Virginia

Some construction contractors must be licensed in Virginia. Trade licenses are required for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, gas fitting, asbestos abatement and lead abatement work.

To find out if a contractor is licensed in Virginia, call (804) 367-8511 or click http://www.dpor.state.va.us/regulantlookup/. To find out if an electrician, plumber, gas pipe fitter, or HVAC specialist is licensed in Virginia, call (804) 367-2945. To find out if someone is licensed to do asbestos abatement work, call (804) 367-8595.

• Trade Licenses (Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC, and Gas Fitting)

• Asbestos Abatement Licenses

• Lead Abatement Certification

• Department of Transportation (DOT)

• Out-of-State Corporations

To do construction work in Virginia you need a license or certificate from the Virginia Board for Contractors. To get an application, contact:

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation Board for Contractors 3600 West Broad Street P. O. Box 11066 Richmond, VA 23230-1066 (804) 367-8511 Fax: (804) 367-2474 http://www.dpor.virginia.gov/dporweb/dpormainwelcome.cfm E-mail: contractors@dpor.state.va.us

The Board issues three types of contractor's licenses or certificates -- Class A, B, or C. Usually the type of license you get will be based on the value of contracts your business will work on. Here's a description of each class:

A Class A contractor works on single contracts for $70,000 or more or contracts totaling $500,000 or more over a one-year period (company must have a net worth of at least $45,000).

A Class B contractor works on single contracts for $7,500 or more but less than $70,000 or contracts totaling $150,000 or more but less than $500,000 over a one-year period.

A Class C contractor works on single contracts for $1,000 or more but less than $7,500 or contracts totaling less than $150,000 over a one-year period.

The Board issues these three types of licenses in each of these general trades -- building, highway/heavy, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC. It also recognizes the following specialty trades:

To get a license you must specify a full-time employee or manager from your company to be a "qualified individual" for each trade you want to have on your license. Each person you pick must have the following experience, depending on the class of license you're applying for:

To get a Class A or Class B license your company's qualified individual must pass an exam. Exams are given by:

PSI Examination Services 3210 E. Tropicana Las Vegas, NV 89121 (800) 733-9267 Fax: (702) 932-2666 http://www.psiexams.com

For electrical, plumbing, HVAC, gas fitting, liquefied petroleum gas fitting and natural gas fitting the qualified individual of the company also has to get a tradesman license. At the end of this section you'll find information on how to get this license.

Contractor's license fees: It will cost $60 to take the Class A exam. The Class B exam costs $40. A Class A license costs $230 and a Class B license is $205, both nonrefundable. A Class C certificate costs $150 nonrefundable. All are good for two years.

If you have a valid license in another state the Board may grant you a Virginia license by reciprocity. Requirements for this vary so you'll need to check with the Board.

Trade Licenses

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation Board for Contractors 3600 West Broad Street P. O. Box 11066 Richmond, VA 23230-1066 (804) 367-2945 Fax: (804) 367-2474 http://www.dpor.virginia.gov/dporweb/dpormainwelcome.cfm

The Tradesman Licensing Section of the Board for Contractors issues journeyman and master licenses for the electrical, plumbing, HVAC, gas fitting, natural gas fitting and liquid petroleum gas fitting trades. You must pass an exam to get any of these licenses. To qualify for a journeyman exam, you must have one of the following:

• four years of practical trade experience and 240 hours of vocational training. You can substitute each year of experience (after the four years) for 80 hours of training, up to 200 hours
• an associate degree from a Department-approved program and two years of practical experience
• an bachelor's degree from a Department-approved program and one year of practical experience
• ten years of documented Department-approved practical experience

To qualify for a master exam you must have one of the following:

• one year of experience as a licensed journeyman
• ten years of documented Department-approved practical experience

Exams are given by:

PSI Examination Services 3210 E. Tropicana Las Vegas, NV 89121 (800) 733-9267 Fax: (702) 932-2666 http://www.psiexams.com

Contractor's license fees: It will cost $80 to take the exam. The initial tradesman license will cost $75. To add a trade designation to your current state-issued Virginia tradesman license.

Virginia has a reciprocity agreement for electricians licensed in North Carolina.

Asbestos Abatement Licenses

To do asbestos abatement work in Virginia, you need a license from the Board for Asbestos and Lead. To get an application, contact:

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation Board for Asbestos and Lead 9960 Mayland Drive, Ste. 400 Richmond, VA 23233-1463 (804) 367-8595 http://www.dpor.virginia.gov/dporweb/dpormainwelcome.cfm

You must be licensed as a contractor or one of these individual asbestos trades -- worker, supervisor, inspector, management planner, project monitor, or project designer. As a licensed asbestos contractor you and your employees must know and follow all EPA, OSHA, and Virginia rules. You must also employ only licensed asbestos personnel.

Here's information on each individual asbestos license and its training and/or experience requirements:

Worker
Required department-approved course: Initial training
Required education and/or asbestos work experience: None

Supervisor
Required department-approved course: Initial training
Required education and/or asbestos work experience: None

Inspector
Required department-approved course: Inspector training
Required education and/or asbestos work experience: One of the following: 1. bachelor's degree in a related field and six months of work experience; 2. two years college and one year of work experience; 3. high school diploma or equivalent two years of work experience

Management planner
Required department-approved course: Management planner training
Required education and/or asbestos work experience: One of the following:
1. bachelor's degree in a related field and six months of work experience;
2. two years college and one year of work experience; 3. high school diploma
or equivalent two years of work experience

Project monitor
Required department-approved course: Project monitor training
Required education and/or asbestos work experience: One of the following:
1. high school diploma or equivalent and 160 hours of work experience;
2. bachelor's degree in a related field and 160 hours of work experience

Project designer
Required department-approved course: Project designer training
Required education and/or asbestos work experience: One of the following:
1. bachelor's degree in a related field and six months of work experience;
2. two years college and one year of work experience; 3. high school diploma
or equivalent two years of work experience

Asbestos abatement license fees: The initial application fee for an asbestos worker, supervisor, inspector, management planner, project designer or project monitor license is $25. The initial application fee for an asbestos contractor's license is $40. The license is good for one year.

The Board has reciprocity agreements with North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. For information on other states, contact the Board.

Lead Abatement Certification

To do lead abatement work in Virginia, your business must be certified by the Board for Asbestos and Lead. All employees of a lead abatement business must also be certified. To get an application, contact:

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation Board for Asbestos and Lead 3600 West Broad Street P. O. Box 11066 Richmond, VA 23230-1066 (804) 367-8595 Fax: (804) 367-2475 http://www.dpor.virginia.gov/dporweb/asb_main.cfm

To get a lead abatement contractor license you must comply with all Virginia, EPA, and OSHA regulations on lead abatement. You must also certify that all your employees have been licensed by the Board. 

Any individual working in lead abatement must be certified as a worker, supervisor, inspector technician, inspector/risk assessor, or planner/project designer. Here's a table showing each classification and its training and/or experience requirements.

Worker
Required department-approved course: Initial worker training
Required education and/or lead work experience: none

Supervisor
Required department-approved course: Initial supervisor training
Required education and/or lead work experience: one year experience as a lead worker or two years experience in a related field or building trade

Inspector technician
Required department-approved course: Initial inspector training
Required education and/or lead work experience: none

Inspector/risk assessor
Required department-approved course: Initial inspector/risk assessor training
Required education and/or lead work experience: one of the following: 1. one year experience and certification as an industrial hygienist, professional engineer, registered architect, or other certification in a related field; 2. two years experience and a bachelor's degree in related field; 3. three years experience and a high school diploma or equivalent; 4. 25 lead-based paint inspections over at least a three month period as a lead inspector technician and one of the following -- a. certification as an industrial hygienist, professional engineer, registered architect, b. one year experience and a bachelor's degree in related field, c. two years experience and a high school diploma or equivalent

Planner/project designer
Required department-approved course: Initial planner/project designer training
Required education and/or lead work experience: none

Lead abatement license fees: The initial application fee for an lead worker, supervisor, inspector technician, inspector/risk assessor, or planner/project designer is $25. The initial application fee for an lead contractor's license is $40. The license is good for one year.

Department of Transportation (DOT)

To bid on Virginia Department of Transportation projects you may have to be prequalified by the Department. To get an application for prequalification call the Prequalification Section of the Department at (804) 786-2941. They'll discuss with you what procedure you should use to prequalify, depending on the type of construction work your company does. For your information, here's the address and fax number of the Department:

Virginia Department of Transportation 1401 East Broad Street Richmond, VA 23219 (804) 786-2941 Fax: (804) 371-7896 http://virginiadot.org/default.asp

Some of the details the Department will ask you about are your organization, personnel, financial condition, equipment, and experience. Prequalification is good for 16 months from the date of your financial statement.

Out-of-State Corporations

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

Corporations Commission Tyler Building P. O. Box 1197 Richmond, VA 23209 (804) 371-9733 Fax: (804) 371-0744 http://www.scc.virginia.gov/index.aspx

The application is available online at http://www.scc.virginia.gov/clk/for_corp.aspx.

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