Illinois · Concrete licensing · official-source guide
Illinois has no state concrete license. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation licenses roofing contractors but publishes no concrete, masonry or general contractor classification. Regulation is local. Chicago licenses general contractors in five classes and mason contractors in three, where a Class C mason contractor covers site-formed concrete work only.
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Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-10-26. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Illinois has no state license for concrete work. The state licensing agency is the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Its published list of licensed professions covers Roofing Contractor and Qualifying Party Roofing Contractor, and it carries no classification for concrete, flatwork, foundations, masonry or general contracting. There is no state concrete exam, no state application fee and no state continuing education tied to pouring slabs, driveways, footings or foundation walls. That means a concrete crew can form and place in most of Illinois without holding any state credential at all. The regulation that does apply comes from two other directions. The first is consumer protection law that reaches residential concrete work by subject matter rather than by license. The second is city ordinance, and the city that matters most is Chicago, which licenses both general contractors and mason contractors through its Department of Buildings and treats site-formed concrete as its own licensed specialty. A flatwork contractor who works the suburbs and then takes a Chicago foundation job is crossing from an unlicensed environment into one of the most specific concrete licensing schemes in the country. Treat the state as the floor and the municipality as the real gate. Before you bid outside Chicago, your question is not what IDFPR requires of you, because the answer is nothing specific to concrete. Your question is what the local building department requires, and whether the job is residential work that pulls the state consumer statute in alongside it.
The state statute that touches residential concrete is the Home Repair and Remodeling Act, published by the Illinois Attorney General. Its definition of home repair and remodeling names driveways directly, along with porches, basements, garages, fences, chimneys and sewers. So a driveway replacement, a basement floor, a garage slab or a porch footing on a qualifying residence sits inside the Act even though no license exists for the trade. The Act defines a residence as a single-family home or dwelling, or a multiple-family home or dwelling containing six or fewer apartments, condominiums, town houses or dwelling units used or intended to be used as dwelling places. It states that it does not apply to original construction of single-family or multi-family residences, and it does not apply to repairs to dwellings containing more than six apartments or family units. Work defined as maintenance, service or repairs under $500 falls outside the definition as well. Read against a concrete book of business, that draws a line most contractors never notice. Tearing out and replacing a homeowner's driveway is covered. Pouring the footings and foundation for a brand new house on the same street is original construction and is not. A slab for a twelve-unit building is outside the Act because the building exceeds six units. Knowing which side of that line a job sits on decides whether your paperwork obligations attach before you start.
Sourcesillinoisattorneygeneral.gov 1illinoisattorneygeneral.gov 2
For covered residential concrete work, the Home Repair and Remodeling Act puts the paperwork before the pour. Before starting work for over $1,000, you must furnish the customer, for signature, a written contract or work order stating the total cost, including parts and materials listed with reasonable particularity and any charge for an estimate. The contract must state the business name and address of the person engaged in the business. If you receive business correspondence at a post office box or a mail receiving service or agent, the contract must also state your residence address. The Act also requires the pamphlet titled Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights. For any contract over $1,000 you provide it before the contract is executed, and the homeowner signs and dates a Consumer Rights Acknowledgment Form confirming receipt. You sign and date it too. The form is in duplicate inside the pamphlet, you keep the original and the homeowner keeps the copy. For a contract of $1,000 or under you still hand over the pamphlet, but no written acknowledgment is required. The pamphlet must be a separate document, in at least 12 point type, in legible ink. The Attorney General publishes the pamphlet in English, Spanish and Polish and says the contractor should present it for any work valued at $1,000 or more. The same office states the homeowner has three business days to cancel a contract signed at the home, and that homeowners over the age of 65 have up to 15 business days.
Sourcesillinoisattorneygeneral.gov 1illinoisattorneygeneral.gov 2
Illinois does not make a concrete contractor buy insurance to get a license, because there is no license. It makes you carry insurance to be in the residential repair business at all. The Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires any person engaged in the business of home repair and remodeling to obtain and maintain in full force and effect, during the operation of the business, public liability and property damage insurance in the amount of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence of bodily injury, $50,000 per occurrence for property damage, and $10,000 per occurrence for improper home repair or remodeling not in conformance with applicable State, county or municipal building codes. There is one way out of the requirement. The Act excuses a person with a net worth of not less than $1,000,000, determined on the basis of that person's most recent financial statement, prepared within 13 months. For most flatwork and foundation outfits that exception is theoretical, so the coverage figures are the operative numbers. Pay attention to the third limit. The $10,000 per occurrence for work not in conformance with building codes is a code-compliance coverage, not ordinary general liability, and a concrete contractor meets code questions constantly on reinforcement, thickness, frost depth and drainage. Ask your agent to confirm in writing that the policy answers all four of the figures in the statute. A certificate that satisfies a general contractor's vendor requirements is not automatically a certificate that satisfies this section.
Sourcesillinoisattorneygeneral.gov
Chicago requires a general contractor license for most building construction, alteration, repair and demolition work in the city, and the Department of Buildings issues it. The trigger is broad. You need the license before preparing or submitting a bid, proposal or offer to undertake a regulated activity, before undertaking one directly or through others, before hiring or supervising people carrying it out, and before exercising control over the means, methods or manner of accomplishing it. Regulated activity includes work needing a building, sign or demolition permit, sewer work permits, Department of Public Health permits for sandblasting, grinding or chemical washing, work exempt from permit under Section 402 of the Chicago Construction Codes Administrative Provisions, and work under a stormwater management plan. That last item catches concrete. Paving and site work handled under a stormwater management plan is a regulated activity in its own right. Several exemptions matter to a concrete crew. A subcontractor or employee working under the supervision and control of a licensed general contractor does not need its own general contractor license. A City-licensed mason contractor and its employees acting within the scope of that license are exempt. Illinois-licensed architects, professional engineers, land surveyors and structural engineers are exempt within their scope. An individual may act as general contractor without the license at a property that is the individual's primary residence if the building is three or fewer stories above grade, there are six or fewer dwelling units, there is no nonresidential occupancy, and the individual claims the exception for only one property in a calendar year. That exception does not cover excavation work or demolition work.
Sourceschicago.gov 1chicago.gov 2
Chicago issues five classes of general contractor license and sorts them by the value of the project and the kind of demolition allowed. Class A carries an unlimited maximum project value, permits ordinary or complex demolition, and requires $5 million per occurrence of commercial general liability coverage. Class B caps the project value at $20 million, permits ordinary or complex demolition, and requires $3 million per occurrence. Class C caps the value at $10 million, permits ordinary demolition, and requires $2 million per occurrence. Class D caps the value at $4 million, permits ordinary demolition, and requires $2 million per occurrence. Class E caps the value at $500,000, allows no demolition activity, and requires $1 million per occurrence. The Department of Buildings notes that the increased insurance figure for Class C and Class D takes effect January 1, 2026, and that for Class C and D licenses issued before that date the higher requirement is enforced when the policy on file expires. Project value is defined as the fair market value of materials and labor provided by all contractors and subcontractors across all concurrent and consecutive regulated activities at the same site, so a concrete scope is measured against the whole job, not against your own contract amount. Policies must come from an insurer authorized to insure in Illinois with a rating of B+ or higher by A.M. Best Company, and must cover bodily injury, personal injury, property damage and completed operations arising from the license or activities under it. A combination of primary and excess or umbrella policies may be used to meet minimums above $1 million.
Sourceschicago.gov
Chicago publishes general contractor license fees by class for calendar year 2026. Class A is $3,500 to issue and $3,500 to renew. Class B is $1,800 and $1,800. Class C is $1,300 and $1,300. Class D is $900 and $900. Class E is $300 and $300. Reinstatement costs $100 for each year or fraction of a year the license has been expired. An administrative processing fee of $50 applies to any modification or change to an existing license needing staff assistance, other than updating required insurance or bond information. Replacement documents cost $50, and written verification of an existing license costs $50. Licenses are issued to businesses, including sole proprietorships. The application package calls for the completed City of Chicago general contractor license application, a statement of financial solvency in the format that is part of the application, proof the applicant is authorized to do business in Illinois except for sole proprietors, an Assumed Name Certificate from the County Clerk if you operate under an assumed name, proof of insurance in the amount required for the class, certification that the insurer is rated B+ or better, and copies of government-issued photo identification for the responsible officers, members or partners and anyone who signed the application or supporting affidavit. Continental Testing Services processes new applications and renewals for the Department of Buildings, and the forms go in by mail. A license runs one year from issuance. It is automatically inactivated if the associated insurance policy expires, and proof of renewal must be mailed in to restore it.
Sourceschicago.gov
Chicago licenses masonry separately, and this is the license that speaks directly to concrete. A mason contractor license is required to perform work in stone, concrete, terra cotta including clay brick, or structural tile, or any combination of those materials when used as part of buildings or structures above or below ground. The Department of Buildings issues it. Seven exceptions are published, and four of them carve out common flatwork. No mason contractor license is required to install or repair brick or concrete sidewalks. None is required to install or repair concrete paving. None is required to install or repair slab-on-grade foundations for single-story non-occupiable structures such as sheds and private garages. None is required to install or repair foundations for fences, decks, open porches and similar structures. The remaining three cover an individual working at a primary residence that is a single-family building, or a multiple-family building no more than three stories above grade plane with six or fewer dwelling units, limited to one such property in a calendar year; repairs of a type that do not require a building permit under Section 402 of the Chicago Construction Codes Administrative Provisions; and work on government property performed by employees of the government entity. Read plainly, a sidewalk and driveway contractor can work in Chicago without a mason license. A contractor who forms building foundations, basement walls or structural slabs cannot. That single distinction decides which Chicago license your concrete company actually needs.
Sourceschicago.gov
Chicago issues three classes of mason contractor license, and the class controls what concrete you may perform. A Class A mason contractor is authorized to perform all types of mason work. A Class B mason contractor is authorized to perform all types of mason work except site-formed concrete. A Class C mason contractor is authorized to perform site-formed concrete work only. The classification of the business license follows the examinations passed by the individual masons who own or are employed by the business, so the credential belongs to a person first and the company second. Mason contractor licenses go to businesses, including sole proprietorships, that are owned by or employ at least one individual who has passed a City of Chicago mason license examination. That person is the supervising mason. To sit for the written mason examination, for brick, for concrete, or for both, an individual must be at least 21 years old. Study guides for the different mason examinations are published on the Continental Testing Services web site. The license authorizes mason work performed by the licensed business and its employees working under the supervision of the business's supervising mason. Employees means individuals the business treats as employees for unemployment insurance contributions, workers compensation and income taxation. A mason contractor license does not authorize mason work by individuals the business pays as independent contractors. If employees of another business will perform mason work on the site, that business must hold its own mason contractor license and be listed on the permit.
Sourceschicago.gov
Chicago publishes mason fees for calendar year 2026. The mason examination, B or C, costs $150. A mason contractor license costs $150 to issue and $150 to renew, and that figure is the same for all classes. The contrast with the general contractor schedule is large: a concrete company that qualifies through the mason route pays a fraction of what a Class A or Class B general contractor license costs. The same ancillary fees apply as on the general contractor side. Reinstatement is $100 for each year or fraction of a year the license has been expired. The administrative processing fee is $50 for any modification or change to an existing license requiring staff assistance, other than updating required insurance or bond information. A replacement document costs $50, including first-class postage where applicable, and written verification of an existing license costs $50. Continental Testing Services processes mason contractor license applications and mason examination applications for the Department of Buildings, and those applications are submitted through the Continental Testing Services web site. Renewals of an existing mason contractor license run through the Department of Buildings web portal rather than through Continental. A mason contractor license is valid for one year from issuance. It is automatically inactivated if there is no valid supervising mason associated with the contractor license. For a small concrete company built around one certified individual, that rule is the real operating risk: if your supervising mason leaves, the company license stops working the same day.
Sourceschicago.gov
Outside Chicago, Illinois pushes concrete contractor registration down to the municipality, and there is no statewide register to check. The state's own consumer pamphlet, reproduced in the Home Repair and Remodeling Act, tells homeowners to check with local and county units of government to determine if permits or inspections are required. That instruction runs both ways. If the homeowner is supposed to ask, you should already know the answer for every village you bid in. Build a short intake list and run it before you quote. Does this municipality register contractors at all, and does registration attach to the company or to a named individual. Does a driveway apron or a sidewalk replacement in the public right of way need a separate permit from the slab behind it, and who inspects the subgrade and the forms before the truck arrives. Does the village want a certificate of insurance on file naming it, and does it want a bond for work in the right of way. Who signs the permit application, you or the homeowner, and does that change who is liable for a failed inspection. Pricing follows those answers. A concrete contractor who bids one number across six villages is absorbing whichever one has the longest inspection hold or the most paperwork. Confirm each program with the building department itself and keep a dated note of who told you what, because municipal registration rules change without any state-level announcement.
Sourcesillinoisattorneygeneral.gov
Illinois treats construction labor with more suspicion than most industries, and concrete is labor-heavy. The Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission states that individuals performing services for a construction contractor are presumed to be employees of the contractor unless they meet the criteria specified in section 10 of the Employee Classification Act. The presumption runs against you by default. Complaints under that Act go to the Illinois Department of Labor in Springfield, and the Commission publishes the complaint form and the Department of Labor's information line alongside it. Classification and coverage are linked. The Commission runs an Employer Insurance Coverage Search that reports employers who have bought a workers compensation policy, drawn from the National Council on Compensation Insurance database, plus parent companies and subsidiaries that have obtained Commission approval to self-insure. The database does not include Illinois employers in self-insurance pools, which the Illinois Department of Insurance regulates, so a blank result is not proof of no coverage. The Commission also publishes its Handbook on Workers' Compensation and Occupational Diseases, which is the reference to read before you argue about a claim. Chicago reinforces the same point through licensing. Its mason contractor rules define employees as individuals the business treats as employees for unemployment insurance contributions, workers compensation and income taxation, and state that the license does not authorize mason work performed by people the business pays as independent contractors. Paying a form crew on 1099s can therefore put your Chicago license out of scope, not just your payroll.
Sourcesiwcc.illinois.gov 1iwcc.illinois.gov 2iwcc.illinois.gov 3chicago.gov 4
Registration with the Illinois Department of Revenue is separate from anything a building department asks for, and it applies whether or not a license exists for your trade. The Department states you must register with it if you conduct business in Illinois or with Illinois customers, and that this includes sole proprietors, meaning an individual or a husband, wife or civil union filing, as well as exempt organizations and government agencies that withhold Illinois Income Tax for Illinois employees. There are three published ways in. You can register electronically through MyTax Illinois at mytax.illinois.gov, using Register a New Business, which is Form REG-1, and the Department puts processing time for an electronic application at roughly one to two business days. You can mail a completed Form REG-1 to the address on the form, and the Department puts paper processing at four to six weeks. Registration forms are also available by phone. If you need it, you can register with the Illinois Department of Employment Security through MyTax Illinois at the same time, which is the unemployment insurance side of hiring a crew. Sequence this early. A four to six week paper turnaround will outlast the lead time on a spring driveway schedule, and Chicago wants proof that the applicant is authorized to do business in Illinois as part of a general contractor license application. The Home Repair and Remodeling Act pamphlet separately points homeowners to the Secretary of State to check incorporation and to the county clerk to check an assumed business name, so your entity paperwork is something customers are told to verify.
Sourcestax.illinois.gov 1chicago.gov 2illinoisattorneygeneral.gov 3
Illinois does not give concrete contractors a state license number to put on a truck, because it does not issue one. What the state does regulate is how you identify the business in writing. The Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires the contract for covered work to state the business name and address, and to add your residence address if business correspondence goes to a post office box, a mail receiving service or an agent. The consumer pamphlet reproduced in the Act tells homeowners that Illinois law requires persons selling home repair and improvement services to notify customers of any change to the business name or address arising before the agreed dates for beginning or completing the work. It also warns homeowners against companies that list only a telephone number or a post-office box, which is a direct argument for putting a street address on your estimates and your site. Verification is public, and that is worth saying out loud in your marketing. Chicago runs a Licensed Trade Contractors site through the Department of Buildings where anyone can find currently licensed contractors and contractors with recently expired or inactivated licenses, with separate views for general contractors and mason contractors. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation runs License Lookup, which the Department states has been approved for use as primary source verification. If you hold a Chicago mason or general contractor license, tell customers where to confirm it rather than making a claim they cannot check.
Sourcesillinoisattorneygeneral.gov 1webapps1.chicago.gov 2idfpr.illinois.gov 3
There is no state concrete license to work without, so the state exposure is consumer law rather than licensing discipline. The Home Repair and Remodeling Act makes it unlawful for a person in the business of home repairs and remodeling to remodel, make repairs, or charge for repair work before obtaining a signed contract or work order over $1,000. The Attorney General or the State's Attorney of any county may bring an action in the name of the people of the State to restrain a pattern or practice violation, and may accept an assurance of voluntary compliance, with failure to perform that assurance treated as prima facie evidence of a violation. All remedies, penalties and authority granted under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act are available for enforcement, and the statute makes a knowing violation of the Act an unlawful practice under that Act. In Chicago the exposure attaches earlier than the pour. The general contractor license is required before preparing or submitting a bid, proposal or offer to undertake a regulated activity, so an unlicensed bid is itself the regulated conduct. Mason work by another business on your site requires that business to hold its own mason contractor license and be listed on the permit. Reciprocity is a short conversation. Illinois issues nothing for concrete that another state could honor, and Chicago mason classification follows the examinations passed by the individual masons who own or work for the business. An out-of-state masonry credential does not transfer into a Chicago Class A, B or C classification.
Sourcesillinoisattorneygeneral.gov 1chicago.gov 2chicago.gov 3
These are common details other guides publish about Illinois, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation licenses roofing contractors, but its published list of licensed professions has no concrete, masonry, flatwork, foundation or general contractor classification. There is no state concrete exam or state fee. Your obligations come from city ordinance and from the state Home Repair and Remodeling Act on residential jobs.
Often neither trade license. Chicago publishes exceptions saying a mason contractor license is not required to install or repair brick or concrete sidewalks, or to install or repair concrete paving. A general contractor license still turns on whether the work is a regulated activity, such as work needing a building permit or work under a stormwater management plan.
Scope of concrete. Chicago states that a Class B mason contractor may perform all types of mason work except site-formed concrete, while a Class C mason contractor is authorized to perform site-formed concrete work only. Class A covers all mason work. The class follows the examinations passed by the masons who own or work for the business.
Possibly not, if you qualify as a mason contractor. Chicago exempts a City-licensed mason contractor and its employees acting within the scope of that license from the general contractor requirement. A subcontractor working under the supervision and control of a licensed general contractor is also exempt from holding its own general contractor license.
The Home Repair and Remodeling Act requires public liability and property damage insurance of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, $50,000 per occurrence for property damage, and $10,000 per occurrence for work not conforming to State, county or municipal building codes. A net worth of at least $1,000,000 can substitute.
Chicago caps a Class E general contractor at a maximum project value of $500,000 and allows no demolition activity, with minimum insurance of $1 million per occurrence. Project value counts the fair market value of materials and labor from all contractors and subcontractors across concurrent and consecutive regulated activities at the same site.
For covered work over $1,000, yes. The Home Repair and Remodeling Act says you must furnish the customer, for signature, a written contract or work order stating total cost, with parts and materials listed with reasonable particularity and any estimate charge, plus your business name and address. Charging before that signature is unlawful.
At least one individual who owns or is employed by the business, called the supervising mason. Chicago requires that person to pass a written mason examination for brick, for concrete, or for both, and sets a minimum age of 21 to sit for it. Continental Testing Services publishes the study guides.
No. Chicago states that a mason contractor license authorizes mason work by the licensed business and its employees only, defining employees as people the business treats as employees for unemployment insurance contributions, workers compensation and income taxation. If another business supplies the crew, that business needs its own mason license and must be listed on the permit.
The license requirement attaches before the bid. Chicago states a general contractor license is required before preparing or submitting a bid, proposal or offer to undertake a regulated activity, and before hiring or supervising anyone carrying one out. The unlicensed bid is itself the regulated conduct, not just the construction that might follow.
The Chicago Department of Buildings runs a Licensed Trade Contractors site where anyone can find currently licensed contractors and contractors with recently expired or inactivated licenses, with separate views for general contractors and mason contractors. For state-issued credentials, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation operates License Lookup as approved primary source verification.
Yes. The Department states you must register if you conduct business in Illinois or with Illinois customers, including sole proprietors. Electronic registration runs through MyTax Illinois using Register a New Business, Form REG-1, at roughly one to two business days. Mailed paper applications take four to six weeks, so start early.
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