Louisiana · Concrete licensing · official-source guide
Yes. The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors licenses concrete work statewide, by classification rather than by trade name. Commercial concrete, foundation and masonry work needs a commercial license at $50,000 or more. Residential work needs a residential license above $75,000, or home improvement registration from $7,500 to $75,000. Every applicant files a financial statement showing the required net worth.
State-level license
Yes
Public lookup
Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-10-26. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors issues the license a concrete contractor needs. It is a state agency at 600 North Street in Baton Rouge, reachable at 225.765.2301, and it works from the Louisiana Contractors Licensing Law at R.S. 37:2150 through R.S. 37:2165 plus board rules published in the Louisiana Administrative Code. There is no separate city concrete license. The statute preempts municipal and parish regulatory examination authority over every licensee, so a flatwork or foundation contractor who passes the board trade exam does not sit for a second trade exam to pour in another parish. A local government may still impose requirements that are not less stringent than the state minimum, and it keeps control of permits, zoning and inspections. The permit counter is where the state license gets checked. A local building department may not issue a building permit to anyone who does not hold an active license in the classification that matches the scope of work on that permit. Board staff may inspect the monthly permit list of every local permit official in the state, and parish and municipal permitting authorities must hand over unredacted permit records, applications and inspection records on request. A local permit official must also make any applicant claiming a residential exemption sign an affidavit on a board form before the permit issues. Concrete is written into the board itself. The membership statute reserves one seat for a member whose experience has mostly been as a licensed concrete contractor. Residential matters run through a residential contractors subcommittee created by the same chapter.
Sourceslslbc.gov 1lslbc.gov 2
The board provides four basic license types: commercial, residential, home improvement registration and mold remediation. Concrete work can land in any of the first three, and the deciding factors are the type of property and the value of the undertaking including labor and materials. A commercial license is required for commercial projects valued at $50,000 or more when the property is to be used for commercial purposes, and for subcontract and specialty trade work at that same value on a commercial project. The board rules repeat the line for classifications generally: a license is required when the project cost exceeds $50,000 except where otherwise noted. A concrete subcontractor pouring footings on a large office build therefore needs its own commercial license in a matching classification, not just the general contractor's license. Residential construction, including home improvement contracting on an existing residence, requires a residential license once the cost of the undertaking exceeds $75,000 under the rules effective August 1, 2026. Below that line, home improvement registration covers residential work valued above $7,500 and is limited to $75,000. Two traps catch concrete crews. First, the trigger is the value of the undertaking, not the size of one invoice, so slicing a driveway and patio package into separate tickets to stay under a threshold is not a defense. Second, the license is only good for what is printed on it. A licensee is not permitted to bid or perform any type of work not included in the classification under which the license was issued, and a licensee must bid, contract and perform in the exact name on the current license.
Concrete is not one classification in Louisiana. It is spread across a major classification and several subclassifications, and the one you choose decides what you may legally bid. Building Construction is the major classification, code 1, and it carries a trade exam. It covers building, maintenance, repair, raising, leveling, development or demolition of structures along with landscaping, earthwork, parking areas, driveways and sidewalks. A major classification lets you bid and perform the subclassification work listed beneath it. Four subclassifications matter most to a concrete business. Driveways, Parking Areas, Asphalt, and Concrete, code 1.1, covers construction, maintenance or repair of asphalt or concrete pavements including sidewalks, parking areas and driveways, and it sits under both Building Construction and Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction. Foundations for Buildings, Equipment, or Machinery, code 1.4, covers deep and shallow foundations and slabs and allows a contractor to raise and level buildings and residential structures. Masonry, Brick, Stone, code 1.7, covers masonry structures, veneers, refractories and manholes including brick, firebrick, stone, concrete block, structural tile and glass block. Flooring and Decking, code 1.3, reaches poured and sealed concrete and epoxy flooring, terrazzo systems and slabs. Pile Driving, code 1.8, is separate. On road work, Permanent or Paved Highways and Streets (Concrete), code 2.4, covers concrete pavements and sits under Highway, Street, and Bridge Construction, while Culverts and Drainage Structures covers culverts, wingwalls and catch basins. Heavy Construction carries its own Foundations and Pile Driving subclassification that reaches pressure grouting, slurry walls, slabs and foundation walls. Each of these requires a trade exam.
Sourceslslbc.gov 1lslbc.gov 2
Two specialty classifications are written for concrete contractors specifically, and they are the ones most flatwork and structural concrete firms end up holding. Concrete Construction Excluding Highways, Streets, and Bridges, code S.4, covers the construction, maintenance or repair of concrete parking lots, sidewalks, driveways, concrete foundations, concrete columns, beams, walls, floors, roofs and curtain walls, precast and prestressed concrete foundations, structures, slabs and tennis courts. The definition expressly includes forms, slipforms, reinforcing rods and wire mesh, and the use of technologies for grouting, guniting, shotcreting and pumping. It does not include concrete for highways, streets or bridges, which is why a firm that does both commercial slabs and state road paving needs more than one classification. Concrete Reinforcement and Post Tensioning, code S.5, covers rebar, wire mesh, reinforcing rods, dowels and pre- and post-tensioning systems for the reinforcement of concrete. Both carry a trade exam. A specialty classification is defined in the board rules as a scope of work that allows a contractor to estimate, bid, quote and perform work only as described in that specific classification, so an S.4 holder has a hard edge on its authority and cannot drift into unrelated building trades. A specialty classification does not sit under a major classification in the licensing law, which also means holding Building Construction does not automatically carry S.4 or S.5. If your crews set forms, tie steel, pump and finish, read the S.4 and S.5 language against your actual scopes before you pick, because the board charges violations by classification. There is also a Limited Specialty Services classification for scopes above $50,000 not defined under any other classification.
Sourceslslbc.gov 1lslbc.gov 2
Residential Construction is major classification 9 and it carries a trade exam. The board rules define it as the construction of a residential structure when the cost of the undertaking exceeds $75,000, and it also covers home improvement contracting when the cost of the undertaking exceeds $75,000. It excludes the manufactured housing industry and structures mounted on metal chassis and wheels. For a concrete contractor this matters in two directions. If you contract directly with a homeowner to build or rebuild a residential structure, or to do home improvement work, above that figure, you need the residential license rather than a registration. If you work as a subcontractor for a residential builder, your obligation depends on the classification rules for the scope you perform, and some residential scopes have their own low triggers. Residential Swimming Pools is a subclassification of Residential Construction and requires that classification once labor and materials exceed $7,500, and a licensed residential builder who does not hold it must use a subcontractor who does. Residential Roofing became its own subclassification, code 9.2, with a $7,500 trigger and its own trade exam. Demolition of a residential structure above $7,500 may only be performed by a contractor holding residential construction, building construction, rigging, house moving, wrecking and dismantling, or home improvement up to the registration limit. One useful exemption for testing: the board must exempt from residential construction testing any person who already holds a building construction license the board issued. Owners doing work on their own property, for their own use and not for sale or rent, are exempt from the chapter.
Sourceslslbc.gov 1lslbc.gov 2
Home improvement registration is the layer that catches most residential concrete repair and replacement work. The board rules define home improvement as the reconstruction, alteration, renovation, repair, modernization, conversion, improvement, removal or demolition, or the construction of an addition to a preexisting building used or designed to be used as a residence or dwelling unit, or to a structure adjacent to that residence. Tearing out and replacing a homeowner's driveway, walkway, patio or carport slab is squarely inside that definition. Registration is required once the value exceeds $7,500 and the registration is limited to a value of $75,000. Work rendered gratuitously is not home improvement. The registration is the lightest of the board's credentials to obtain. The rules state that no examination or credential is required for the Home Improvement classification, and the board confirms there is no trade exam for it. The net worth standard is lower than for a license. Home improvement, mold remediation and labor only specialties must show net worth of $25,000 or more, where residential and commercial licenses and their subclassifications and the other specialty classifications must show $50,000 or more. Home improvement registrants are inside the insurance and workers compensation requirement that applies to residential work. Registrants in good standing for at least one consecutive year may apply to move the registration to inactive status, keep renewing and paying fees without filing current insurance certificates, and return to active status by filing the certificates again. The statutory fee cap for home improvement is $50.
Louisiana licenses the company, but a person carries the qualifications. An applicant must designate a qualifying party for each classification and for the Louisiana business and law requirement, and that person must meet all application requirements and satisfy any examination or credential requirement. Any principal or full-time employee may serve as the qualifying party. One qualifying party may also qualify a subsidiary of a licensee. If the qualifying party stops being associated with the license, the board must be notified within thirty days and another qualifying party must qualify within sixty days. Failure to maintain a qualifying party is a listed ground for board action against the license. An applicant and a qualifying party must be a United States citizen or legal resident. Joint ventures are their own trap on bigger concrete packages. When two or more persons bid, contract or perform work as a joint venture on a project that requires a license, the joint venture itself must be properly licensed in the classification it will perform, at the time of bid, contract and performance, and that applies to corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships and any other entity operating as a joint venture, whether or not the parties intended to operate as one. Labor Only is a specialty classification, code L.1, with no trade exam, for furnishing labor only to contractors when the scope of work including labor and materials exceeds $50,000. Construction management is covered too: anyone performing or bidding construction management with authority over the construction services must hold a license in the same classification or the major classification for that scope.
Sourceslslbc.gov 1lslbc.gov 2
Louisiana does not publish a required number of documented years in the trade for a concrete license. What it does require is proof that the business can stand behind the work. An applicant must submit a financial statement on a form supplied by the board, current to within twelve months of the filing date, prepared and signed by an accountant, bookkeeper or certified public accountant and signed by the applicant attesting that the statement is true and correct. A current financial statement prepared by a certified public accountant may be attached instead of a signature on the board form. Residential and commercial licenses, their subclassifications, and all specialty classifications other than labor only must show net worth of $50,000 or more. Home improvement, mold remediation and labor only must show net worth of $25,000 or more. An applicant who falls short may satisfy the requirement with an irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of the net worth requirement plus the amount of any negative net worth. The financial statement and the information in it are confidential and are not subject to the Public Records Law, so filing it does not put your balance sheet in front of competitors. The applicant, each principal and each designated qualifying party must complete an application and pass a background investigation covering fiduciary and monetary matters including bankruptcy, judgment, insolvency or lien, and any criminal offense resulting in a conviction, guilty plea or plea of nolo contendere. The board may deny an applicant, principal or qualifying party for cause, and denial may be appealed to the board and then to the Nineteenth Judicial District Court.
Sourceslslbc.gov 1lslbc.gov 2
The insurance rule is where a concrete contractor most often gets held up at renewal. Residential construction applicants and their subclassifications, mold remediation applicants and home improvement applicants must submit certificates evidencing workers compensation coverage in compliance with Title 23 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, and liability insurance in a minimum amount of $500,000, or liability protection from an authorized liability trust fund in that same minimum amount. The certificate itself has specifications. Proof must come from an agent, broker or insurance company and must show the name of the licensee, the name of the insurance company, the name and address of the insurance broker, the policy number, the beginning and ending coverage dates, no exclusions for the scopes of work the licensee is licensed to perform, and the board listed as a certificate holder. Coverage must run a minimum of six months and must include all scopes of work the applicant is licensed to perform. The exclusions line is the one that bites concrete contractors, because policies written for general construction sometimes carve out specific operations the classification covers. The board's own licensing requirements brochure also lists proof of general liability insurance and proof of workers compensation coverage among the items a commercial application must include. Louisiana does not require a license bond from the board as part of this application package. An inactive residential, home improvement or mold licensee keeps renewing and paying fees without filing current insurance certificates, then files them again to return to active status. Insurance lapses show up in the board's grounds for action, so keep the board's certificate holder record current.
Sourceslslbc.gov 1lslbc.gov 2
Every concrete classification the board publishes carries a trade exam. Building Construction, Driveways, Parking Areas, Asphalt and Concrete, Foundations for Buildings, Equipment, or Machinery, Masonry, Brick, Stone, Flooring and Decking, Permanent or Paved Highways and Streets (Concrete), Concrete Construction Excluding Highways, Streets, and Bridges, and Concrete Reinforcement and Post Tensioning are all listed with a trade exam requirement. Home Improvement is listed with no trade exam. Separately, the applicant must designate a qualifying party for the Louisiana business and law requirement, and the board's licensing brochure lists completion of the business and law course among the items a residential, commercial or mold application must include. The board treats exam content and format as proprietary and confidential intellectual property. Content outlines and study reference lists are published by the board's testing service, and a candidate information bulletin is available once a test is selected. Mechanics worth knowing before you schedule. An approved qualifying party candidate is given a means to schedule the exam. A candidate who fails to appear forfeits the examination fee and must pay a new fee before scheduling again. A candidate who fails may not retake for thirty days, and may only retake once all other eligibility requirements are complete. Check-in procedures start half an hour before the exam and candidates must report at least fifteen minutes early with valid government-issued photo identification. No personal items may be brought into the testing room, including watches, reference material or any electronic device. Deceptive practices on a board exam make a person ineligible to serve as a qualifying party for three years. The board may exempt a qualifying party from required examinations.
Louisiana caps contractor license fees in the statute rather than leaving them open. R.S. 37:2156 states that fees for licenses shall not exceed an examination fee of $50.00, a license fee of $100.00, a renewal fee of $100.00, a delinquent fee of $50.00 and a home improvement fee of $50.00. The same section directs the board to fix reasonable fees and reasonable penalties for late renewal applications, and states that the basic license fee shall be the sum of not more than one hundred dollars while the fee for additional classifications shall be a lesser amount set by the board. That matters to a concrete firm that wants Driveways, Parking Areas, Asphalt and Concrete alongside Foundations and Masonry, because adding classifications is priced below the basic license fee. All fees must be paid before a license issues and before any changes or additions to an existing license, and additions or changes take effect on board approval. A contractor not domiciled in Louisiana can be assessed an additional surcharge of not more than $400 in connection with the application for and issuance of a license, to defray the cost of investigating an out-of-state applicant. Fees received by the board may only be used to carry out the licensing chapter. The board has warned contractors about fraudulent emails impersonating the agency and states that it only sends email from .gov accounts and will only accept payments through its online portal, so route every fee through the contractor portal rather than a payment link that arrives by email.
Sourceslslbc.gov 1lslbc.gov 2
Licenses and renewals expire on the anniversary of the date the license was originally issued, and the licensee elects a one-, two- or three-year renewal term at renewal. The board emails renewal notices from licensing@lslbc.gov to the address on file at sixty days and again at fifteen days before expiration. You cannot renew earlier than sixty days before expiration, and you cannot renew after the license has been expired for one year, at which point you must reapply for a new license. Trade exams do not have to be retaken if the new application carries the same qualifier and the same classifications as before. Continuing education is narrow in Louisiana and it is aimed at residential work. A residential building contractor must complete a minimum of six hours of continuing education annually from a board-approved provider, must keep a copy of the certificate of completion for five years, and must make it available to the board on request. If that residential contractor also holds a valid current commercial license in Building Construction, Highway, Street and Bridge Construction, Heavy Construction, or Municipal and Public Works Construction, the six-hour requirement is considered met. The board states plainly that there are no continuing education requirements for commercial, mold or home improvement contractors and registrants. Separate record duties run with the license all year. A licensee must maintain records for five years, must provide requested records to the board within five business days, and must give the board written notice within thirty calendar days of any change to application information and of any criminal, civil or administrative action in any jurisdiction.
Louisiana changed its examination reciprocity approach in a notice from the board's executive director dated October 23, 2024, and the change took effect immediately. Going forward, if an applicant, licensee or registrant holds a classification that requires a test in any other state and has passed that test with no waivers, exemptions or grandfathering in effect, the board will accept that passing exam for reciprocity. The exam is accepted for the classification chosen by the board and will be equivalent in nature. All other requirements for licensure must still be met, including investigation of all violations or pending violations. The notice states that the change renders any previous agreements null and void, so an older state-to-state agreement a concrete contractor relied on before is not the governing document now. Reciprocity covers the exam, not the rest of the file. An out-of-state concrete firm still files the financial statement with the net worth for the classification, designates a qualifying party, passes the background investigation, and files insurance and workers compensation certificates with the board as certificate holder where those apply. A contractor not domiciled in Louisiana may also be assessed the out-of-state application surcharge of up to $400. The board has a separate rule for military applicants, their spouses and dependents, which can produce a license based on a current valid license in another state with a similar scope held for at least one year, or on documented work experience or a private certification, with the business and law course still required.
It is unlawful to engage or continue in the business of contracting in Louisiana, or to act as a contractor, without an active license. Anyone in violation of that section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be fined a sum not to exceed $500 per day of violation, or three months in prison, or both. If a person who does not possess a license violates the section and causes harm or damage to another in excess of $300, conviction carries a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $5,000, or imprisonment with or without hard labor for not less than six months and not more than five years, or both. The district attorney in whose jurisdiction the violation occurs has sole authority to prosecute those criminal actions. The civil exposure is usually larger. After notice and a hearing, a violator is liable to the board for a fine of up to ten percent of the total contract or the value of the work bid or being performed, and where a value cannot be determined the fine may run up to $10,000, plus administrative costs and attorney fees for each offense. Penalties are payable within ninety days, and nonpayment can block issuance or renewal of a license or support suspension. The board may issue a cease and desist order and seek injunctions. Two more consequences bite hardest. Entering into a contract with an unlicensed contractor is itself a listed violation, so general contractors police their concrete subs. And a contractor who fails to obtain a required license may not file a statement of claim or a lien for sums allegedly owed under the contract.
Sourceslslbc.gov
Louisiana regulates what you may claim rather than publishing a statewide sign-and-vehicle rule. It is unlawful for any contractor, licensed or unlicensed, to publish, transmit, distribute or otherwise publicly circulate a misleading or false claim related to a person's license or classification in any medium, including but not limited to digital platforms. A website or profile that advertises concrete foundations when the license carries only driveways and pavements is the exact risk that language describes. A person licensed or registered by the board must also bid, contract, conduct all business transactions and perform work in the name as it appears on the current license or registration and the board's official records, so a trade name on a truck or a landing page that does not match the licensed name needs fixing at the board first. The license number has four places it must appear. Every agreement to perform contracting services that requires licensure must include the full names, addresses and the license number of the contractor, a description of the work, the total amount agreed to be paid, the signature of all parties, and current certificates of insurance showing workers compensation and the amount of liability coverage maintained. All parties get a copy at signing and no work may begin before all parties sign. A contractor performing residential construction, home improvement or mold remediation must provide in writing, to the party it contracted with, its name, license number, classification and current insurance certificates and proof of workers compensation when requested. On public bids, the license number goes on the bid envelope, or an authentic digital signature plus the license number on an electronic bid; a bid without it is automatically rejected, returned marked Rejected, and not read aloud.
Sourceslslbc.gov
The state license does not replace the local permit. In New Orleans, building permits run through the Department of Safety and Permits, which publishes its building permit category and application standards online. In East Baton Rouge, the Permits and Inspections Division of the Development Department handles permitting of residential and commercial improvements with plan review and approval, code inspections, and code enforcement for zoning, building, occupancy, mechanical, plumbing and electrical construction, from 300 N Tenth Street in Baton Rouge. That office notes that applications submitted after January 1, 2026 fall under the 2024 I-Codes and the 2023 National Electrical Code with Louisiana amendments, which is the code edition your slab, footing and reinforcement details get reviewed against. Because a local building department may not issue a permit to anyone without an active license in the matching classification, your classification has to line up with the permit description before the counter will move. Verification runs the other way too, and it is public. The board publishes a contractor search that looks up a contractor by company name, by license number, by city or town, by parish, by type of contractor, and by qualifying party, with an advanced search as well. A customer picking a concrete contractor can select Commercial, Residential, Mold Remediation or Home Improvement from the type menu and see who holds what. The board also publishes a searchable database of contractor violations showing the contractor, location, hearing date, allegation and action taken, and it accepts consumer complaints online. Expect prospects to check both before they sign.
Sourcesnola.gov 1nola.gov 2brla.gov 3lslbc.gov 4arlspublic.lslbc.louisiana.gov 5lslbc.gov 6lslbc.gov 7
These are common details other guides publish about Louisiana, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
It depends on value and property type. On a commercial property, a commercial license in a matching classification is required at $50,000 or more. On an existing home, home improvement registration applies above $7,500 and up to $75,000, and a residential license applies above $75,000 under the current board rules.
Two main options. Foundations for Buildings, Equipment, or Machinery, code 1.4, is a subclassification of Building Construction covering deep and shallow foundations and slabs. Concrete Construction Excluding Highways, Streets, and Bridges, code S.4, is a specialty covering concrete foundations, columns, beams, walls, floors and slabs. Both require a trade exam.
Not automatically. Commercial and residential are separate license types with separate classifications, and a licensee may not bid or perform work outside the classification on the license. Many concrete firms carry more than one classification. Adding classifications costs less than the basic license fee under the statute.
Yes. Masonry, Brick, Stone, code 1.7, is its own subclassification of Building Construction, covering masonry structures, veneers, refractories and manholes including brick, firebrick, stone, concrete block, structural tile and glass block. It carries its own trade exam, so a concrete classification alone does not authorize masonry work.
Residential and commercial licenses, their subclassifications and the specialty classifications other than labor only require net worth of $50,000 or more. Home improvement, mold remediation and labor only require $25,000 or more. A shortfall can be covered by an irrevocable letter of credit for the requirement plus any negative net worth.
No. The board rules state that no examination or credential is required for the Home Improvement classification, and the board's classification list shows no trade exam for it. The registration still requires the financial statement at the lower net worth, workers compensation coverage and liability insurance, plus the fee.
Thirty days. A candidate who fails an examination cannot retake it for thirty days and may only retake it if all other eligibility requirements are complete. A candidate who fails to appear for a scheduled exam forfeits the examination fee and must submit a new fee before scheduling again.
Often yes. Since October 23, 2024 the board accepts a passing exam from another state when the classification there required a test and there were no waivers, exemptions or grandfathering. The board picks the equivalent Louisiana classification. All other licensure requirements still apply, including review of violations.
Yes, at the threshold. The board states a commercial license is required for subcontractors and specialty trades on commercial projects valued at $50,000 or more, and the rules say a license is required when the project cost exceeds $50,000 except where noted. The general contractor's license does not cover you.
The full names, addresses and license number of the contractor, the complete agreement, a description of the work, the total amount agreed to be paid, the signature of all parties, and current certificates of insurance showing workers compensation and the amount of liability coverage. Every party gets a copy at signing, and no work starts before signatures.
After notice and a hearing, up to ten percent of the total contract or the value of the work bid or performed, plus administrative costs and attorney fees. Where no value can be determined the fine may reach $10,000. Criminal exposure runs to $500 per day of violation as a misdemeanor.
No. The licensing chapter preempts municipal and parish regulatory examination authority over licensees, so there is no separate city concrete trade exam. Those cities run permits and inspections instead, and a local building department may not issue a permit to anyone lacking an active license in the matching classification.
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