Who licenses concrete contractors in Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry issues the license that covers concrete and masonry work on homes. Licensing runs through the department's Construction Codes and Licensing Division, which takes questions at 651-284-5034 and dli.license@state.mn.us. The governing law is Minnesota Statutes sections 326B.801 to 326B.885. There is no separate state concrete license and no state concrete board. Concrete is one piece of a broader residential contractor license, and that framing drives everything else on this page. Minnesota also pushed cities out of the licensing business. Section 326B.835 bars a political subdivision from requiring a person licensed under sections 326B.802 to 326B.885 to hold a second local license or pay a local registration fee related to licensure. The single carve-out in that section covers people who install on-site sewage treatment systems. Cities keep the right to charge for building permits and other costs not directly related to licensure. Section 326B.815 lets a local government add a surcharge of no more than $5 to each land use, zoning, or building permit that requires a licensed residential building contractor, and that surcharge exists only so the city can verify the license. The same section tells the city not to issue the permit until it has verified the license is current. The city may verify by telephone, fax, or electronic communication. So a contractor pouring residential footings and slabs in Minnesota answers to one licensing agency at the state level, then meets permit counters that check the state license rather than sell their own. Concrete in the public right-of-way is the exception, and two later sections cover it.
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The special skill test that decides whether you need a license
Minnesota does not license trades one at a time. It licenses contractors who sell more than one skill. Section 326B.802, subdivision 15, splits residential construction into eight special skill categories. Masonry and concrete is category (b), and the statute spells out what belongs to it: drain systems, poured walls, slabs and poured-in-place footings, masonry walls, masonry fireplaces, masonry veneer, and water resistance and waterproofing. That list is the whole scope question for every flatwork and foundation crew in the state. The department states the rule plainly. Any individual or company that contracts directly with an owner of residential real estate to provide work in more than one special skill must hold a residential building contractor or residential remodeler license. Section 326B.805, subdivision 6, clause (8), exempts specialty contractors who provide only one special skill. A crew that pours footings, poured walls, slabs, and masonry veneer and sells nothing else stays inside category (b) and needs no state license. Add site grading or trenching and you have crossed into category (a), excavation, which is a second skill and turns the license on. That matters because excavation and concrete get sold together on most residential foundation jobs. Carpentry is category (c), and it excludes footings for porches and decks, which keeps deck footings inside the concrete category rather than the carpentry one. Waterproofing sits in category (b) too, so a foundation repair company that seals and drains does not pick up a second skill by doing it. Read the eight lists before you write your next proposal. The proposal, not the pour, creates the obligation.
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Residential building contractor, remodeler, and what each one lets you pour
Three license classes exist under this law, and for the first two the exam is the only thing that differs. Section 326B.802, subdivision 11, defines a residential building contractor as a person in the business of building residential real estate, or contracting or offering to contract with an owner to build it, by providing two or more special skills. That person may also contract to improve existing residential real estate. Subdivision 12 defines a residential remodeler as a person contracting or offering to contract with an owner to improve existing residential real estate by providing two or more special skills. Subdivision 13 defines residential real estate as a new or existing building constructed for habitation by one to four families, and it includes detached garages. The department puts the practical split this way. A remodeler can only work on existing structures and cannot build new homes or detached garages. A building contractor can do everything a remodeler can do plus build new structures. All licensing requirements are the same for both, and only the exams differ. For a concrete business the choice follows the work. A new-construction foundation and flatwork operation needs the building contractor license, because a new detached garage slab counts as new construction. A company that tears out and replaces driveways, repours basement floors, and repairs foundations on existing homes can sit on the remodeler license. License numbers begin with BC for building contractors, CR for remodelers, and RR for roofers, each followed by six digits. The roofer license is no help here. The department confirms it permits roofing work only.
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Who is exempt from the state license
Section 326B.805, subdivision 6, lists ten exemptions from the license requirement, and several of them get used in concrete work every week. An employee of a licensee performing work for the licensee is exempt. A material person, manufacturer, or retailer who furnishes finished products but does not install or attach them is exempt, which covers a ready-mix supplier that only delivers. An owner of residential real estate who builds or improves it is exempt if the owner occupies it or will retain ownership for rental purposes, but not if the owner builds or improves for resale or speculation. The statute presumes speculation when an owner constructs or improves more than one property within any 24-month period unless the properties will be kept for rental. Architects and professional engineers in professional practice are exempt. A person whose total gross annual receipts for the licensable specialty skills do not exceed $15,000 is exempt with a certificate. Mechanical contractors are exempt. Plumbers, electricians, and others subject to statewide licensing are exempt when doing the work that license covers. Specialty contractors who provide only one special skill are exempt. School districts and technical colleges governed under chapter 136F are exempt, as are Habitat for Humanity, the Builders Outreach Foundation, and their individual volunteers acting on their behalf. Being exempt is not a safe harbor if your sales drift. The exemption attaches to what you contract to provide, so a single-skill concrete company loses it the moment it signs a homeowner for grading plus a slab.
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The certificate of exemption for small concrete operations
Minnesota built a formal off-ramp for small operators, and it is a filing, not a silence. Under section 326B.805, subdivision 6, clause (5), a person whose total gross annual receipts for performing specialty skills that would otherwise require licensure do not exceed $15,000 is exempt, but only if that person obtains a certificate of exemption from licensure from the commissioner. The certificate is issued once the applicant files an affidavit stating the applicant does not expect to exceed $15,000 in gross annual receipts from services requiring licensure during the calendar year the affidavit is received. Renewal works the same way in reverse: the applicant files an affidavit stating the applicant did not exceed $15,000 in gross annual receipts during the past calendar year. Gross annual receipts has a defined meaning in section 326B.802, subdivision 3. It is the total amount derived from residential contracting or remodeling activities, regardless of where the activities are performed, and it is not reduced by cost of goods sold, expenses, losses, or any other amount. That is revenue, not profit, and a single foundation job can clear the line. If a person operating under the exemption exceeds $15,000 in gross receipts during any calendar year, that person must immediately surrender the certificate and apply for the appropriate license, and must stay licensed until gross annual receipts in a calendar year fall back below $15,000. For fee purposes the statute classifies a certificate of exemption as an entry level license, and section 326B.092 sets the entry level base fee at $10 for a one-year duration and $20 for two years. One more catch: the department states that cities and counties can require a local license of certificate of exemption holders.
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The qualifying person, the exam, and the reciprocity question
A company does not pass an exam. A person does, on the company's behalf. Each entity seeking a license must name a qualifying person who is an owner, officer, member, partner, chief manager, or managing employee of the applicant, who is actively engaged in the business of residential contracting on the applicant's behalf if a managing employee, and who passes a written exam given by the department. A managing employee must be an employee and may not be an independent contractor of the company. One person may qualify more than one company only where there is 25 percent common ownership among them. There are no prerequisite experience or education requirements to sit for the builder, remodeler, or roofer exam. The exam has 110 multiple choice questions, a passing score of 70 percent, and a time limit of five and a half hours. Roughly 60 percent of the questions come from the Minnesota Residential Building Code and the rest from the statutes and rules governing residential construction. Candidates get two reference books during the exam: the Minnesota State Residential Code, 2020 edition, and the department reference manual for the license exam. The qualifying builder exam is offered in English and Spanish. Anyone who fails must wait 30 days before applying to retake it, with a new application and fee. Passing produces a Q number beginning QB, QC, or QR plus six digits, which is a registration for tracking continuing education and not a license. The Q registration lasts two years. On reciprocity, sections 326B.801 to 326B.885 contain no reciprocity section at all, unlike the plumbing law at section 326B.48. The only cross-state provision found sits in section 326B.83 and exempts a general retailer whose primary business is not contracting and who passed an equivalent exam elsewhere.
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What the license costs to get and to renew
The money splits into two parts, and only the first is a license fee. The department states that the base license fee is $180. Section 326B.092, subdivision 1, paragraph (d), matches that figure: an initial or renewed residential contractor, remodeler, or roofer license is a business license for fee purposes, and the base fee for a business license is $180. The second part funds the Contractor Recovery Fund, and the amount scales with the size of the business. The department and section 326B.89 both set it at $320 if gross annual receipts are under $1 million, $420 if gross annual receipts fall between $1 million and $5 million, and $520 if gross annual receipts exceed $5 million. Section 326B.092, paragraph (f), confirms the recovery fund fee required under section 326B.89, subdivision 3, must be included in the license renewal fee, along with any additional assessment required under section 326B.89, subdivision 16. That assessment is the fund's safety valve. Section 326B.89, subdivision 16, allows the commissioner to require every licensee, when renewing, to pay an assessment not to exceed $200 on top of the renewal fee and the recovery fund fee, set at the amount reasonably needed to restore an adequate fund balance. Gross annual receipts here carry the statutory meaning: total receipts from residential contracting or remodeling, wherever performed, not reduced by cost of goods sold or expenses. A small concrete company reporting under $1 million therefore budgets the $180 base fee plus the $320 recovery fund fee at application and again at each renewal.
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Liability and workers compensation insurance minimums
Insurance is a condition of the license, not a nice-to-have, and the limits sit in statute. Section 326B.86, subdivision 2, requires each licensee to carry and maintain commercial general liability insurance that includes premises and operations coverage and products and completed operations coverage, with limits of at least $100,000 per occurrence and a $300,000 aggregate limit for bodily injury, plus property damage insurance with limits of at least $25,000. The statute allows an alternative: a policy with a single limit for bodily injury and property damage of $300,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate. The insurance must be written by an insurer licensed to do business in Minnesota, and each licensee must keep a certificate evidencing it on file with the commissioner. If the policy is cancelled, the insurer must send written notice to the commissioner at the same time it receives a cancellation request from, or sends a notice to, the insured. The commissioner may raise the minimum for any licensee or class of licensees when it serves the public interest. The department adds the paperwork rules that trip people up. Proof of liability insurance can be an ACORD certificate or a department-approved certificate, it must be produced and signed by a licensed insurance agent, the business name must appear exactly as filed with the Minnesota Secretary of State, and the department must be listed as a certificate holder. Workers compensation proof goes on a department-approved form. The department states a license will not be approved without current liability policy information and workers compensation compliance on file.
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Bonds, and the recovery fund that replaces them
Concrete contractors on this license do not post a bond. Section 326B.86, subdivision 1, requires a bond to the state only from licensed manufactured home installers and licensed residential roofers. A residential roofer must post a bond with a penal sum of at least $15,000 and a manufactured home installer at least $2,500. Residential building contractors and remodelers appear nowhere in that subdivision. The department explains why: the Contractor Recovery Fund replaces bonding requirements. The fund reimburses consumers who lost money because a licensed residential building contractor or remodeler engaged in fraudulent, deceptive, or dishonest practices, converted funds, or failed to perform. Section 326B.89 caps it. The commissioner cannot pay an owner or lessee more than $100,000 per licensee, cannot pay owners and lessees more than $550,000 in total per licensee, and cannot pay more than $275,000 per licensee during Cycle One of a fiscal year. The statutory definition of owner excludes real estate developers and anyone using or intending to use the property for a business purpose rather than as owner-occupied residential real estate, so the fund is a consumer remedy and not a commercial one. The consequence for the licensee is severe and automatic. Once a payment is made from the fund, the license is suspended automatically. No reinstatement is authorized until the licensee repays in full, with interest, twice the amount paid from the fund on that account. On top of that, the licensee must obtain a surety bond of at least $40,000 before the license is reinstated. That is the one scenario in which a concrete contractor on this license ends up bonded.
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Renewal cycle and continuing education
Both the license and the qualifying person's registration run on two-year clocks, and they rarely line up. Section 326B.815, paragraph (b), states that all initial and renewal licenses other than manufactured home installer licenses are effective for two years and expire on March 31 of the year after the year the application is made. Section 326B.885, subdivision 2, sets a two-year renewal period for residential contractor, remodeler, and roofer licenses. Subdivision 1 of the same section gives a useful protection: a licensee whose fully completed renewal application was properly and timely filed, and who has not received a notice of denial, is considered approved for renewal and may keep transacting business whether or not the renewed license has arrived. Applications are timely if received by March 1 of the renewal year. An application missing requested information is incomplete and will not be processed. Continuing education attaches to the qualifying person. Section 326B.821 requires the qualifying person to provide proof of 14 hours of continuing education per two-year licensure period, including one hour on energy codes or energy conservation measures for residential buildings and one hour on business management strategies for residential construction businesses. Immediately after a new residential code is adopted, the commissioner may prescribe that up to seven of the 14 hours cover State Building Code provisions. The department warns that a Q registration inactive for more than two years forces the person to retake the licensing exam, while under two years only requires the 14 hours. One more renewal trap: the license cannot be renewed unless the business filing with the Minnesota Secretary of State is active.
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Construction contractor registration for subs and commercial concrete
Most concrete work in Minnesota is not sold to the homeowner. It is sold to a builder, a general contractor, or a commercial owner, and that work sits under a different program. The department describes the Contractor Registration Program as the one for those who provide one specialty skill for residential projects and for all commercial projects, if they do not hold a residential contractor license. Section 326B.701, subdivision 2, requires any person who provides or performs building construction or improvement services in Minnesota to register with the commissioner before performing them, and defines those services to include public or private sector commercial or residential building construction or improvement. Registration is not a substitute for any other required license, registration, or certificate. The exemptions matter. Registration does not apply to a person who already holds a current license, certificate, or registration under chapter 299M or 326B, to a person who has given a bond to the state under section 326B.197 or 326B.46, to employees of the person performing the services, to architects and professional engineers in professional practice, to school districts and technical colleges governed under chapter 136F, or to volunteers including Habitat for Humanity and the Builders Outreach Foundation. The department is blunt about the overlap: if a license is required, do not register. Timing runs on odd years. Registrations issued after December 31, 2015, expire on December 31 of each odd-numbered year, renewal applications may be submitted starting October 1 of the expiration year, and an application filed later than December 1 may lapse before the department acts. The department says complete applications may take two to three business days, and up to 30 days during the October to December peak in odd-numbered years.
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Advertising, license display, and how a customer verifies you
This is the rule most licensed concrete contractors break without noticing. Section 326B.87, subdivision 2, requires the license number of a licensee to appear in any advertising by that licensee, including but not limited to signs, vehicles, business cards, published display ads, flyers, brochures, websites, and internet ads. Subdivision 1 requires the license number on all building permits and building permit applications made to or issued by the state or a political subdivision, and on the site plan review or zoning permit in jurisdictions that have not adopted the State Building Code. It also requires the number on all business cards and all contracts to perform work for which a license is required. Subdivision 3 goes further: contracts entered into by a licensee must state that the person is licensed and must state the license number. The department confirms the same list and adds notices and statements relating to the filing of mechanics liens, and states the law does not require a specific print size or location for the number. Read subdivision 2 literally and a truck door, a yard sign, and a website footer all qualify. The number is also how a customer checks you. The department runs a public license and registration lookup where anyone can check the status of a license, continuing education completion, bond holders, and whether enforcement actions exist against a license. No account is needed; a visitor selects continue as guest and enters a complete license or registration number, or searches by other criteria. The department also publishes a nightly spreadsheet export of licensed businesses, including a residential contractors file. Active records show a status of issued.
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Written agreements and wording you cannot use
Minnesota regulates the paperwork, not just the pour. Section 326B.809 requires that all agreements between a licensee and a customer be in writing, and it defines agreements broadly: proposals, estimates, bids, quotations, contracts, purchase orders, and change orders. Each must contain a detailed summary of the services to be performed, a description of the specific materials to be used or a list of standard features to be included, and the total contract price or a description of the basis on which the price will be calculated. Before entering into an agreement the licensee must give the prospective customer written performance guidelines for the services, and those guidelines must be included in or incorporated by reference into the agreement. All agreements must be signed and dated by both the licensee and the customer. The licensee must hand the customer a signed and dated copy at no charge at the time both parties sign, covering agreements, performance guidelines, and mechanic's lien waivers. On wording, the license you hold sets the ceiling on what you may claim. A residential remodeler cannot hold itself out for new homes or detached garages, because the department limits that license to existing structures. A residential roofer cannot contract for gutters, downspouts, soffit, or fascia. A certificate of exemption is an exemption from licensure, not a license, so it cannot be advertised as one. A Q number is not a license either; the department states it is a registration for tracking continuing education, and that license numbers begin BC, CR, RR, or MI while Q registrations begin QB, QC, QR, or QI.
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Penalties for unlicensed concrete work
The exposure runs criminal, civil, and commercial at the same time. The department states that a person whose company is required to be licensed and who performs unlicensed work as a residential building contractor or remodeler is guilty of a misdemeanor, and that individuals engaging in unlicensed activity, misrepresentation, or fraud face administrative and civil penalties. Section 326B.845, subdivision 1, makes an individual who violates an order of the commissioner guilty of a gross misdemeanor, and extends that to the manager, officer, or director of a person who violates such an order. Subdivision 2 removes the lien. An unlicensed person who knowingly violates sections 326B.802 to 326B.885 has no right to claim a lien under section 514.01 and the lien is void, though the lien rights of material suppliers and licensed contractors are untouched. For a concrete subcontractor who relies on lien rights to get paid, that is the clause with teeth. The money penalties sit in section 326B.082, subdivision 7. The commissioner may issue a monetary penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation, may order part or all of it forgiven where the person demonstrates correction, and may treat each day a violation remains uncorrected after the deadline as a separate violation when calculating the maximum. A civil penalty of $5,000 per day applies for each day a person conducts business operations in violation of a stop work order, and a person who delays or obstructs the commissioner's investigation may be issued a $1,000 penalty, with each day a separate violation. Section 326B.85 closes the permit door: a political subdivision shall not issue a building permit, or a zoning or land use permit issued in lieu of one, to an unlicensed person who is required to be licensed, and must report the applicant to the commissioner. For new residential construction, the subdivision must send the department a copy of the application within two business days.
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Minneapolis: concrete in the public right-of-way
State law stops cities from licensing your residential concrete work, but it does not stop them from licensing work outside that scope, and the department names sidewalks and curb cut-ins as examples. Minneapolis uses that room. The city requires a sidewalk inspection permit before you build or fix sidewalks, including repair and replacement, curbs or gutters, driveway aprons, and pedestrian curb ramps. The city bases the permit fee on the scope of the work and collects it when the permit is processed. The permit is valid once payment is processed, and the city then requires a pre-construction meeting with the sidewalk inspector named on the permit before work starts. A permit is needed for each location, and an obstruction or lane use permit is required for each location on top of it. The city states that contract work in the public right-of-way must meet city standards. Curb cuts carry a licensing requirement of their own. Minneapolis states that a sidewalk contractor licensed in Minneapolis must do the work on a curb cut or drive apron, and that approval runs through a plan review request and the city's ProjectDox electronic plan review system. The geometry rules are specific enough to price from: one driveway per home, no driveway where a home with one to three units has alley access, the driveway perpendicular to the public right-of-way, five feet of clearance from fixed structures such as hydrants, poles, signs, streetlights, and trees, five feet from property lines unless the neighbor signs off, at least 20 feet from the end of an intersection corner radius and 30 feet where the intersection is signalized, and a width between 8 and 16 feet. Minneapolis also lists residential specialties among the contractor trade licenses it issues.
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Saint Paul: licensed sidewalk contractor and a city concrete exam
Saint Paul goes further than a permit. The city states that concrete work within the public right-of-way may only be done by a licensed contractor who obtains the proper permits from the Public Works Sidewalk Section, citing Chapters 121 and 123 of city code. Licensing itself runs through the Department of Safety and Inspections under Chapter 356, reachable at 651-266-9102 for requirements and fees, and the Sidewalk Section at 651-266-6120 must give final approval before the license is formalized. There is a city exam on top of anything the state requires: candidates contact the Sidewalk Division to take the Public Works Concrete Exam. The city publishes a checklist for becoming an approved sidewalk contractor and a sidewalk permit contractor approval package, and it maintains a published list of approved sidewalk contractors. Permits follow the license, not the other way around. Saint Paul states that to apply for sidewalk permits you must already be an approved city licensed sidewalk contractor, and that the permit application should be filed at least five to seven days before the construction start date, with more time possible for inspection, fee processing, and review by other divisions. Contractors must submit drawings with quantities so the city can determine the permit fee, which the city sets through its published fee schedule. One material restriction shapes bids: Public Works does not allow asphalt in the public right-of-way for driveway aprons or boulevards unless the Director of Public Works approves it. For a flatwork contractor working both metros, the practical reading is that private driveways and slabs follow the state license while anything touching the public walk, apron, or boulevard follows city rules that differ between Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
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