How to Get a Contractor License or Registration in Louisiana

Step one: decide which application you are actually filing

LSLBC provides four basic licence types, and the Board publishes a different application checklist for each. Screening yourself into the wrong one wastes an exam fee and a financial statement, so do this first, in writing, against the largest job you intend to sell in the next twelve months rather than the smallest one you are comfortable with.

For commercial work, a licence is required at a project value of $50,000 or more when the property is to be used for commercial purposes, with exceptions that pull the trigger much lower: electrical, mechanical and plumbing at projects exceeding $10,000, and asbestos, hazardous waste, lead-based paint abatement or removal and underground storage tanks at $1 or more. For residential work, the brochure requires a licensed Residential Building Contractor for residential construction or home improvement projects of $50,000 or more "or requiring any structural work". Home improvement work in the band exceeding $7,500 but not in excess of $50,000 needs a home improvement registration or a licensed contractor. Mold remediation needs a licence at $7,500 or more.

The Board also warns against two assumptions that cost people money. A Commercial licence does not allow you to build a single residential home. And a master plumber licence issued by the State Plumbing Board of Louisiana does not replace LSLBC licensing: if you perform plumbing work valued at $10,000 or more including labour and materials, the Board states you must also hold a commercial plumbing licence with LSLBC.

Official sources: LSLBC Types of Licenses; LSLBC Licensing Requirements for Contractors in Louisiana; LSLBC Frequently Asked Questions

Step two: nominate a qualifying party who is genuinely eligible

LSLBC defines a qualifying party as "a natural person designated by the contractor to represent the contractor for the purpose of complying with the provisions in the Contractors Licensing Law and Rules and Regulations", including meeting the requirements for the initial licence and any continuation of it. The qualifying party holds the exam scores and is not the owner of the licence unless they are a sole proprietor. The licence itself belongs to the entity: a corporate licence belongs to the corporation, an LLC licence to the LLC, an individual licence to the individual, regardless of the status of the qualifying party.

Eligibility has to be documented, not asserted. A sole proprietor needs no additional documentation. A partner supplies the partnership agreement listing them. An LLC member or manager supplies the original Articles of Organization and Initial Report identifying them, or the operating agreement if those do not. A corporate incorporator, stockholder or officer supplies the Articles of Incorporation, or the by-laws or meeting minutes. An employee must be full-time, which the Board ties to the IRS definition of an employee averaging 30 hours per week or 130 hours per month and receiving a W-2, and both employee and employer must sign a legal affidavit to that effect.

Plan for succession before you need it. There is no limit on the number of qualifying parties a company may have, an owner may qualify any company they own, and an employee may qualify the licensed company and related entities. Adding one later requires the Board's "Adding a Qualifying Party to an Existing License" form, a notarised "Application for Qualifying Party", the required fees and, where an exam applies, a new testing cycle.

Official sources: LSLBC Frequently Asked Questions

Step three: classifications, exams and the Business and Law course

Louisiana licences you by classification, and the statute is unforgiving about it: R.S. 37:2156(F)(1) provides that "The licensee shall not be permitted to bid or perform any type of work not included in the classification under which his license was issued." So the classification list is not paperwork, it is the definition of what your company is allowed to sell.

The Board distinguishes a major classification, which allows you to bid or perform work on the subclassification and specialty work listed under it and related work; a subclassification, which is a division under a major classification for a specific trade; a specialty classification, which does not fall under a major classification; and a credential, which is a classification requiring a certificate or licence from an outside agency. Most classifications carry a trade exam. A few do not: Labor Only requires no examination or credential, and the Home Improvement classification carries no trade exam. Some are credentials rather than exams, such as Landscaping, Grading and Beautification, which requires Louisiana Department of Agriculture licensure, and Mold Remediation, which requires 24 hours of board-approved training.

Everyone applying takes the Business and Law course. Candidates approved for testing receive an eligibility letter from PSI with instructions for registering and scheduling, and the Board directs candidates to PSI for exam content outlines and candidate information bulletins. The Board also states that an exam or administrative fee is required for each classification and for Business and Law, so add classifications deliberately rather than collecting them.

Official sources: LSLBC Exams and Classifications List; LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules (Blue Book); LSLBC Frequently Asked Questions

Step four: financial statement, insurance and the application itself

The Board brochure sets out what each application must include. A commercial application must include a financial statement showing a minimum of $50,000 net worth, current within 12 months of application, completion of the Business and Law course, and a passing score on the trade exam if applicable. A residential application adds proof of general liability insurance and proof of workers' compensation coverage to those same three items. A mold remediation application requires a financial statement showing a minimum of $25,000 net worth, the Business and Law course, 24 hours of approved mold remediation and assessment training, and insurance. A home improvement registration application requires proof of general liability insurance and proof of workers' compensation coverage.

If you are applying as an LLC, corporation or limited partnership, the Board requires that the company be registered with the Louisiana Secretary of State. Applications for mold remediation, commercial, home improvement and residential are all filed through the Board's online application system, and the Board publishes an online application instruction sheet listing the information and documents to gather before starting so the session does not time out halfway through.

Do not start work while the application is pending. The Board states that a licence or registration is required before you can bid, contract or perform work, and that licences and registrations are issued once all requirements are met, with no published processing time and no temporary licence available.

Official sources: LSLBC Licensing Requirements for Contractors in Louisiana; LSLBC Frequently Asked Questions; LSLBC Apply for a License

Insurance: the Board's own pages currently disagree, so check both

Read this section carefully, because two official LSLBC sources do not currently say the same thing. The Board's memorandum dated July 13, 2026 states that effective August 1, 2026, "Residential construction, its subclassifications and specialties, mold remediation, and home improvement applicants and licensees must maintain at least $500,000 in liability insurance or qualifying liability protection through an authorized liability trust fund." It cites Act 757 of 2026, La. R.S. 37:2156.1 and LAC 46:XXIX.105. The memorandum also requires that proof come from the agent, broker or insurer, identify the licensee, insurer, broker and broker address, policy number and coverage dates, cover at least six months and all licensed scopes with no exclusions for those scopes, and list LSLBC as certificate holder.

The Board's public FAQ and its "Licensing Requirements for Contractors in Louisiana" brochure both still say "$100,000" as the general liability minimum for home improvement, residential and mold remediation applicants, and both still show the older certificate rules. As of the review date of this guide those pages had not been updated to match the memorandum. Do not resolve that gap by guessing. The memorandum is the newer instrument and states an effective date, so treat $500,000 as the figure to buy toward, and confirm the exact current requirement with LSLBC before your agent issues the certificate. Getting this wrong does not merely cost coverage, it can hold up the licence itself.

Two requirements are not in dispute. Workers' compensation coverage is required with, in the Board's own words, "absolutely no exceptions to the WC requirement", and no minimum coverage amount is specified for it. The certificate must carry the correct name of the company or individual applying, must show effective and expiration dates and limits, must name LSLBC as certificate holder at 600 North Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802, and must be emailed to the Board by the insurance agent rather than by the contractor. Coverage must stay continuously in effect for as long as the licence or registration is active.

Official sources: LSLBC Memorandum: 2026 Statutory Changes (Act 757); LSLBC Frequently Asked Questions; LSLBC Licensing Requirements for Contractors in Louisiana

What Louisiana actually publishes about fees

This guide will not print a current LSLBC application fee, because LSLBC does not publish a fee schedule on its website and no official page states one. What does exist is the statutory ceiling. The Contractors Licensing Law, published by the Board itself, provides at R.S. 37:2156(C) that "Fees for licenses shall not exceed the following amounts", then lists an examination fee of $50.00, a licence fee of $100.00, a renewal fee of $100.00, a delinquent fee of $50.00 and a Home Improvement fee of $50.00. R.S. 37:2156(B)(1) separately provides that "the basic license fee shall be the sum of not more than one hundred dollars" and that the fee for additional classifications shall be a lesser amount set by the Board.

Those are caps on what the Board may charge, not a price list, and two other charges sit outside them. The Board may assess an additional surcharge of not more than $400 in connection with the application of a contractor not domiciled in Louisiana, to defray the cost of investigating that application. And R.S. 37:2156(K)(1) requires the Board to assess on each licence renewal an additional fee of $100 per year dedicated to a Louisiana public university or community college school of construction management. The FAQ also confirms that "An exam/administrative fee is required for each classification and for Business and Law", without stating the amount.

Budget from the application itself, not from this page. Open the online application, list every classification you intend to hold, and price the Business and Law course, each trade exam, the licence, and the first renewal separately. Then add the costs that never appear on a Board invoice at all: the financial statement, the insurance certificates, the Secretary of State filings and your parish or municipal occupational licence.

Official sources: LSLBC Contractors Licensing Law and Rules (Blue Book); LSLBC Frequently Asked Questions

Recheck the official source before you file or sign

Louisiana contractor law changed materially in 2026 and the Board's own public pages have not all caught up, which is the strongest possible argument for opening the source yourself rather than trusting any summary, including this one. Act 757 of 2026 added a residential roofing threshold and raised the liability insurance requirement, both effective August 1, 2026, and Acts 481 and 757 brought water well and environmental well or hole work under licensing at a project value of $1 or more effective July 1, 2026.

Before you file an application, sign a contract, or buy an insurance policy, open the Board's current page for your licence type, confirm the threshold, the classification wording, the insurance limit and the certificate rules, and keep a dated copy of what you read. The Board's own memorandum says it "is intended to provide general notice of statutory changes" and that "The applicable statutes and regulations control in the event of any conflict or question of interpretation." Where a page and a statute disagree, the statute wins, and where you cannot tell, call the Board at the number on its contact page before you commit money.

Official sources: LSLBC Memorandum: 2026 Statutory Changes (Act 757); LSLBC Types of Licenses; LSLBC Frequently Asked Questions