Minnesota contractor license lookup
Minnesota requires state registration for HVAC contractors. It issues state licenses for general contractors, electrical contractors, plumbing contractors and roofing contractors. Construction Codes and Licensing Division license export: residential contractors lists 11,683 active contractor registrations and licenses as of October 6, 2026.
Look up a license
| Trade | Credential | Board | Official lookup |
|---|---|---|---|
| General contractor | State license | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division | Search general contractor licenses |
| Electrical | State license | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division (Board of Electricity) | Search electrical licenses |
| Plumbing | State license | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division (Plumbing Board) | Search plumbing licenses |
| HVAC | State registration (no competency license) | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division | Search HVAC licenses |
| Roofing | State license | Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division | Search roofing licenses |
Verify a contractor
For homeowners hiring in Minnesota.
- Open the official Minnesota lookup run by Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry and search the contractor by name or number.
- The free iMS lookup shows license status, continuing education, work experience, plumbing bond holders and any enforcement actions, with no account needed. source A current, active license or registration shows the status Issued. source Mechanical (HVAC) contractor bonds can be checked on the same lookup. source
- Confirm the record is active and the class matches the job (Residential Building Contractor or Residential Remodeler or Qualifying Builder or Qualifying Remodeler or Certificate of Exemption). The board's own record governs. A license is required for jobs above A residential contractor with gross annual receipts from residential work under $15,000 may hold a Certificate of Exemption instead of a license. source
- Check the bond and insurance on the record against the state minimums: No license bond for residential building contractors or remodelers; the statute requires a bond only of roofers and manufactured home installer. source General liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence, $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury, and $25,000 property damage (or a $300,000 single limit). source
- Complaints against residential contractors, remodelers and roofers must be in writing, filed online through iMS, by mail, or by email. source For a workmanship complaint DLI first needs a local building official citation for a State Building Code violation. source
Homeowner protections in Minnesota
- The Contractor Recovery Fund pays a homeowner at most $100,000 per licensee. source
- Total Recovery Fund payouts are capped at $550,000 per licensee across all homeowners. source
- A Recovery Fund application must be served within two years after the court judgment against the contractor became final. source
- Residential solar installers must hold a residential building contractor or remodeler license, so homeowners can claim against the Recovery Fund. source
Get licensed
For a general contractor working in Minnesota.
- Apply to Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry as a Residential Building Contractor or Residential Remodeler or Qualifying Builder or Qualifying Remodeler or Certificate of Exemption.
- The qualifying person must pass a written DLI exam: the qualifying builder exam for a building contractor license, the qualifying remodeler exam for a remodeler license. source
- No experience or education is required to sit for the residential building contractor or remodeler exam. source
- Post a no license bond for residential building contractors or remodelers; the statute requires a bond only of roofers and manufactured home installer. source
- Carry general liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence, $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury, and $25,000 property damage (or a $300,000 single limit). source
- Pay the base license fee for a residential building contractor or remodeler license: $180. source
- Licenses renew on a two-year cycle ending March 31, and the qualifying person needs 14 hours of continuing education to renew. source
Other trades
- Electrical: state license, $25,000 bond, $188 fee. Requirements
- Plumbing: state license, $25,000 bond, $188 fee. Requirements
- HVAC: state registration, $25,000 bond, $100 fee. Requirements
- Roofing: state license, $15,000 bond, $180 fee. Requirements
Requirements by trade
| Exam | The qualifying person must pass a written DLI exam: the qualifying builder exam for a building contractor license, the qualifying remodeler exam for a remodeler license. source |
|---|---|
| Experience | No experience or education is required to sit for the residential building contractor or remodeler exam. source |
| Bond | No license bond for residential building contractors or remodelers; the statute requires a bond only of roofers and manufactured home installer. source |
| Insurance | General liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence, $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury, and $25,000 property damage (or a $300,000 single limit). source |
| Renewal | Licenses renew on a two-year cycle ending March 31, and the qualifying person needs 14 hours of continuing education to renew. source |
| Reciprocity | Not found on an official source. Could not find a reciprocity provision for residential building contractor or remodeler licenses on DLI pages or in Minn. Stat. 326B.802 to 326B.885. |
| Fees |
|
| Exam | Each personal license (master or journeyworker electrician) requires a written or oral exam developed and administered by DLI. source |
|---|---|
| Experience | 1 years (Class A master electrician, needed as the contractor responsible individual: one year as a licensed journeyworker, or five years of qualifying experience, or a four-year electrical degree). source |
| Bond | Electrical contractor surety bond of $25,000. source |
| Insurance | General liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence, $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury, and $50,000 property damage. source |
| Renewal | Electrical contractor licenses expire March 1 of each even-numbered year. source |
| Reciprocity | DLI may issue a personal electrician license without exam to holders of a comparable license from a state with a board-approved reciprocity agreement; contractor licenses are not covered. source |
| Fees |
| Exam | Master and journeyworker plumber licenses require a DLI exam; the contractor must have a master plumber as responsible individual. source |
|---|---|
| Experience | 1 years (Master plumber exam: at least one year as a licensed journeyworker plumber; the journeyworker exam needs four years of recorded experience or a registered apprenticeship). source |
| Bond | Plumbing contractor surety bond of at least $25,000. source |
| Insurance | Public liability insurance with products liability of at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per occurrence, plus $10,000 property damage. source |
| Renewal | Plumbing contractor licenses expire December 31 of each odd-numbered year. source |
| Reciprocity | No license-for-license reciprocity found; an equivalent out-of-state master plumber license only qualifies the applicant to sit for the Minnesota master plumber exam. source |
| Fees |
| Exam | No state exam, because Minnesota has no state mechanical (HVAC) contractor license, only a bond filing; cities may test and license. source |
|---|---|
| Experience | No state experience requirement, since there is no state mechanical contractor license. source |
| Bond | Mechanical contractor bond of $25,000 filed with DLI before contracting HVAC, gas or refrigeration work. source |
| Insurance | Not found on an official source. Could not find a state insurance minimum for mechanical contractors; the DLI bond page lists only the bond and a workers compensation certificate. |
| Renewal | A mechanical contractor bond filing is valid for two year. source |
| Reciprocity | Not found on an official source. Not applicable at state level: no state mechanical license exists, and local licenses are set by each city. |
| Fees |
| Exam | The qualifying person must pass the qualifying roofer (QR) exam. source |
|---|---|
| Experience | No experience or education is required to sit for the roofer exam. source |
| Bond | Residential roofer surety bond of at least $15,000. source |
| Insurance | General liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence, $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury, and $25,000 property damage (or a $300,000 single limit). source |
| Renewal | Not found on an official source. Could not find the roofer license term on the DLI roofer pages read this session. |
| Reciprocity | Not found on an official source. Could not find a reciprocity provision for residential roofer licenses. |
| Fees |
|
Licenses on record
11,683 active records in Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division license export: residential contractors, as of October 6, 2026. 5,488 expire within the next year.
| Trade | Active |
|---|---|
| General contractor (business) | 11,339 |
| Electrical (business) | 3,439 |
| Plumbing (business) | 1,755 |
| HVAC (business) | 2,562 |
| Roofing (business) | 140 |
| License type | Active |
|---|---|
| Residential Building Contractor (business) | 10,913 |
| Residential Remodeler Contractor (business) | 426 |
| Certificate of Exemption (business) | 145 |
| Residential Roofer Contractor (business) | 140 |
| Manufactured Home Installer (business) | 59 |
| Specialty | Active |
|---|---|
| residential contractors, individual: Qualifying Builder (individual) | 12,805 |
| electrical, individual: Journeyworker A Electrician (individual) | 12,403 |
| electrical, individual: Registered Unlicensed Electrician (individual) | 12,148 |
| residential contractors, business: Residential Building Contractor (business) | 10,913 |
| electrical, individual: Class A Master Electrician (individual) | 6,728 |
| electrical, individual: Registered Unlicensed Power Limited Technician (individual) | 4,463 |
| electrical, individual: Power Limited Technician (individual) | 3,990 |
| plumbing, individual: Master Plumber (individual) | 3,438 |
| plumbing, individual: Journeyworker Plumber (individual) | 3,381 |
| plumbing, individual: Registered Unlicensed Plumber (individual) | 2,645 |
| electrical, business: Class A Electrical Contractor (business) | 2,644 |
| mechanical contractor bond, business: Mechanical Contractor Bond (business) | 2,562 |
| plumbing, business: Plumbing Contractor (business) | 1,596 |
| plumbing, individual: MPCA Pipelaying Bond (individual) | 1,018 |
| plumbing, individual: Backflow Prevention Rebuilder (individual) | 964 |
Show all specialties
| Specialty | Active |
|---|---|
| plumbing, individual: Backflow Prevention Tester (individual) | 859 |
| electrical, business: Technology Systems Contractor (business) | 790 |
| residential contractors, individual: Qualifying Remodeler (individual) | 562 |
| residential contractors, business: Residential Remodeler Contractor (business) | 426 |
| electrical, business: Registered Electrical Employer (business) | 425 |
| plumbing, business: Pipelaying Bond (business) | 309 |
| plumbing, individual: Restricted Master Plumber (individual) | 309 |
| plumbing, individual: Medical Gas Certification (individual) | 223 |
| residential contractors, individual: Qualifying Roofer (individual) | 222 |
| plumbing, business: Restricted Plumbing Contractor (business) | 159 |
| residential contractors, business: Certificate of Exemption (business) | 145 |
| residential contractors, business: Residential Roofer Contractor (business) | 140 |
| electrical, business: Sign Contractor Bond (business) | 113 |
| electrical, individual: Maintenance Electrician (individual) | 93 |
| electrical, individual: Lineman (individual) | 82 |
| residential contractors, individual: Qualifying Installer (individual) | 72 |
| residential contractors, business: Manufactured Home Installer (business) | 59 |
| plumbing, business: Registered Plumbing Employer (business) | 56 |
| plumbing, individual: Restricted Journeyworker Plumber (individual) | 35 |
| electrical, individual: Class B Installer (individual) | 19 |
| City | Active |
|---|---|
| Minneapolis | 559 |
| St Paul | 327 |
| Duluth | 219 |
| Rochester | 206 |
| Lakeville | 149 |
| Andover | 139 |
| Plymouth | 129 |
| Maple Grove | 127 |
| Burnsville | 125 |
| Stillwater | 114 |
| Bloomington | 112 |
| Elk River | 111 |
| Prior Lake | 106 |
| Anoka | 102 |
| Blaine | 102 |
| Eden Prairie | 102 |
| Woodbury | 91 |
| Coon Rapids | 90 |
| Minnetonka | 90 |
| Brooklyn Park | 87 |
Show more cities
| City | Active |
|---|---|
| Alexandria | 85 |
| Mankato | 83 |
| White Bear Lake | 80 |
| Bemidji | 78 |
| Buffalo | 78 |
| Edina | 78 |
| Farmington | 76 |
| Brainerd | 75 |
| Eagan | 75 |
| Hastings | 70 |
| Shakopee | 70 |
| Apple Valley | 68 |
| St Cloud | 67 |
| Excelsior | 65 |
| Owatonna | 65 |
| Roseville | 63 |
| Cottage Grove | 61 |
| Golden Valley | 61 |
| Rogers | 61 |
| Hopkins | 59 |
| Saint Paul | 58 |
| Forest Lake | 57 |
| Grand Rapids | 57 |
| Savage | 55 |
| Monticello | 54 |
| Pequot Lakes | 54 |
| Faribault | 53 |
| Wayzata | 52 |
| Hugo | 50 |
| Princeton | 50 |
- A snapshot of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division license export: residential contractors as of October 6, 2026. The board's live lookup may differ.
- Top-line counts are business licenses from the DLI residential contractors file (Residential Building Contractor, Residential Remodeler Contractor, Certificate of Exemption, Residential Roofer Contractor, Manufactured Home Installer). The same file also lists individual qualifying-person licenses; those are shown separately and never added to the business count.
- The residential contractors file keeps expired, revoked, suspended and terminated records going back decades: 59,290 rows in all. Only status Issued, which DLI defines as current and active, is counted as active.
- Electrical, plumbing and mechanical bond tables come from separate DLI files. Contractor (business) licenses and individual electrician or plumber licenses are listed separately and never added together.
- Minnesota has no state HVAC license in these files. The hvac count is active mechanical contractor bonds filed with DLI, which is a bond on file, not a skills license.
- Counts are licenses or bonds, not distinct companies: one company can hold licenses in several trades and appear in more than one count.
- Cities come from the address on file, not where the contractor works. 576 active residential business licenses with an out-of-state address are left out of the city table.
- Each record carries a yes/no enforcement action flag, but DLI publishes no definition or time period for it with the export, so no discipline count is shown.
- The files are updated nightly; these counts are a snapshot as of October 6, 2026.
How these counts are defined
- Rows Total
- Rows in all four state files, any status, licenses held by businesses and by individuals.
- Active Total
- Residential contractor licenses held by a business that the state shows as Issued, which it defines as current and active. Individual licenses in the same file are not counted here.
- Active by license type
- Active residential contractor licenses held by a business, by license type. Types with fewer than 10 are not shown.
- Active by specialty
- Active licenses in each of the four state files by license type, split by whether a business or an individual holds the license. Business and individual rows are never added together. Rows with fewer than 10 are not shown.
- Active by trade
- Active licenses held by a business in the license types listed for each trade. The HVAC count is mechanical contractor bonds on file, a bond rather than a skills license. These are licenses, not distinct companies.
- Cities
- Active residential contractor business licenses by the city on the address on file, Minnesota addresses only, top 50 cities with at least 10 licenses.
- Expiring within the next year
- Active residential contractor business licenses whose expiration date falls within one year after the snapshot date.
- Active Out Of State
- Active residential contractor business licenses with an address outside Minnesota. They are left out of the city table.
- Discipline Actions
- Not shown. Each record carries a yes or no enforcement flag, but the state publishes no definition or time period for it.
Counts only, no personal data. Small groups are left out. Rows marked business, individual or mixed count different holders and are never added together.
- Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division license export: residential contractors, as of October 6, 2026. Data license: Public domain as stated by the publisher (DLI disclaimer: all information and documents on the DLI website are in the public domain); source attribution requested. Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry license data (dli.mn.gov). Not endorsed by the State of Minnesota.
- Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division license export: electrical, as of October 6, 2026. Data license: Public domain as stated by the publisher (DLI disclaimer: all information and documents on the DLI website are in the public domain); source attribution requested. Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry license data (dli.mn.gov). Not endorsed by the State of Minnesota.
- Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division license export: plumbing, as of October 6, 2026. Data license: Public domain as stated by the publisher (DLI disclaimer: all information and documents on the DLI website are in the public domain); source attribution requested. Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry license data (dli.mn.gov). Not endorsed by the State of Minnesota.
- Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division license export: mechanical contractor bond, as of October 6, 2026. Data license: Public domain as stated by the publisher (DLI disclaimer: all information and documents on the DLI website are in the public domain); source attribution requested. Source: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry license data (dli.mn.gov). Not endorsed by the State of Minnesota.
Questions
- Does Minnesota require a contractor license?
- Yes, in most cases Minnesota requires a state license for general contractors. A residential contractor with gross annual receipts from residential work under $15,000 may hold a Certificate of Exemption instead of a license. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division issues it as one of several credentials, such as Residential Building Contractor, Residential Remodeler or Qualifying Builder.
- How do I look up a contractor license in Minnesota?
- The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division keeps the record for general contractors in Minnesota. Use the official lookup linked in the Look up a license table, and treat the board's own record as final.
- How do I look up an electrician license in Minnesota?
- The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division (Board of Electricity) keeps the record for electrical contractors in Minnesota.
- How do I look up a plumbing license in Minnesota?
- The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division (Plumbing Board) keeps the record for plumbing contractors in Minnesota.
- Does Minnesota have an HVAC license?
- The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division keeps the record for HVAC contractors in Minnesota.
- Do roofers need a license in Minnesota?
- The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division keeps the record for roofing contractors in Minnesota.
- How many contractors are registered or licensed in Minnesota?
- The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Construction Codes and Licensing Division license export: residential contractors lists 11,683 active records as of October 6, 2026.
Sources
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/residential-contractors/residential-contractor-licensing
- https://ims.dli.mn.gov/
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/electrical-contractors/electrical-contractor-licensing-basics
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/plumbing-contractors/plumbing-contractor-licensing-basics
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/plumbing-contractors/mechanical-contractor-bond-requirements
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/residential-contractors/roofer-license
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/residential-contractors/who-needs-roofer-license
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/326B.83
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/residential-contractors/contractor-roofer-and-remodeler-exams
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/326B.86
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/residential-contractors/contractor-remodeler-license-renewals
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/326B.092
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/326B.33
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/326B.49
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/workers/plumber/plumbing-license-experience-requirements
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/326B.46
- https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/326B.89
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/license-and-registration-lookup
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/business/residential-contractors/residential-building-contractor-complaints
- https://secure.doli.state.mn.us/ccld/data/MNDLILicRegCertExport_Residential_Contractors.csv
- https://www.dli.mn.gov/about-department/about-dli/disclaimer
- https://secure.doli.state.mn.us/ccld/data/MNDLILicRegCertExport_Electrical.csv
- https://secure.doli.state.mn.us/ccld/data/MNDLILicRegCertExport_Plumbing.csv
- https://secure.doli.state.mn.us/ccld/data/MNDLILicRegCertExport_Mechanical_Contractor_Bond.csv
This is not a government site. The licensing board's own record governs; always confirm on the official lookup. Information as of October 6, 2026.