Oregon · Landscaping licensing · official-source guide
Oregon licenses this trade at state level through the Oregon Landscape Contractors Board. Two licenses are needed: an individual landscape construction professional license, earned by exam, and a landscape contracting business license, which requires liability insurance and a surety bond. Every licensed business must employ or be owned by a licensed professional who supervises all landscaping work.
Verified against agency sources on 2026-10-12. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
The Oregon Landscape Contractors Board licenses landscape contracting businesses and landscape construction professionals throughout the state. This is a state license, not a city or county permit, and it decides whether you may contract for landscaping work anywhere in Oregon. The board states its statutory authority as ORS 671.520 to 671.997 and its rules as OAR chapter 808. ORS 671.530 says a person may not operate as a landscape contracting business in Oregon without a valid business license issued under ORS 671.560, and may not operate as a landscape construction professional without a valid individual license. No Oregon city issues a competing landscaping competency license. Cities and counties issue business tax registrations and building permits, which sit on top of the state license rather than replacing it. The board employs a full-time staff investigator and works with contract investigators in various areas of the state, and an investigator may make a random site check at one of your jobsites. The board describes those site checks as how it locates unlicensed activity. For a contractor who has to go win work, this is the practical point: the state license is the one credential Oregon tells homeowners to check before hiring. The board publishes a consumer guide, runs a claim process against your bond, and posts disciplinary actions quarterly. The license is both your permission to bid and a public record a customer can read before calling you.
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Oregon splits the credential in two. The individual license is the landscape construction professional, or LCP. The business license is the landscape contracting business, or LCB. The board tells applicants to start with the individual license, because it is required before you can apply for the business license. ORS 671.530 adds the rule that ties them together: a landscape construction professional may perform landscaping work only while in the employ of a licensed and bonded landscape contracting business, and a sole proprietor must hold both licenses. A licensed business must be owned by or employ a licensed LCP who supervises all landscaping work. The board goes further on what supervision means. Your LCP must directly supervise the landscaping work of all unlicensed employees, must be on the payroll every hour landscaping work is being performed, and must be available by phone to give instruction. If the LCP license expires or is suspended, the business license can be suspended immediately. Processing time runs about 5 business days for a complete individual application and about 10 business days for a complete business application. The business application includes a notarized employment verification form that proves the business is connected to a licensed LCP. Owners and managing employees who are not themselves the licensed professional have their own application under ORS 671.595. Plan the sequence before you quote work, because a business license cannot be issued ahead of the individual one.
The board issues the license in phases, and the phase controls the work you may perform and advertise. All Phase requires all six exam sections. Standard Phase requires Laws, Rules and Business Practices; Plants and Turf; Hardscaping; and Design, Grading and Drainage. The Irrigation and Backflow phase requires Laws, Rules and Business Practices plus the Irrigation and Backflow sections. The Planting phase requires Laws, Rules and Business Practices; Plants and Turf; and Design, Grading and Drainage. The Arborist phase is open to applicants who hold an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist credential and requires the Laws, Rules and Business Practices section. A Modified phase also requires the Laws, Rules and Business Practices section. The Probationary route requires passing all six exam sections within one year of the first exam sitting. The board states that your license card shows the phase your business may advertise for or perform, and that performing landscape contracting work outside the scope of your license can draw a civil penalty. That is the commercial constraint worth planning around. An irrigation specialist who never installs plants can hold a narrower phase and still bid irrigation and backflow work legally. A company that wants to quote planting, hardscaping, drainage and irrigation in one proposal needs the breadth to match. The board publishes a license phase table and phase flyers so an applicant can pick the phase that matches the work being sold.
The board lists the work that requires a landscape contractor license when performed for compensation. It includes planning or installing lawns, shrubs, vines, trees or other nursery stock; preparing property for landscaping work, including soil amendments, rototilling or grading; installing or repairing irrigation systems; maintaining irrigation systems using compressed air; planning, installing, maintaining or repairing arbors, decks, patios, driveways, fences, retaining walls, walkways, landscape edging or ornamental water features; and installing, maintaining or repairing drainage systems. Some of that overlaps the Construction Contractors Board. The board states that a contractor licensed through either agency may plan, install, maintain or repair arbors, decks, patios, driveways, fences, retaining walls, walkways, landscape edging or ornamental water features. Tree work splits in a way worth knowing before you quote it. Removing trees, grinding stumps and guying limbs are allowed under either an LCB or a CCB license. Planting trees requires the LCB license, and a CCB license alone does not cover it. Repairing irrigation or sprinkler systems requires the LCB license. A CCB residential general contractor may perform limited landscaping work while under contract to build a new residential dwelling, but irrigation work is excluded and the total value of the landscape work cannot exceed $4,600 per residential dwelling. The same contractor may plant street trees for new residential construction when local building codes or occupancy ordinances require it, again with no irrigation work. ORS 671.540 is the statutory source for those limits and sets the base figure the board adjusts for inflation.
ORS 671.540 lists the exemptions, and they are narrower than most people assume. Federal, state and local agencies performing landscaping work on public property are exempt. A landscape architect registered under ORS 671.310 to 671.459 and practicing within that registration is exempt. A landscape maintenance business is exempt only if all three conditions hold: the customer receives primarily landscape maintenance services from the business during the calendar year, the value of all labor, materials or other items supplied for landscaping work at the job site does not exceed $500 in a calendar year, and the work is of a casual, minor or inconsequential nature as the board defines those terms by rule. Installation of fences, decks, arbors, driveways, walkways, retaining walls or ornamental water features is exempt when performed by a person or business licensed with the Construction Contractors Board, as is rough grading of plots and areas of land done in conjunction with new or remodeling construction. A property owner may contract for landscaping work on the property when the work is performed by someone licensed under ORS 671.560, and a person may do landscaping work on property they own or hold a legal interest in. Both of those owner exemptions stop applying to anyone who, in pursuit of an independent business, does or contracts for landscaping work intending to sell the property. Making plans or drawings for the selection, placement or use of plants or other site features is exempt unless the plans provide construction details and specifications.
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The board publishes the qualification requirements in writing. An applicant must be 18 years of age, or legally emancipated, and meet at least one further condition. The first is two years of landscape related experience within the last 10 years, which the board says can include nursery work, landscape maintenance work or employment by a landscape contracting business. For the modified license only one year of such experience within the last 10 years is required. The second is an associate, bachelor or master degree in horticulture or a related field that includes cooperative work experience, with documentation of 6 months of landscape related experience as a substitute if there was no cooperative work experience. The third is a certificate in horticulture or a related field from an accredited school or college requiring a minimum of 72 credit hours, with the same 6 month substitute. The fourth is a current International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist credential, which is required for the arborist phase. The board also accepts the National Association of Landscape Professionals Landscape Industry Certified Exterior Technician certification, current certified professional membership in the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, and a current Oregon Backflow Assembly Tester certification or completion of a five day Backflow Assembly Tester course approved by the Oregon Drinking Water Program. Other landscaping related certified memberships can be considered individually if you send documentation and a letter of explanation. Applicants who meet none of these can apply for a probationary license instead.
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There are six exam sections: Laws, Rules and Business Practices; Plants and Turf; Hardscaping; Design, Grading and Drainage; Irrigation; and Backflow. Your license phase decides which sections you sit. You apply to the board first. Once the application is approved you receive an email with testing materials and a candidate identification number, and you use that number to register for the exam. If the application is not approved you get a letter asking for more documentation. PSI administers the exam in person at a test site, where all reference materials are provided and you may not use your own. PSI also offers virtual testing, where you are responsible for buying and bringing your own approved printed reference materials for the sections you take. No internet printouts, photocopies or loose papers are allowed in the virtual option, and you need a webcam and a microphone. All exams are available in English and Spanish. The Clackamas Community College Small Business Development Center is the approved provider of a prep course that administers the official Standard Phase exam as part of the class; probationary and modified applicants are not eligible for that option. The board also accepts the National Association of Landscape Professionals Landscape Industry Certification, Exterior Technician, in place of the Hardscape Installation, Softscape Installation, Irrigation and Common Core sections. The NALP certificate program is not accepted. The board publishes a resource materials list and a PSI candidate information bulletin covering section detail, question counts and time limits.
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The board changed its fees effective October 1, 2025. The change applies to applications received on or after that date, to licenses with a renewal date of October 31 or later, and to status changes or reinstatements occurring on or after that date. The published schedule is: Business Application $285.00; Business Initial License $375.00; Business Renewal $375.00; Individual Application $200.00; Individual Initial License $200.00; Individual Renewal $200.00; Late Fee $85.00; Managing Owner or Employee Application $90.00; Probationary Application $190.00; Reinstatement $85.00; Status Change $85.00. Note how the structure works, because it affects cash flow in your first year. The individual application fee and the individual initial license fee are separate charges, and so are the business application fee and the business initial license fee. A sole proprietor who needs both licenses pays four of those line items before taking a single contract. Exam charges are not board fees. PSI sets those, and the board points candidates to the PSI candidate information bulletin for exam costs. Study materials are a separate cost again, and some can be bought from the board office. The board also prices the administrative events that catch busy contractors: a late fee, a reinstatement fee and a status change fee. Build the renewal date into your calendar rather than paying $85.00 to learn it. The board plans a further rule change in 2028 under OAR 808-003-0210 for the inflation increase allowed by ORS 671.540.
Proof of current insurance and bond must be on file with the board before a license is issued or renewed. The liability insurance minimum is $500,000, and the board must be listed as the certificate holder on the policy. The board is specific about the name: the business name on your insurance and bond must match your licensed business name, not your assumed business name. On the bond, the board notes that beginning January 1, 2026 all landscape contracting businesses must carry a $20,000 bond, except probationary phase holders, who carry a $15,000 bond. The board attributes the change to Senate Bill 864 and a final permanent rule filing effective January 1, 2026. Workers compensation insurance is required if your business has employees, and a certificate has to go to the board when your employer status changes. You must notify the board in writing within 30 days if your employer status changes, and the board provides a form for it. Coverage has to stay active at all times. The board states that your license may be suspended if required coverage expires and updated documentation is not provided on time, and that updated documents are due when you apply, when you renew, when a policy renews or changes, and when you ask for probationary status to be removed. The bond is what funds the board's claim process, so it is also the thing a careful customer is checking for.
The business license is valid for one year, and the renewal fee is due every year to keep it. The board sends an email notice roughly 60 days before the expiration date. Continuing education attaches to the individual license, not the business. A landscape construction professional licensed less than 6 years must complete 16 hours every two years. One licensed 6 years or more must complete 8 hours every two years. Reporting runs on a two year cycle at renewal, with odd-numbered licenses reporting in odd-numbered years and even-numbered licenses reporting in even-numbered years. Hours have to be reported through the individual license portal before you renew, and you keep your completion certificates in case of audit. Courses must come from an approved provider or be submitted for individual approval, and approval has to be received before a course counts. Volunteer work and teaching can count, credited at a three to one ratio, with a maximum of 4 continuing education hours earned through volunteer activity in a two year reporting period. The board runs monthly audits to verify compliance. If requirements are not met, a civil penalty may be issued and the license may be suspended until the requirements are fulfilled. If your individual license goes inactive, the associated business license may be suspended until the individual license is active again. The board also requires written notice within 30 days of a mailing address change, and warns that missing that window can bring a civil penalty.
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Irrigation is where the Oregon rules get specific, and it is worth getting right because the work is a large part of installed value. The board states that installing or repairing irrigation systems requires the license, as does maintaining irrigation systems using compressed air. ORS 671.615 lets the board license a landscape construction professional to install backflow assemblies for irrigation systems and ornamental water features. A professional may install one only if licensed under that section and owned by or employed by a licensed landscape contracting business, and may tap into the potable water supply only at a point after the connection between the water system and the customer as that connection is defined in ORS 448.115. ORS 447.060(2) supplies the plumbing exemption. A landscape contracting business licensed under ORS 671.560 does not need a plumbing license to install, repair or maintain backflow assemblies for irrigation systems and ornamental water features if the work is performed by an individual licensed as required by ORS 671.615 who is an owner or employee of the business. The same subsection adds two limits. Repair and maintenance of the backflow assembly must be performed by a tester certified under ORS 448.279, and the exemption does not relieve the business of the inspection and permit requirements of ORS 447.010 to 447.156. On the testing side, the Oregon Health Authority states that all backflow prevention assembly testing in Oregon must be performed by an OHA certified Backflow Assembly Tester, and that certification cards run on a two year cycle with renewal applications mailed each October.
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The Oregon Department of Agriculture licenses pesticide use, and several triggers hit landscaping companies directly. A license is required before you apply or supervise the application of any pesticide to someone else's property, before you buy, apply or supervise the use of restricted use pesticides, before any application on a school campus as defined in ORS 634.700, before any application by aircraft including unmanned aircraft, and before you own or operate a business that advertises pesticide application services or otherwise applies pesticide to someone else's property. That advertising trigger matters for marketing. Listing weed control or lawn treatment as a service you sell can itself bring you inside the licensing requirement. The department also publishes the narrow exception for landscape maintenance work. No license is needed for general use pesticides applied as part of a landscape maintenance service only if all of the following hold: the use of pesticides is not stated in advertisements or contracts; applications are to small residential lawns or gardens only, with none to commercial properties; no restricted use pesticides are used; fuel or electric powered sprayers or spreaders are not used; and no application is made on a school campus. For a company that sells spray work, the usual pairing is a Commercial Pesticide Applicator license, which requires a laws and safety exam plus at least one category exam, held by an individual employed by a business holding a Commercial Pesticide Operator license. The operator license requires no exam but does require a certificate of insurance or a copy of the policy.
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Oregon protects the title separately from the contractor license, and the two are easy to confuse in marketing copy. ORS 671.316 says that unless an individual is registered as a landscape architect by the State Landscape Architect Board, the individual may not engage in the practice of landscape architecture, and may not use the title landscape architect, registered landscape architect or landscape architectural designer, or use other titles or any words, letters, figures, signs, cards, advertisements, symbols or other devices to represent that the individual or an associated business is authorized to practice landscape architecture. Knowingly aiding or abetting an unregistered individual in that practice is also prohibited. ORS 671.321 preserves what a licensed contractor may do and say. It does not restrict the right to operate as a landscape construction professional or landscape contracting business, or to use the titles landscape construction professional and landscape contractor. It also preserves making plans or drawings for the selection, placement or use of plants or other site features unless those plans provide construction details and specifications, and permits the title landscape designer for that work. On the business side, ORS 671.318 and the board's own guidance say a business may not provide landscape architecture services unless the work is under the full authority and responsible charge of a registered landscape architect who is also an owner or officer, that the business must file a form naming the responsible landscape architects by registration number, and that it must notify the board within 30 days of a change of owners, officers, name or address. Violation of ORS 671.310 to 671.459 is a Class A misdemeanor under ORS 671.992, and the board may impose a civil penalty up to $5,000 per offense under ORS 671.995.
The board states the rule plainly: all written advertising must include the business license number. Its own list of what counts as written advertising includes business cards, vehicle signage, flyers, newspaper advertisements, yellow page advertisements and websites, naming Facebook and Craigslist among them. The board also says your license card states the phase your business may advertise for or perform, and that working outside that scope can bring a civil penalty. The statute reaches the words themselves. ORS 671.530 says a person may not advertise or represent in any manner that the person is a landscape contracting business without a valid license, and that the prohibition includes using the title landscape business, landscaping business or landscape contracting business, or any title, sign, card or device that indicates or tends to indicate the person is a landscape contracting business. The same section covers individual titles: landscape contractor, landscape construction professional, landscape gardener, landscaper, or any other title using a form of the word landscape that tends to indicate the person is a landscape construction professional. There is a narrow carve out for maintenance companies. A landscape maintenance business may use a form of the word landscape in its title only if the title clearly indicates the maintenance nature of the business, and the statute says landscape gardening does not indicate that. Your contract carries the number too. Required contract content includes the business name, license number, physical address, mailing address and telephone number, plus a statement that the business is licensed by the State Landscape Contractors Board with the board's current address and phone number.
No Oregon city issues its own landscaping competency license, so the state license still governs scope everywhere. What cities add is tax registration and permits. In Portland, businesses subject to the Portland Business License Tax, the Multnomah County Business Income Tax or the Metro Supportive Housing Services Business Income Tax are required to register for a Revenue Division tax account, and the city says registration takes about 15 minutes online through Portland Revenue Online. Registration is separate from owing the tax. Taxfilers who qualify for an exemption from the Portland or Multnomah County tax must still file a business tax return to request the exemption each year. The Portland Business License Tax exemption thresholds are gross receipts from all business activities of less than $75,000 for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026 and before January 1, 2027, and less than $100,000 for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027. The Multnomah County Business Income Tax threshold is less than $100,000. The Metro Supportive Housing Services tax reaches businesses with total gross receipts of more than $5 million operating within the Metro jurisdiction. On permits, the board points contractors to local city and county offices, to the state Building Codes Division in some areas, and to the statewide e-permitting system for applying for and tracking permits. The board also notes that landscaping businesses in the Portland area may be able to buy a reduced cost regional contractor's license through Metro, and tells licensees to check with their local city or county business license office.
Unlicensed work is not a paperwork problem in Oregon. ORS 671.990 says violation of ORS 671.530 is a misdemeanor. Separately, ORS 671.997 lets the board impose a civil penalty against a person who violates ORS 671.510 to 671.760 or the board's rules, in an amount not to exceed $2,000 for each offense, in addition to any other penalty provided by law. For a first offense of the act described in ORS 671.610(5) the penalty may not exceed $1,000, and license sanctions escalate with repetition: a third offense may bring suspension or refusal to reissue for up to six months, a fourth may bring revocation for three years, and a fifth or later offense may bring permanent revocation. On the consumer side the board separates claims from enforcement. A claim is a dispute with a licensed business, and the consumer has one year from the date the work was substantially completed to file it. An optional pre-complaint letter notifies the business of an intended claim within 30 days but does not change the one year deadline. Enforcement is about unlicensed or illegal activity, and the board says it has no authority to award damages when the business is not licensed. That is the strongest sales argument the license gives you. Verification is public. The board's public register at lcb.us.thentiacloud.net lets anyone check a license, and the board posts disciplinary actions quarterly. Written contracts are required once a business charges $2,000 or more for all landscape work at the same job site for the same owner in a 12 month period.
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These are common details other guides publish about Oregon, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes. Oregon issues an individual landscape construction professional license and a separate landscape contracting business license. The board tells applicants to get the individual license first, because it is required before the business application. A licensed business must be owned by or employ a licensed professional who supervises all landscaping work, and a sole proprietor holds both.
Yes for that item. The board says a contractor licensed through either the Landscape Contractors Board or the Construction Contractors Board may plan, install, maintain or repair arbors, decks, patios, driveways, fences, retaining walls, walkways, landscape edging and ornamental water features. Planting trees and irrigation work are different and still need the LCB license.
Yes. The board states that repairing irrigation or sprinkler systems is landscape construction work and must be performed by a contractor holding a valid license from the Landscape Contractors Board. Installing irrigation systems and maintaining them using compressed air are also listed as work that requires the license.
The board states that beginning January 1, 2026 all landscape contracting businesses must carry a $20,000 bond, except probationary phase holders, who carry a $15,000 bond. The board credits Senate Bill 864 and a final permanent rule filing. The bond must be on file before a license is issued or renewed.
The minimum is $500,000, and the Landscape Contractors Board must be listed as the certificate holder on the policy. The business name on the insurance and the bond has to match your licensed business name rather than an assumed business name. Coverage must stay active, or the license can be suspended.
No. ORS 671.530 prohibits advertising or representing in any manner that you are a landscape contracting business without a valid license, including using the title landscape business, landscaping business or landscape contracting business, or any sign, card or device that tends to indicate it. Violating that section is a misdemeanor under ORS 671.990.
Yes. The board states that all written advertising must include the business license number, and its list of written advertising covers business cards, vehicle signage, flyers, newspaper advertisements, yellow page advertisements and websites, naming Facebook and Craigslist. Your contract must also carry the business name, license number, addresses and telephone number.
Effective October 1, 2025 the board lists Business Application $285.00, Business Initial License $375.00, Business Renewal $375.00, Individual Application $200.00, Individual Initial License $200.00, Individual Renewal $200.00, Late Fee $85.00, Managing Owner or Employee Application $90.00, Probationary Application $190.00, Reinstatement $85.00 and Status Change $85.00. PSI exam charges are separate.
It depends on how long you have held the license. Less than 6 years licensed means 16 hours every two years. Six years or more means 8 hours every two years. Hours are reported at renewal through the individual license portal, with odd-numbered licenses reporting in odd years and even-numbered licenses in even years.
Only through the right license. ORS 671.615 lets the board license a landscape construction professional to install backflow assemblies for irrigation systems and ornamental water features, and the work must be done by an owner or employee of a licensed business. Repair and maintenance of the assembly requires a tester certified under ORS 448.279.
The Department of Agriculture requires a license before you apply or supervise application of any pesticide to someone else's property, with a narrow maintenance exception. That exception fails if pesticide use appears in your advertisements or contracts, if you treat commercial property, if you use restricted use pesticides, or if you use powered sprayers or spreaders.
No, unless you are registered with the State Landscape Architect Board. ORS 671.316 reserves that title and bars words, signs, cards or advertisements representing that you are authorized to practice landscape architecture. ORS 671.321 does let an unregistered designer prepare plans for selecting and placing plants and use the title landscape designer.
We can review the local market, your current search visibility, and paid-search fit before recommending any marketing work.