-credential-for-this-trade	no_statewide_trade_credential	If the project also does electrical or plumbing work, those licences apply regardless of the primary trade (SD-ELEC-LICENSE, SD-PLB-LICENSE). No South Dakota municipal code was opened this phase — city and county requirements are LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED (SD-LOCAL).
state-credentialed-trade	state_credentialed_trade	—

10 Rule: SD-LOCAL

SDCL 36-16-35 (machine-read): 'Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit any municipality, rural electric cooperative, private utility, or political subdivision … from making and enforcing more stringent requirements than those set forth in this chapter.' The wiring-permit duty of § 36-16-27 is itself statewide, and building permits are issued locally. NO South Dakota municipal code or permit schedule was opened this phase — every city/county licensing and permit fact is LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED and is never guessed (research §K/§O).

Outcome	Conclusion	Caveats
local-permit-required	local_permit_required	No South Dakota municipal code was opened this phase — the specific city's requirements are LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED and must be confirmed with the AHJ.
local-license-required	municipal_contractor_license_required	Municipal licence scope and fees are LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED — no city was read this phase.
no-local-requirements-reported	no_local_requirement_reported	SDCL 36-16-35 preserves the locality's POWER to impose stricter requirements — verify with the AHJ before relying on this; this seed read no municipal code (research §O). The statewide wiring permit (SD-ELEC-PERMIT) and the excise licence (SD-EXCISE) still apply on their own terms.

11 Unlicensed trade — what the state still requires

Question	South Dakota answer	Source
State roofing licence?	none exists — roofing appears in no board or occupation list (rule SD-NO-TRADE)	S-SD-BOARDS
Wiring on or near the roof edge?	the electrical licence stack attaches — only an electrical contractor may contract it; Class B covers residential roofs (rule SD-ELEC-CONTRACTING)	S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN
Who contracts the job?	an electrical contractor for any electrical portion; a Class B electrician for farm/residential wiring only	S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN
The contract itself?	the 2% excise licence applies to every construction contract (rule SD-EXCISE)	S-SD-DOR-EXCISE
City permit or roofer registration?	LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED — SDCL 36-16-35 preserves local power; no municipal code was opened (rule SD-LOCAL)	S-SD-WIRING-BULLETIN

12 Fees and the credential boundary

Question	South Dakota answer	Source
Electrical contractor — application / biennial	$60 application + $200 licence (machine-read, ARSD 20:44:16:04/16:15); statutory cap $200	S-SD-ELEC-LICENSING
Electrical undertaking	$10,000 + $50 deposit, plus $100k/$300k liability insurance (§ 36-16-20)	S-SD-ELEC-UNDERTAKING
Plumbing contractor — initial / renewal	$275 / $275 annual (ARSD 20:53:12:03); plumber/installer $105	S-SD-PLUMBING-LICENSING
Wiring permit	$20 each or 20 for $400 — CONFLICT-SD-001 resolves the $15-vs-$20 caps to the current schedule	S-SD-ELEC-FEES
Any state credential for the primary trade?	none for roofing, HVAC, solar or general building — verified absences (rules SD-NO-GC, SD-NO-TRADE)	S-SD-BOARDS

Evidence

S-SD-BOARDSboard page

South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation (DLR)

DLR — Boards & Commissions under the direction of the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation (the absence evidence)

https://dlr.sd.gov/boards_commissions_councils.aspx