Handyman License and Exemption Rules in Michigan

Read the exemption before you rely on it

The whole handyman question in Michigan turns on one subdivision. MCL 339.2403 opens by providing that a person may engage in the business of, or act in the capacity of, a residential builder or a residential maintenance and alteration contractor or salesperson "without a license under this article" if the person is one of a listed set. Subdivision (f) is the money one: "A person that is working on 1 undertaking or project by 1 or more contracts, if the aggregate contract price for the labor, material, and any other items for the undertaking or project is less than $600.00."

Four words in that sentence do the work, and each one narrows it. "Aggregate" means every contract on the project is added together, so three $250 contracts on one house are $750, not three exempt jobs. "Labor, material, and any other items" means the customer's own materials budget counts if you are contracting for them, and it is the contract price, not your profit. "1 undertaking or project" means the unit is the job, not the invoice or the visit. And "less than $600.00" means $600.00 itself is over the line, not on it.

The subdivision then closes the obvious dodge in its own words: "The exemption described in this subdivision does not apply if the work of a construction is only a part of a larger or major operation, whether undertaken by the same or a different residential builder or residential maintenance and alteration contractor, or in which a division of the operation is made in contracts of amounts less than $600.00, to evade this act." Read plainly, that catches both the sub who takes a small slice of a big remodel and the owner who writes four small contracts instead of one real one.

Official sources: Michigan Legislature: MCL 339.2403

The other exemptions, and who they actually cover

MCL 339.2403 lists eight other categories alongside the $600 rule, and several are routinely misread. An owner of property is exempt "with reference to a structure on the property for the owner's own use and occupancy" — that is your own home you live in, not a house you are building to sell. An owner of rental property is exempt "with reference to the maintenance and alteration of that rental property", which covers a landlord maintaining their own units and does not convert into a licence to work on anyone else's.

Two exemptions matter to people who work for other contractors. An authorised representative of the United States government, this state, or a county, township, city, village or other political subdivision is exempt, as is an officer of a court acting within the scope of that office. And subdivision (e) exempts "a person other than the salesperson that engages solely in the business of performing work and services under contract with a residential builder or a residential maintenance and alteration contractor that is licensed under this article". If you work exclusively as a sub for a licensed builder, that is the exemption you are relying on, and the word "solely" is doing real work in it.

The last three subdivisions carve out the skilled trades, and only for their own work. A licensed electrical contractor, plumbing contractor or mechanical contractor is exempt from Article 24, but each exemption "applies only to" the electrical, plumbing or mechanical installation, maintenance or repair work performed by that contractor. A licensed plumber who also frames a bathroom is outside the plumbing exemption for the framing.

Official sources: Michigan Legislature: MCL 339.2403

What you need once you cross $600

Above the line, the answer for most handyman-style businesses is a Maintenance & Alteration Contractor licence. LARA issues it by craft, and lists the crafts as carpentry, concrete, excavation, insulation work, masonry, siding, roofing, screens and storm sash, gutters, tile & marble, house wrecking, swimming pools and basement waterproofing, adding that the crafts you are qualified to practise "are listed on the license". A handyman business that does a bit of everything typically needs several of those crafts on one licence rather than one generic credential.

The path is the same as for a builder and it is front-loaded. LARA requires 60 hours of approved prelicensure education "prior to taking the examination or submitting a license application to the Department", with at least 6 hours in each of seven named subjects and the balance from the approved course list. Then a completed application and fee, good moral character, and the Maintenance & Alteration Contractor examination administered by PSI. R 338.1521 gives you one year from first applying to finish everything, after which "the application shall be void and the application processing fee shall be forfeited".

The licence then runs on a three-year clock: LARA states you "must renew every three (3) years by 5/31", at $150.00, with a $20.00 late fee after expiration rising to $35.00 after 60 days, and 21 hours of continuing education for a first or second renewal cycle dropping to 3 hours from the third. If you also start hiring, the Workers' Disability Compensation Agency's thresholds arrive quickly: coverage is required of "all private employers regularly employing 3 or more employees at one time", and that count "includes part-time employees".

Official sources: LARA Maintenance & Alteration Contractor License Information; LARA Prelicensure Education Requirements; LARA BCC License/Registration Renewals; Michigan Administrative Code R 338.1511 to R 338.1566; Michigan WDCA: Workers' Disability Compensation Insurance Requirements

Two rules that catch small operators specifically

The first is advertising. Michigan Administrative Code R 338.1532 requires that "a licensee shall include the name, license number, and actual business address, as shown on the license, in all advertising", and states that "the use of a telephone or post office box number alone is prohibited". Yard signs, flyers, door hangers, vehicle lettering, a website and paid ads are all advertising. A licensed handyman running ads with a mobile number and no licence number is in breach of the rule that governs the licence, which is a separate problem from whether the work was any good.

The second is paperwork on the job. R 338.1533 requires that "all agreements and changes to the agreements between a builder, or contractor, and the customer shall be in writing and signed by the parties", with copies provided to the customer, and that the writing clearly state the terms including cost, the type and amount of work to be done, and the type and quality of materials to be used. R 338.1534 requires a builder or contractor to "keep and maintain a complete, accurate set of books and records". Small repair businesses are the ones that run on verbal change orders, and the change order is exactly what the rule is aimed at.

There is also a quiet trap in the complaint rules. R 338.1551 requires a licensee to reply to a forwarded complaint within 15 days and to confirm or deny that it is justified, and provides that "failure or refusal by the licensee to correct a structural matter that is materially deficient, dangerous, or hazardous to the owners is presumed to be dishonest or unfair dealing". The same rule requires that all construction, renovations, alterations or repairs comply with the Michigan construction code.

Official sources: Michigan Administrative Code R 338.1511 to R 338.1566

Check the official page yourself before you file or sign

Michigan publishes its contractor rules across at least four agencies: LARA's Bureau of Construction Codes for the licence, LARA's Corporations Division for the entity, the Department of Treasury for tax registration and returns, and the Workers' Disability Compensation Agency for coverage. No single page carries all of it, and each one changes on its own schedule.

Before you file an application, sign a contract, or hire anyone, open the specific LARA page for your licence type, confirm the hours, the renewal date and the fee, and keep a dated copy of what you read. LARA publishes a licensing phone line at 517-241-9316 and an email address for the Licensing Section, and it warns that "application fees are non-refundable" and that processing "may be up to 3-5 weeks". A ten-minute call before you pay is cheaper than a non-refundable application filed into the wrong licence type.

Official sources: LARA Bureau of Construction Codes Licensing Section; LARA Bureau of Construction Codes: Residential Builders