Massachusetts · Concrete licensing · official-source guide
Massachusetts has no concrete contractor license. The Board of Building Regulations and Standards, through the Division of Occupational Licensure, issues a specialty masonry Construction Supervisor License for permitted masonry work, and the Office of Consumer Affairs registers Home Improvement Contractors separately. The headline requirement for the masonry license is three years of documented building construction or design experience plus a passing exam score.
State-level license
No — see local details
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.
Massachusetts issues no concrete contractor license. Two separate credentials carry the work instead, and they come from two different agencies. The Board of Building Regulations and Standards issues the Construction Supervisor License, administered by the Division of Occupational Licensure, Office of Public Safety and Inspections at One Federal Street in Boston. The statute behind it, M.G.L. c. 143, Section 94, gives the board the power to issue licenses to individuals engaged as construction supervisors, and says the license fees are collected and retained by the commonwealth. The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation runs the Home Improvement Contractor program on a separate track. Mass.gov states that an HIC registration and a CSL are different and are not interchangeable. A concrete and masonry company working on existing owner occupied homes of one to four units normally needs both. The registration is what lets you sign the contract with the homeowner. The license is what lets you supervise the permitted work. Neither one replaces the building permit, which comes from the municipal building official in the city or town where you pour. The state tells contractors to always check with that local official for additional licensing requirements. The state building code, 780 CMR, applies to all buildings and structures in the commonwealth, so the question of whether your slab, footing or wall needs a licensed supervisor follows the code and the project, not the town line. Get the agency right before you get the paperwork right.
The Board of Building Regulations and Standards licenses construction supervisors in categories, and one of them is a specialty masonry license. The candidate handbook defines its scope narrowly. A masonry CSL covers direct supervision of persons engaged in construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, removal or demolition involving fireplaces, chimneys and required means of egress stairs of masonry construction. It also covers masonry retaining walls deemed a threat to public safety, health or welfare that retain four feet or more of unbalanced fill. Finally it covers other masonry structures for which a building permit is required and that are not governed by the construction control provisions of the building code. The license applies to buildings containing less than 35,000 cubic feet of enclosed space and to one and two family dwellings or any accessory building, irrespective of size. Mass.gov lists the same scope and adds walls less than ten feet measured from the base of the footing to the top of the wall. The handbook is blunt about the ceiling on this license. A masonry CSL is not sufficient for the construction of masonry buildings. That work requires at least a restricted one and two family CSL, and an unrestricted CSL depending on the scope. So a chimney and fireplace specialist, a stair mason and a retaining wall builder can work on a masonry license. A mason putting up the load bearing shell of a building cannot.
Sourcesmass.gov 1mass.gov 2
A large share of residential concrete work in Massachusetts sits outside both credentials, and the state publishes a chart that says so job by job. On the Office of Consumer Affairs guidance for contractors, driveways are listed as requiring no CSL, no HIC registration and no building permit, with a note to check local zoning requirements. Patios are listed the same way: no license, no registration, no permit. Masonry classed as landscaping is listed as no CSL, no HIC and no permit, qualified by the phrase if no threat to public safety. Routine landscaping is also listed as needing none of the three. That chart is labeled general guidance only. The state says whether a CSL or a building permit is required depends on project specifics and encourages contractors to consult the appropriate building official. Read that qualifier seriously, because the same chart flips to all three requirements once concrete and masonry start touching the building. Masonry related to a building is listed as requiring a CSL, an HIC registration and a building permit, with masonry CSL shown as the minimum license. Exterior stairs require all three. Structural flooring requires all three. The practical line for a flatwork crew is whether the pour is a freestanding surface on grade or part of a structure people occupy.
Sourcesmass.gov
Retaining walls are where concrete and masonry crews in Massachusetts most often get the licensing question wrong, because the answer turns on height and on risk, not on material. The state contractor chart lists exterior retaining walls as maybe for a CSL, yes for HIC registration and maybe for a building permit, with one qualifier attached: a building permit and a CSL are required if the wall is greater than four feet in height. Masonry walls that are not retaining walls carry the same qualifier. They are listed as maybe for a CSL and maybe for a permit, required once the wall is greater than four feet in height. The candidate handbook describes the retaining wall side of the masonry license in terms of load rather than height. It covers masonry retaining walls deemed a threat to public safety, health or welfare and which retain four feet or more of unbalanced fill. Mass.gov adds a ceiling on the specialty license for walls generally, listing walls less than ten feet from the base of the footing to the top of the wall. Taken together, a short garden wall is usually unregulated work, a wall above four feet pulls in a permit and a supervisor, and a wall approaching ten feet pushes past what the specialty license alone can carry. Measure from the footing, not from finished grade.
Foundation work is the clearest place where a masonry specialty license is not enough. The candidate handbook states that a masonry license is not sufficient for the construction of masonry buildings, and that supervision of such work requires possession of at least a restricted construction supervisor license, depending on the scope of work. The restricted CSL covers one and two family dwellings and any accessory buildings, irrespective of size. The unrestricted CSL covers that plus buildings of any use containing less than 35,000 cubic feet of enclosed space, buildings or structures for agricultural use, and walls under ten feet from footing base to top of wall. Above 35,000 cubic feet of enclosed space the state shifts responsibility entirely. A registered design professional, an engineer or architect, must control construction of larger buildings, and no construction supervisor license is required for those projects because the design professional is treated as the licensed person for the project. For a concrete contractor this means the credential you need is set by the building you are supporting. Footings and a foundation wall for a new single family house call for a restricted or unrestricted CSL, held by whoever supervises the work. A chimney footing or an egress stair on that same site falls inside the masonry specialty. Subcontracting is allowed, and the license does not have to sit with the person holding the homeowner contract.
If you contract, offer to contract or perform work on an existing, owner occupied residential property with one to four units in Massachusetts, the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation requires a Home Improvement Contractor registration. That captures most repair and replacement masonry: chimney rebuilds, stair repairs, foundation crack work, porch and stoop reconstruction. New construction is a different category, and so is commercial work. Registration happens online through the MA Contractor Hub. Paper applications and paper certified checks are no longer accepted and get sent back. You can register as an individual, a proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation. If you work under a trade name, you must supply the DBA name, a permanent address and a digital copy of the business certificate filed with the city or town clerk where the business is based. The state is explicit that holding only an HIC registration limits you to work considered ordinary repairs, and that larger projects require a CSL as well. It also makes clear who must hold what: the contractor who signed the contract with the homeowner must have the HIC registration, while a registered contractor may subcontract larger projects to a company that holds both the license and the registration. Registration also controls your access to municipal permits. The state warns that letting registration lapse may affect your ability to pull necessary municipal permits.
Sourcesmass.gov 1mass.gov 2
Eligibility for any construction supervisor exam, including masonry, is set out in the Division of Occupational Licensure candidate handbook. You must be 18 years old at the time of the exam. You must have at least three years of experience in building construction or design in the field in which you want to be licensed, and you must document it. You list your duties as they relate directly to building construction or design, and you provide a notarized signature confirming that you read the bulletin, that the information on the registration form is truthful, and that you have filed all state tax returns and paid state taxes. The experience need not be continuous, but it must total 36 months of full time work at 40 hours per week within the past ten years. Education can substitute, within limits. A three or four year vocational high school or other vocational program in building construction, or a bachelor, master or PhD degree, counts as one year of work experience. A bachelor, master or PhD in architecture, science, engineering or a related technology field counts as two years. Education can account for a maximum of two years. Union affiliation by itself is not acceptable as experience. Active military service relevant to construction may be considered. Proof is either tax forms, meaning W-2, Schedule C or 1099 forms covering three years of full time work, or a letter of attestation from an engineer, architect, employer, military supervisor or licensed contractor.
Sourcesmass.gov 1mass.gov 2
PSI administers the Massachusetts construction supervisor exams. You apply and schedule through PSI, take the exam, and then mail the score report to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards with the items the score report lists. Processing and review of the exam application can take up to two weeks, and your initial application stays on file for two years. If you do not pass inside that two year window you submit a new application with updated documentation. Testing moved to the Tenth Edition of the state building code on January 1, 2025. The masonry exam is open book and multiple choice. It carries 50 scored items, a cutscore of 35, which is 70 percent, and a duration of 180 minutes. The content outline is weighted toward material you handle every day: concrete block carries 11 items, brick 9, mortar and grout 8, stone and glass block 5, steel reinforcement and accessories 4, safety and OSHA 5, Massachusetts administrative responsibilities under 780 CMR 4, and plan reading and estimating 4. Permitted open book references include the 2021 International Building Code, the Massachusetts amendments to the building code base volume, Tenth Edition, the 2021 International Residential Code for one and two family dwellings, and selections from 29 CFR Part 1926. Any edition of the listed references is allowed in the testing center. Results are given immediately after the exam, and a failed attempt may be retested without limit.
Sourcesmass.gov 1mass.gov 2
The state publishes the figures in three places, and they are modest next to the value of the work they permit. On the exam side, the Division of Occupational Licensure candidate handbook lists a $23 application fee. The examination fee is $75 for the restricted and unrestricted construction supervisor exams and $65 for all other examinations, which covers the masonry specialty. Both the application and examination fees are not refundable or transferable. After passing, you submit the application and licensure fee to the Division of Occupational Licensure within one year from the date you passed, and applications are processed in roughly 30 days. There is a cost saving worth planning around if you want more than one specialty. The specialty categories are treated as subsets of the construction supervisor program, so a candidate who applies for all categories on a single application pays a single licensure fee for any combination of them. File separate applications and you pay a fee with each one. CSL renewal is $100. On the Home Improvement Contractor side, a new registration costs $150 plus a separate mandatory one time Guaranty Fund payment scaled to headcount: $100 for zero to three employees, $200 for four to ten, $300 for eleven to thirty, and $500 for more than thirty. HIC renewal is $100. Let the registration expire and you reapply at $150 plus the Guaranty Fund payment again.
Both credentials run on two year cycles, and both punish drift. The construction supervisor license renews every two years, and the state advises allowing five weeks for application processing. Renewal notifications go out 60 days before the license expires. Renewal costs $100 and can be done online, by mail with continuing education certificates and a check payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or in person in Boston. There is a one year grace period after expiration. For an additional fee of $100, a license can be renewed up to two years after expiration. Past two years expired you take the exam again and apply for a new license. Continuing education is a condition of renewal, and the hours depend on the license class. A specialty construction supervisor, which includes masonry, needs 6 hours. A restricted supervisor needs 10 hours. An unrestricted supervisor needs 12 hours. Every class must complete at least one hour in each of five topics: code review, workplace safety, business practices and workers compensation, energy, and lead safe practices. Qualified licensees may take up to a maximum of six hours online, and the remaining hours must be acquired through in person classroom training. Courses should be finished at least 60 days before the license expires, and certificates submitted for a prior renewal cannot be submitted a second time. HIC registration also renews every two years, and the state recommends starting 30 to 60 days ahead.
Massachusetts does not run concrete and masonry contractors through a state surety bond. The Home Improvement Contractor registration and renewal page lists only the $150 registration fee and the Guaranty Fund payment as the money owed at registration, with no bond and no state liability insurance minimum attached to the registration itself. The Guaranty Fund stands in place of a bond, but it protects the homeowner, not you. It is funded by that one time fee contractors pay at registration, acts as a fund of last resort for consumers holding an unpaid final judgment, and compensates eligible consumers for actual loss up to $25,000. A homeowner has seven years from the date of the contract to apply. Eligibility requires that the contractor was registered when the contract was signed and that the contractor, not the homeowner, secured the building permit. Once the fund pays, the registered contractor must reimburse it with interest within 30 days, and failure to repay can bring administrative fines, revocation of registration and, in extreme cases, criminal prosecution. Workers compensation is a separate and firm requirement. The standard Massachusetts building permit application for one and two family dwellings carries a workers compensation insurance affidavit under M.G.L. c. 152, Section 25C(6), and states that the affidavit must be completed and submitted with the application. Cities enforce it at the counter. Boston requires the state workers compensation affidavit on every short form permit application, from homeowners and contractors alike.
There is no reciprocity to work with here, and the state says so in one sentence. On its page explaining when a construction supervisor license is required, the Board of Building Regulations and Standards states that Massachusetts does not recognize out of state contractor licenses. It follows that statement with the reason: 780 CMR, the Massachusetts building code, applies to all buildings and structures in the commonwealth. A concrete or masonry contractor crossing in from Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire or New York starts from zero. You qualify on experience, sit the Massachusetts masonry exam on the Massachusetts amendments to the code, and if you are contracting on existing owner occupied one to four unit homes you register separately with the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Your years in another state are not wasted, because the eligibility standard is experience in building construction or design rather than experience in Massachusetts. The candidate handbook accepts W-2, Schedule C or 1099 forms covering three years of full time work, or a letter of attestation from an engineer, architect, employer or licensed contractor. Those documents travel across state lines. The license does not. One more point for out of state firms bidding here: the state tells contractors to always check with the municipal building official in the city or town where the project sits for additional licensing requirements, so the research does not end with the two state credentials.
Sourcesmass.gov 1mass.gov 2
The money at risk is in the statute, not in a fee schedule. Under M.G.L. c. 142A, Section 19, a contractor or subcontractor who knowingly, willfully or negligently operates without obtaining a certificate of registration, who continues to operate after revocation or during suspension, or who fails to renew the certificate, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both. A second paragraph covers anyone who knowingly and willfully violates other provisions of the chapter where no greater penalty applies, with a fine of not more than two thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Those fines and imprisonment are in addition to any administrative penalty, and may be sought in an action brought by the attorney general or the district attorney. The building code carries its own exposure. M.G.L. c. 143, Section 94 provides that whoever violates any provision of the state building code, except a specialized code, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both, for each violation, and that each day during which a violation exists constitutes a separate offense. There is a commercial penalty too. All building permits must clearly state that persons contracting with unregistered contractors do not have access to the Guaranty Fund.
This is the part most Massachusetts masonry contractors miss, and it sits in the statute rather than in a marketing guide. M.G.L. c. 142A, Section 17 lists prohibited acts for contractors and subcontractors. Clause 8 prohibits publishing, directly or indirectly, any advertisement relating to home construction or home improvements which does not contain the contractor's or subcontractor's certificate of registration number, or which contains an assertion, representation or statement of fact which is false, deceptive or misleading. Clause 9 prohibits advertising in any manner that a registrant is registered under the chapter unless the advertisement includes an accurate reference to the certificate of registration. The Office of Consumer Affairs states the rule plainly for contractors: building permits, contracts and advertising for residential contracting must contain the active registration number of the contractor. Read the statutory wording carefully. It says any advertisement, published directly or indirectly, which covers a website, a service page, a paid search ad, a social post, a yard sign and a mailer. Note the word active as well. A number that has lapsed is not a defense. Clause 5 of the same section separately prohibits knowingly contracting beyond the scope of your registration, and clause 13 prohibits conducting a residential contracting business in any name other than the one in which you are registered, so the business name on your ads has to match the name on file.
Massachusetts gives homeowners two public lookups, and both are worth pointing customers toward in your own sales conversation. The construction supervisor license is verified on the Division of Occupational Licensure License Verification Site, which confirms the status of licenses issued by the Division of Occupational Licensure, Office of Public Safety and Inspections. A homeowner can search by profession, license type, license number, license status, name, city, state, zip code or county, and can download the search results as a data file at no cost. The site recommends searching by the full license number as it appears on the license, including the prefix, and notes that license information is available from 2001 to the present. A separate HIC contractor search runs on the MA Contractor Hub for Home Improvement Contractor registrations. On the claims you can make, the statute draws one line hard: you may not advertise in any manner that you are registered under the chapter unless the advertisement includes an accurate reference to your certificate of registration. So "state registered" or "state licensed" copy without the number attached is the prohibited version of the claim. Describe scope accurately too, since knowingly contracting beyond the scope of your registration is a prohibited act. A masonry specialty licensee should not advertise general building work. Once your registration or renewal is approved you can generate a digital HIC registration card through MA Contractor Hub, including supplemental cards for officers, partners and staff.
Sourcesmadpl.mylicense.com 1mass.gov 2malegislature.gov 3mass.gov 4
The state license and the state registration do not get you a permit. That comes from the municipal building official, and Massachusetts tells contractors to always check with the official in the city or town where the project sits for additional licensing requirements. Boston Inspectional Services issues short form permits for minor alterations, repairs and replacements that do not change the structure or use of a home, building or lot, and long form permits for major alterations that do. A contractor applying for a short form permit must upload a front and back copy of a valid, non expired trade license, a current certificate of liability insurance, and the Massachusetts workers compensation affidavit, plus a signed contract agreement with the homeowner, a site safety plan affidavit and the Mattocks-Higgins Affidavit of Workplace Safety. Boston is strict about whose name is on the application: only the licensed contractor can apply, the name on the license must match the applicant, and applications submitted by office staff or third parties are not accepted. The short form fee is $20 plus $10 per $1,000 of the work estimate, due upfront. In Springfield, the Department of Code Enforcement Building Division at 70 Tapley Street enforces the state building code, zoning ordinances and conditions attached to special permits, issues building permits and performs plan review and on site inspection of new construction, alterations and repairs. Springfield states that building permits must be obtained before construction begins, and publishes building permit lookups.
These are common details other guides publish about Massachusetts, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. There is no concrete contractor license in Massachusetts. The Board of Building Regulations and Standards issues a specialty masonry Construction Supervisor License for permitted masonry work, and the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation registers Home Improvement Contractors who work on existing owner occupied homes of one to four units. Many flatwork jobs need neither.
The state contractor chart lists driveways and patios as requiring no construction supervisor license, no Home Improvement Contractor registration and no building permit, with a note to check local zoning for driveways. Masonry classed as landscaping is listed the same way if there is no threat to public safety. That chart is general guidance only.
Fireplaces, chimneys, required means of egress stairs of masonry construction, masonry retaining walls deemed a threat to public safety that retain four feet or more of unbalanced fill, and other masonry structures needing a building permit. It applies to buildings under 35,000 cubic feet and to one and two family dwellings with accessory buildings.
No. The candidate handbook says a masonry license is not sufficient for the construction of masonry buildings, and that supervising such work requires at least a restricted one and two family construction supervisor license, depending on scope. The masonry specialty covers chimneys, egress stairs and qualifying retaining walls, not the structural shell of a building.
The state contractor chart says a building permit and a construction supervisor license are required when an exterior retaining wall is greater than four feet in height. The same four foot trigger is listed for masonry walls that are not retaining walls. The handbook frames the license scope as walls retaining four feet or more of unbalanced fill.
At least three years of experience in building construction or design in the field you want to be licensed in, documented, and totaling 36 months of full time work at 40 hours per week within the past ten years. You must also be 18 at the time of the exam. Education can replace a maximum of two years.
Fifty open book multiple choice items in 180 minutes, with a cutscore of 35, which is 70 percent. Concrete block carries 11 items, brick 9, mortar and grout 8, stone and glass block 5, safety and OSHA 5, steel reinforcement 4, administrative responsibilities under 780 CMR 4, and plan reading and estimating 4.
The exam side runs a $23 application fee plus a $65 examination fee for the masonry specialty, neither refundable. Construction supervisor license renewal is $100. A new Home Improvement Contractor registration is $150 plus a one time Guaranty Fund payment of $100 to $500 based on headcount. HIC renewal is $100.
Six hours per two year cycle for a specialty construction supervisor, including masonry, with at least one hour in each of five topics: code review, workplace safety, business practices and workers compensation, energy, and lead safe practices. Up to six hours may be taken online for qualified licensees. Finish at least 60 days before expiration.
No. The Board of Building Regulations and Standards states that Massachusetts does not recognize out of state contractor licenses, because 780 CMR applies to all buildings and structures in the commonwealth. Your out of state work history still counts toward the three year experience requirement, documented with tax forms or a letter of attestation.
Under M.G.L. c. 142A, Section 19, operating without a certificate of registration can bring a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both, in addition to administrative penalties. Separately, all building permits must state that homeowners contracting with unregistered contractors have no access to the Guaranty Fund.
Yes. M.G.L. c. 142A, Section 17 prohibits publishing, directly or indirectly, any advertisement relating to home construction or home improvements that does not contain your certificate of registration number. The state also tells contractors that permits, contracts and advertising must carry the active registration number. The statute does not separately name vehicle lettering.
We can review the local market, your current search visibility, and paid-search fit before recommending any marketing work.