Wisconsin · Concrete licensing · official-source guide
Wisconsin does not license concrete contractors. The Department of Safety and Professional Services issues no flatwork, foundation or masonry credential. What it certifies is Dwelling Contractor for the business and Dwelling Contractor Qualifier for an individual, the pair needed to obtain a building permit for a one- or two-family dwelling. Flatwork in the public right of way is licensed city by city.
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Wisconsin has no concrete contractor license. The state issues no flatwork, foundation or masonry classification, and no state agency tests a concrete contractor on concrete work. The agency that matters is the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, which runs the Uniform Dwelling Code program for one- and two-family dwellings under code chapters SPS 320 to 325 and the commercial building program under SPS 361 to 366. The credential that reaches concrete businesses is the Dwelling Contractor certification, and it is tied to building permits rather than to the trade itself. Under SPS 320.06(1), cities, villages and towns exercise jurisdiction over the construction and inspection of new one- and two-family dwellings once they meet department requirements, and delegated counties cover the municipalities that do not. For commercial work the department reviews plans but does not issue the building permit. That split is why a concrete business here deals with three layers at once. The state sets who may apply for a dwelling permit and what the footing and foundation inspections look like. The municipality issues the permit and inspects the pour. A separate city license usually controls flatwork inside the public right of way, which is where driveway aprons and public sidewalk sit. On the consumer side the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection enforces the home improvement rule, chapter ATCP 110, and that rule names sidewalks, driveways, patios, basements, terraces, porches and garages as covered improvements. A concrete contractor in Wisconsin is therefore lightly licensed and heavily inspected.
Sourcesdsps.wi.gov 1dsps.wi.gov 2dsps.wi.gov 3datcp.wi.gov 4
DSPS issues three related dwelling credentials, and concrete contractors confuse them constantly. Dwelling Contractor, abbreviated DC, is held by an organization or business. The department describes it as the certification an owner, partner or chief executive of a contracting business obtains so the business can get building permits for one- and two-family dwellings. Dwelling Contractor Qualifier, abbreviated DCQ, is held by an individual. It is the human credential, earned by course work, that carries the competency side of the same permit rule. Dwelling Contractor Restricted is a third organization credential that carries a smaller bond. Because DC sits on an organization account in the LicensE system and DCQ sits on an individual account, the department requires two separate accounts if one person holds both. The rule the three credentials serve is stated plainly on the Qualifier page. No person may obtain a building permit for a one- and two-family dwelling unless that person holds a Dwelling Contractor certification or a Dwelling Contractor Restricted certification issued by the department, and holds or engages as an employee a person certified as a Dwelling Contractor Qualifier. So a concrete company that forms footings and foundation walls and wants the permit in its own name needs both halves. A one-person concrete business supplies both halves itself: the company holds the DC, the owner holds the DCQ. None of the three credentials says anything about mix design, reinforcement placement, curing or finishing. They are permit and accountability credentials, not trade tests, and no Wisconsin credential grades your slab work.
Read the requirement as a permit rule and the answer gets clearer. The certification obligation attaches to the person who obtains the building permit for a one- and two-family dwelling. A concrete contractor hired by a general contractor to form and pour footings and foundation walls, who never applies for the permit, is not the permit applicant. A concrete contractor who contracts directly with a homeowner for a foundation, an addition slab or an attached garage floor that needs a dwelling permit, and who applies for that permit, is. DSPS publishes one exemption: the requirement does not apply to an owner of a dwelling who resides or will reside in the dwelling and who applies for a building permit to work on that dwelling. DATCP puts the same rule in consumer language and warns homeowners that a contract shifting the permit onto the homeowner leaves the homeowner with no assurance the contractor carries proper insurance. That matters commercially. Many concrete companies grow by taking foundation work direct from homeowners rather than from builders, and the certification is the gate on that move. Flatwork that needs no dwelling building permit is a separate question answered by the municipality, since the city decides when a patio, driveway or sidewalk needs a permit and whether it sits in the right of way. Note also that the permit application itself asks for contractor license numbers and expiration dates, so an uncertified concrete business shows up at the application stage even when a builder holds the permit.
There is no state concrete exam and no Dwelling Contractor exam. The Qualifier credential is earned by course work. An applicant must complete at least 12 hours in an approved initial qualifier course in dwelling construction, taken from a provider on the department list. The course has a shelf life: DSPS states that a course taken more than one year earlier must be taken again, or another approved course attended. The department also defines the content. Acceptable subject matter splits into construction laws and construction business practices on one side and construction codes on the other, with at least one third of the hours in each and the remaining third in either. The law and business third can cover contract law, the Wisconsin home improvement trade practices code, licensure requirements, lead and asbestos awareness, worker's compensation, unemployment compensation, the right to cure law, lien law, liability insurance and performance bonds. The code third can cover Wisconsin and municipal building codes, Uniform Dwelling Code administration and enforcement, erosion control and stormwater management. General sales and marketing courses are not approved, and the department says adding the word construction to a title does not make one count. Testing happens inside the course rather than at a test center. Under SPS 305.315(2)(c)1 every 12-hour initial training course must include one or more tests written by the provider, and internet or correspondence courses must require a 70 percent correct score to pass. The business credential differs: DSPS states there is no pre-education requirement for Dwelling Contractor.
State fees here are small, which surprises concrete contractors arriving from licensing states. On the DSPS trades fee schedule the initial Dwelling Contractor credential fee is $25 plus a $15 application fee. Dwelling Contractor Restricted is the same, $25 plus $15. The individual Dwelling Contractor Qualifier credential fee is $30 plus a $15 application fee. Renewal is just as light. Dwelling Contractor is valid for one year from the date of issuance and renews for $25 with no continuing education hours required. Dwelling Contractor Restricted is also a one year credential at $25. Dwelling Contractor Qualifier is valid for two years from the date of issuance, requires 12 continuing education hours, and renews for $30. The schedule lists a $25 late continuing education fee for the Qualifier and a $200 reinstatement fee for all three. Payment runs through the LicensE system at the end of the application, by credit card, debit card or automated clearing house transfer, and the department warns that an ACH payment can add three to five business days to processing. Two reductions sit on the application path: DSPS instructions tell applicants to request a veterans fee waiver or an initial credential fee reduction during the application if it applies to them. Budget the course hours and the bond or insurance rather than the fees, because the $25 and $30 lines are the cheapest part of getting certified to pull a foundation permit. In Green Bay the city concrete license costs more than the state credential does.
Sourcesdsps.wi.gov 1dsps.wi.gov 2dsps.wi.gov 3greenbaywi.gov 4
Proof of financial responsibility is the real barrier, not the fee. For Dwelling Contractor, DSPS requires one of two things: a bond of at least $25,000 endorsed by a surety company authorized to do business in Wisconsin, or a policy of general liability insurance of at least $250,000 per occurrence. The department is specific about the paperwork. The ACORD 25 certificate is all that is needed, and declarations pages are not accepted. The proof must list the correct business name and be active and valid at the time of review. The department also points applicants to the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance or the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to confirm that a surety or insurer is in good standing. Dwelling Contractor Restricted takes a smaller bond by design: a bond endorsed by a surety company authorized to do business in this state of less than $25,000 but not less than $5,000, conditioned on the applicant complying with all applicable provisions of the one- and two-family dwelling code and any ordinance enacted under Wisconsin Statute 101.65(1)(a). A copy of that bond goes up with the application. Renewal repeats the test, because the department tells Dwelling Contractor renewal applicants to upload up to date proof of financial responsibility. For a concrete business the $250,000 per occurrence general liability route is usually the practical one, since most concrete outfits already carry more than that for the pump, the forms and the slab warranty exposure. Cities add their own limits on top of the state floor.
Renewal cycles differ across the three credentials, and the Qualifier is the one with homework. Dwelling Contractor renews annually on the date of issuance, with no continuing education requirement. To renew, the business pays the fee and uploads current proof of financial responsibility. If it stays expired more than one year, the business files a reinstatement application rather than a renewal. Dwelling Contractor Restricted also renews annually with no continuing education, and the department notes that although the LicensE system labels the path reinstatement after two years, the Restricted credential is a one year license needing reinstatement once it has been expired more than one year. Dwelling Contractor Qualifier renews every two years and requires 12 hours of department approved continuing education, of which 4 hours must be in construction laws and codes and contracts, liability, and risk management. The upload rules catch people out. The course provider must upload the completion record to the holder's LicensE account, and DSPS states it cannot accept certificates of completion from applicants. Providers have 14 days to upload. The continuing education has to be finished before the renewal application can be submitted, so a concrete contractor who sits a class the week his Qualifier expires can still miss the window. The fee schedule lists a $25 late continuing education fee. DSPS opens renewal roughly four weeks before expiration and emails instructions to the address on file, so keep that address current or you will pour a season on a lapsed credential.
DSPS publishes two application methods for Dwelling Contractor and two for Dwelling Contractor Qualifier: new licensure and reinstatement. No reciprocity or endorsement method is listed for either credential on the department's profession pages. The practical reading is that an Illinois or Minnesota concrete contractor crossing in for foundation work takes the same 12-hour Wisconsin initial qualifier course as a resident, from the same approved provider list, and applies as a new licensee. The department does say in its general legal information that applications submitted by reciprocity or endorsement require review by department legal staff, so confirm your own situation with DSPS rather than assuming either way. Two other cross-border obligations are clear. The Department of Workforce Development states that out-of-state employers must carry Wisconsin worker's compensation insurance if they have employees working in Wisconsin, that the policy must name Wisconsin as a covered state in section 3-A, and that the insurer must file the endorsed policy with the Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau. Unemployment insurance liability follows Wisconsin wages as well. The surety or insurer behind your proof of financial responsibility has to be authorized to do business in Wisconsin, so a bond from a carrier without Wisconsin authority will not satisfy the department. City prequalification is separate again and does not travel between Wisconsin cities, so a concrete company prequalified in Madison still applies in Green Bay. Build the course, the Wisconsin endorsed bond or policy and the city filings into the schedule before you quote foundation work across the state line.
Sourcesdsps.wi.gov 1dsps.wi.gov 2dsps.wi.gov 3dwd.wisconsin.gov 4dsps.wi.gov 5
Nothing in the dwelling credential scheme reaches a commercial pour. There is no DSPS license for a commercial concrete or foundation contractor. What applies instead is plan review. DSPS requires plan review for commercial, industrial and other public buildings of 25,000 cubic feet or larger, and for any size of school, high-hazard occupancy, and three-unit or larger residential building. So a three-unit apartment foundation runs through commercial plan review even though the duplex next door runs under the Uniform Dwelling Code. Submissions go to the municipality when it holds delegated authority for buildings of that size and the project does not involve a state owned building or land, and otherwise to DSPS through the eSLA system. The package includes owner and supervising professional information, site location, building information, a signed, sealed and dated plan set, structural calculations signed, sealed and dated, and supporting documents that can include form SBD-8126, the checklist for commercial building plan review, and form SBD-8102, special inspections and testing in Wisconsin. That special inspections form is the one concrete contractors should read first, because concrete testing and inspection duties on a commercial job are set there rather than in any license. Once plans comply, the department issues a conditional approval letter giving permission to start construction, pending local permitting. DSPS does not issue commercial building permits at all; the municipality does, and the local permit is conditional on approved plan review. Inspection then follows the local permit and that approval letter. The gate on commercial concrete work is the sealed design and the inspection regime, not a contractor credential.
Sourcesdsps.wi.gov
Madison controls concrete flatwork through its Engineering Division rather than through any contractor license board. All contractors performing work in the city right of way must be prequalified by the City of Madison. Prequalification is applied for on the city licensing website under licenses and registrations, and it is split into categories. Category A covers street terrace permits, limited concrete work, tree pruning and sewer lateral inspection or cleaning. Category B covers work performed under a private developer agreement or a public works contract and also requires an affirmative action plan, which must be approved before bid opening. Category C is required to obtain a permit to excavate in the right of way. A concrete company doing residential driveway aprons and sidewalk replacement for private owners lives in Category A. The permit that goes with the work is the street terrace permit, which covers residential driveway aprons of fewer than five parking stalls, sidewalk replacement, minor improvements in the right of way such as bricks, pavers, retaining walls and stairways subject to approval, and terrace rain gardens. It is applied for online, costs $50 paid by credit card, and takes five to seven working days to review. The city issues the permit after review and directs an inspection before construction starts. Madison also requires an erosion control permit where construction disturbs more than 4,000 square feet of soil, and a separate permit when excavation touches the right of way or a sewer or greenway easement. Terrace paving in brick, flag stone or concrete requires a terrace permit under Madison General Ordinance Chapter 10.09(5).
Sourcescityofmadison.com 1cityofmadison.com 2cityofmadison.com 3
Green Bay is the clearest Wisconsin example of a city licensing concrete work by name. The city requires an annual Concrete Sidewalk Builders License of any business or person who wants to construct or reconstruct concrete sidewalks, driveways or driveway aprons within the public right of way inside city limits. The city states that no person shall build or construct any concrete sidewalk, driveway or driveway apron upon any street in the city without that license. The fee in the city fee schedule is $50.00 under section 34-8, and the license expires annually on December 31. The application goes to the City Clerk's Office with a $5,000 bond and a certificate of insurance showing $1,000,000 comprehensive general liability with the City of Green Bay listed as additional insured. New applicants also supply references. The application requires a photo of the company's concrete stamp, which must be made of a durable, unalterable material such as metal or fiberglass and must carry the business name and the current year. Both the Improvement and Services Committee and the Common Council must approve the license, and a denial is appealed to the Common Council. Holding the license is not the end of it. Each time the licensee works it must get a Licensed Sidewalk Builders Permit from Public Works, which comes with a sidewalk grade permit showing the grade for that address. The licensee must barricade to the national and Wisconsin Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, and must haul away its own broken concrete, because the city will not collect it.
A permit under the Uniform Dwelling Code is required for new one- and two-family dwelling units, including stick built, modular and manufactured home installations. Where you apply depends on delegation. If the municipality covering the project has been delegated authority to issue permits and the project is not a state owned building or land, the application goes to the municipality. If not, it goes to DSPS through eSLA, and the department publishes an inspector lookup tool to find the DSPS appointed inspector for the county. The UDC delegated agent list, current as of September 24, 2026 on the department site, includes Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, Racine, Waukesha and Oshkosh, so foundation work in the largest metros is permitted and inspected locally. Whichever agency has authority, the application must include contractor license numbers and expiration dates, legible building plans with scale or dimensions, a site and erosion control plan, a floor plan, elevation detail on all four sides, REScheck data, truss plans, a water calculation, a wall bracing worksheet and the permit application fee. The inspection sequence is where concrete work is judged. DSPS lists footings, including excavation, as the first required inspection on a new one- or two-family dwelling, followed by foundation and foundation reinforcement, then rough, insulation and final. Two of those five are yours. Notify the inspector named on the UDC permit when forms and reinforcement are ready, not after the pour. The same program also provides soil erosion control information for one- and two-family dwelling construction sites.
Sourcesdsps.wi.gov 1dsps.wi.gov 2
These three obligations apply to a concrete business whether or not it ever pulls a dwelling permit, and the Dwelling Contractor application makes you attest to the first two. The Department of Workforce Development requires worker's compensation insurance once you employ three or more full-time or part-time employees, counted from the day you employ the third person, or once you pay gross wages of $500 or more in any quarter for one or more employees for work done in Wisconsin, effective the tenth day of the first month of the next quarter. Sole proprietors, partners and members of limited liability companies are not employees for this purpose but may buy coverage voluntarily. Independent contractor status requires meeting a nine-part test. Going without required coverage draws a penalty of double the premiums you should have been paying during the uninsured period or $750, whichever is greater, a possible penalty of $100 per day up to seven days, an order closing the business, and personal liability for benefits paid to an injured employee. Unemployment insurance liability starts for a commercial employer at wages of $1,500 or more in a quarter in any calendar year, or employing one or more individuals for some part of a day in 20 or more weeks in a calendar year. On tax, the Department of Revenue treats a concrete contractor as the consumer of its materials. Receipts from real property construction activities are not subject to sales tax, but the contractor owes sales or use tax on materials consumed, and concrete foundations and building supports are real property improvements.
Sourcesdwd.wisconsin.gov 1dwd.wisconsin.gov 2revenue.wi.gov 3dsps.wi.gov 4
Wisconsin publishes no state rule requiring a concrete contractor to print a license number on trucks, yard signs, estimates or a website. What the state regulates is the contract and the disclosures. Chapter ATCP 110, the home improvement rule enforced by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, covers improvements that include sidewalks, driveways, patios, basements, terraces, porches and garages, which is almost everything a residential concrete contractor sells. Before the contract, the contractor must inform the customer of all required building or construction permits. Under ATCP 110.05 the contract must carry the name and address of the salesperson plus the company name and address, not just a post office box, a full description of the job, a detailed list of materials by name, brand, size, model, performance capacity and quantity, the total price plus finance charges, starting and completion dates, and a statement of any warranties with their exceptions and limits. A written contract is required by law if any payment is taken before the work is done. Under ATCP 110.025 the contractor must give the buyer a notice of the consumer's right to receive lien waivers before the contract is entered, and must provide lien waivers when asked. Under Wisconsin Statute 101.148 the contractor must hand over the right to cure brochure at the time of contracting. The one physical display rule found in Wisconsin is local: Green Bay requires that durable concrete stamp carrying the business name and the current year, so your identity is set into the walk you built.
DSPS links the public license lookup from its own home page at license.wi.gov, and that is where a homeowner, builder or municipal inspector confirms a Dwelling Contractor or Dwelling Contractor Qualifier credential. A pending application is tracked separately through the application status lookup using the preliminary application reference number, which DSPS says a trusted third party can use without logging in. DATCP tells consumers to ask any contractor for a certificate of insurance listing the homeowner as a certificate holder, so the homeowner is told if the policy lapses, and warns that a contractor who cannot show a card may mean trouble. Green Bay publishes a current list of its licensed sidewalk builders. The penalties for getting the consumer side wrong are the ones with teeth. DATCP states that criminal violations of home improvement laws under Wisconsin Statute 943.20 can bring maximum fines of $5,000 and imprisonment for up to a year, that civil violations can bring maximum fines of $10,000, and that consumers may sue for twice the amount of any damages together with court costs and reasonable attorney fees. Excavation carries its own exposure. Wisconsin Statute 182.0175 requires notifying Diggers Hotline at least three days before you excavate, grade, trench, dig, drill, augur, tunnel, scrape or plow cable or pipe, and requires an 18-inch buffer zone on each side of a marked facility in which only hand digging is allowed. Repeat notice is required if excavation has not started within 10 days or is interrupted for more than 10 days.
Sourcesdsps.wi.gov 1dsps.wi.gov 2datcp.wi.gov 3greenbaywi.gov 4psc.wi.gov 5
These are common details other guides publish about Wisconsin, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. Wisconsin issues no concrete, flatwork or masonry license. A state credential enters the picture only when your business applies for a building permit on a one- or two-family dwelling, which is when Dwelling Contractor and Dwelling Contractor Qualifier certification is required. Work in a public right of way is licensed by the city instead.
Dwelling Contractor is held by the organization and sits on a business account in LicensE. Dwelling Contractor Qualifier is held by an individual on a personal account and is earned by a 12-hour course. The permit rule needs both halves: the business holds the certification, and it holds or employs a certified Qualifier.
The certification requirement attaches to whoever obtains the building permit, so a concrete subcontractor working under a general contractor's permit is not the applicant. The permit application still asks for contractor license numbers and expiration dates. DSPS publishes only one exemption, for an owner-occupant pulling a permit on their own dwelling.
No. Wisconsin replaces an exam with 12 hours of approved initial qualifier course work in dwelling construction. The provider writes the test inside the course, and under SPS 305.315(2)(c)1 internet or correspondence versions must require a 70 percent correct score to pass. A course taken more than one year before you apply must be retaken.
For Dwelling Contractor, either a bond of at least $25,000 endorsed by a surety authorized to do business in Wisconsin, or general liability insurance of at least $250,000 per occurrence. The department takes the ACORD 25 certificate and rejects declarations pages. Dwelling Contractor Restricted takes a bond under $25,000 but not less than $5,000.
Dwelling Contractor renews annually from the date of issuance for $25 with no continuing education. Dwelling Contractor Restricted is also annual at $25. Dwelling Contractor Qualifier runs two years and renews for $30 with 12 continuing education hours. The trades schedule lists a $200 reinstatement fee once a credential has lapsed.
Twelve hours of department approved continuing education every two years, with 4 of those hours in construction laws and codes and contracts, liability, and risk management. Your course provider uploads the record to your LicensE account, because DSPS will not accept a certificate from you. Providers have 14 days, so do not leave it to the last week.
Yes. Green Bay requires an annual Concrete Sidewalk Builders License for sidewalks, driveways and driveway aprons in the public right of way. The fee is $50.00 under section 34-8 and it expires December 31. You file a $5,000 bond, a $1,000,000 liability certificate naming the city, and a photo of your concrete stamp.
Prequalification plus a permit. Every contractor working in the Madison right of way must be prequalified by the city, and Category A covers street terrace permits and limited concrete work. The street terrace permit itself covers residential driveway aprons under five parking stalls and sidewalk replacement, costs $50, and takes five to seven working days.
Generally yes. The Department of Revenue treats a contractor as the consumer of materials used in real property construction. Your receipts from that work are not subject to sales tax, but you owe sales or use tax on the materials you consume. Concrete foundations and building supports count as real property improvements.
Once you employ three or more full-time or part-time employees, counted from the day you employ the third person, or once you pay gross wages of $500 or more in any quarter for work done in Wisconsin. Out-of-state employers with employees working in Wisconsin must carry it too, with Wisconsin named in section 3-A.
DSPS links a public license lookup from its home page at license.wi.gov, which is where anyone confirms a Dwelling Contractor or Dwelling Contractor Qualifier credential. A pending application can be checked through the application status lookup with your preliminary application reference number. Green Bay separately publishes its current list of licensed sidewalk builders.
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