Nebraska

All contractors doing business in counties with a population of 100,000 or more need a license to do business. Nonresident contractors doing business in Nebraska must register with the Nebraska Secretary of State and the Nebraska Department of Revenue. You'll find information on the Secretary of State under the heading Out-of-State Corporations. Electricians have to be licensed.

To see a list of registered contractors and subcontractors, click here.

The department of Labor has all the necessary information needed to register. For a copy of the application, contact:

Nebraska Workforce Development- Dept. of Labor 5404 Cedar Street, Third Floor Omaha, NE 68106-2365 (402) 595-3189 http://www.dol.state.ne.us/

The application is available online. Click here to view it.

To register with the Department of Revenue, contact:

Nebraska Department of Revenue 301 Centennial Mall South P.O. Box 94818 Lincoln, NE 68509-4818 (402) 471-2971 Fax: (402) 471-5608 http://www.revenue.state.ne.us/index.html

It'll cost you $25 to register with the Department.

You must post a bond for any contract you get in the state for more than $2,500. The bond is $1,000 for a contract between $2,500 and $10,000. For a contract over $10,000, the bond must be 10% of the contract amount for the first $100,000 and 5% of any amount over $100,000.

Electrician's Licenses

To do electrical work in Nebraska you need to be licensed by the Nebraska State Electrical Division. Some cities in the state also require you to have a license. To get an application, contact:

State of Nebraska State Electrical Division 800 South 13th Street, Suite 109 P.O. Box 95066 Lincoln, NE 68509-5066 (402) 471-3550 Fax: (402) 471-4297 http://www.electrical.state.ne.us

The Division issues contractor, journeyman, and fire alarm installer licenses. You have to pass an exam to get your license.

To qualify for the contractor's exam, you need one of the following:

• degree from an accredited college or university in a four-year electrical course
• one year Division-approved work experience as a journeyman electrician
• five years Division-approved work experience

To get a contractor's license you must also have liability insurance for $100,000 for each person, $300,000 for each accident, and $100,000 property damage.

For the journeyman exam you need four years Division-approved work experience or three years Division-approved work experience and a course in electrical wiring from a Division-approved school. For the fire alarm installer exam you need two years Division-approved work experience.

The exam will be open book, based on the National Electrical Code. It has at least 50 questions and lasts three hours. There will also be questions on basic electricity, blueprint reading, emergency circuits, and the Nebraska State Electrical Act.

Here's a summary of the exam and license fees for each license. The license fee varies depending on whether you get it in an even- or odd-numbered year.

Licenses expire on December 31 in even-numbered years.

For the Electrical Contractor license, Nebraska has reciprocal agreements with Minnesota and South Dakota. For the Electrical Journeyman license, Nebraska has reciprocal agreements with Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

You can also get a reciprocal state license if you have a valid city license in Fremont, Lincoln, Hastings, or Omaha, Nebraska. You must have passed the city exam within the last three years before you apply for a state license. You'll also have to pay the state license fee.

Department of Roads

To bid on Nebraska Department of Roads projects, you have to be prequalified by the Department. To get an application for prequalification, contact:

Nebraska Department of Roads Contract Lettings Division 1500 Nebraska Highway 2 P.O. Box 94759 Lincoln, NE 68509-4759 (402) 479-4525 Fax: (402) 479-4325 http://www.dor.state.ne.us/

Some of the details the Department will ask you about are your organization, personnel, financial condition, equipment, and experience. You'll be asked what type of work you want to be qualified for. Here are the major types of work the Department uses:

The Department also uses these specialty construction types of work:

Click here to view the Prequalification Package.

Prequalification is good for 15 months.

Out-of-State Corporations

Out-of-state corporations must get a Certificate of Authority to do Business in Nebraska from the Nebraska Secretary of State. To apply for this certificate, contact:

Nebraska Secretary of State Corporations Division State Capitol 1301 Lincoln, NE 68509 (402) 471-2554 Fax: (402) 471-3666 http://www.sos.state.ne.us/

Find an error? Please e-mail the Web Master

© 2004 Craftsman Book Company