How to get a general contractor license in Hawaii

Licensing office Hawaii Contractors License Board (Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division) · (808) 586-3000 [3][10]

The license pathway in Hawaii

1. 1

   Construction worker or apprentice (no license)

   You can work for wages for a licensed contractor without a contractor license. This is where you build the supervisory experience a license requires, for example by moving up to foreman. [2][4]

2. 2

   C Specialty Contractor

   • 4 years of experience
   • Business and Law plus the specialty trade exam (PSI)
   • $50 application; $80 trade exam
   • Every 2 years by September 30 of even years

   Licenses for a single trade, such as C-5 carpentry remodeling, C-42 roofing or C-33 painting. A specialty contractor may do other trades' work only when it's incidental and supplemental to its own. [1][2][3][8][15]

3. 3

   B General Building Contractor

   • 4 years of experience
   • Business and Law (80 questions, 180 minutes, 75%) plus General Building (80 questions, 240 minutes, 75%), closed book
   • $50 application; $85 exam
   • Every 2 years by September 30 of even years

   For buildings that take more than two unrelated building trades. It automatically includes ten specialty classes, among them carpentry framing, drywall, cement concrete and cabinet work; electrical and plumbing work needs the matching specialty license. [1][2][3][6][8]

4. 4

   A General Engineering Contractor

   • 4 years of experience
   • Business and Law plus General Engineering (PSI)
   • $50 application; $85 exam
   • Every 2 years by September 30 of even years

   For fixed works that need specialized engineering knowledge: roads, bridges, sewers, water systems, harbors, excavating and similar projects. It automatically includes 17 specialty classes, such as asphalt paving and excavating. [1][2][8]

Who needs a contractor license in Hawaii

Hawaii's law defines a contractor broadly: anyone who offers or undertakes to build, alter, repair, improve or demolish a building, road or other structure, or any part of one. You need a license unless an exemption applies.

The main exemptions:

• Employees who work for wages as their only pay.
• Jobs where labor and materials total no more than $1,500, but only if no building permit is needed and the job isn't split up to avoid the law.
• Owner-builders under the owner-builder exemption, and registered architects and engineers acting in that role.

[4][5]

A, B and C licenses

Hawaii sorts contractors into three branches:

• A General Engineering: fixed works that need specialized engineering knowledge, such as roads, bridges, sewers, water systems, harbors, excavation and paving.
• B General Building: structures for shelter or support of people, animals or property that take more than two unrelated building trades.
• C Specialty: one trade, such as C-13 electrical, C-37 plumbing, C-42 roofing or C-52 air conditioning.

A "B" license automatically includes ten specialty classes, including C-5 cabinet and carpentry remodeling, C-6 carpentry framing, C-12 drywall and C-31a cement concrete. A B contractor can't take a job unless it needs more than two unrelated trades, or the contractor also holds the specialty license for it. Electrical and plumbing contractors must also have licensed electricians or plumbers do that work. [1][2][3][6]

Experience and application

Every individual applicant, or the responsible managing employee (RME) who qualifies a company, needs at least four years of supervisory experience as a foreman, supervising employee or contractor in the classification within the past ten years. The board may accept self-employed or unlicensed experience, and may count up to one year of technical or business training.

With the $50 application you send at least three notarized experience certificates, a Chronological History of Projects form, a compiled, reviewed or audited financial statement with an independent accountant's report (not more than a year old), a credit report covering at least five years, and a Hawaii tax clearance. The board looks for a history of honesty and financial integrity; failing to pay an undisputed debt or a judgment from contracting work in the six years before you apply creates a presumption that you lack financial integrity. [2][3][7]

The exams

PSI Services gives Hawaii's contractor exams. New applicants take the Business and Law exam (80 questions, 180 minutes, 75% to pass) plus the exam for their classification. PSI's bulletin (dated January 2026) lists the B General Building exam at 80 questions in 240 minutes, 75% to pass, closed book, drawing on the 2018 International Building Code among other references. The A and B exams cost $85; others cost $80.

After approval you must pass within six months or file a new application. The board's requirements sheet still names Prometric as the testing service, but the board's exam page says PSI took over in January 2023. [3][8][9]

Insurance, fees and renewal

Before the license is issued you need workers' compensation insurance (a sole proprietor with no employees can file a form instead) and liability insurance of at least $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, plus $50,000 for property damage. You must keep a place of business in Hawaii; a P.O. box doesn't count.

Licenses renew by September 30 of every even-numbered year. On-time active renewal is $338 for an entity or sole proprietor and $208 for an RME, and active contractors need a current Hawaii tax clearance. A lapsed license can be restored only within 60 days. [3][10]

If you're licensed in another state

The Contractors License Board doesn't list reciprocity agreements. Applicants licensed elsewhere should include proof of that license, but they still submit at least three experience certificates and the project list and take the exams. If you've passed Hawaii's exam in the same classification within the past four years, you may not have to retake it. More in our reciprocity guide.

Military spouses: state law (HRS 436B-14.7) gives a temporary license to the spouse of an active-duty service member transferred to Hawaii who has held a license in good standing elsewhere for at least a year, if the licensing board finds the other state's requirements equal to or higher than Hawaii's. It lasts no more than five years in total or the length of the member's orders. We found no general universal license recognition law in Hawaii's professional and vocational licensing act (HRS chapter 436B). [2][3][11]

Steps to get licensed in Hawaii

1. Work in the trade

   Get hired by a licensed contractor or join an apprenticeship such as HCATF or ABC Hawaii. [4][12][13]

2. Build four years of supervisory experience

   You need four years as a foreman, supervising employee or contractor in the classification within the ten years before you apply, documented with at least three notarized experience certificates and a project list. [2][3]

3. Gather the application

   File the application with a $50 fee, a compiled, reviewed or audited financial statement with an independent accountant's report, a credit report covering at least five years, and a Hawaii tax clearance. [3][14]

4. Pass the exams within six months

   After the board approves you, register with PSI and pass Business and Law plus your trade exam within six months. [8][9]

5. Insure and get licensed

   Show liability and workers' compensation insurance, keep a place of business in Hawaii, and pay the license fees. Renew every two years by September 30 of even years. [3][10]

Where to get the hours

Programs that train general contractors in or for Hawaii, from their own official pages. Listed by type, not ranked.

• Union

  Hawaii Carpenters Apprenticeship and Training Fund (HCATF)

  Union apprenticeships in carpentry, drywall and millwright work, with training in Kapolei: 8,000 hours of on-the-job and classroom training combined. Also runs a pre-apprenticeship and a summer internship. [12][16]

• Open shop

  ABC Hawaii apprenticeships

  Open-shop apprenticeships in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, painting and roofing: full-time work for a member employer plus classes two nights a week. [17]

• State program

  Hawaii DLIR registered apprenticeship

  The state Workforce Development Division registers Hawaii's apprenticeship programs, lists construction programs and posts recruitment notices. [18]

Licensed in another state?

Questions people ask