To get an Alabama home builders license, you pass a two-part open-book exam administered by Prov, then submit an application package to the Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board with a business credit report, proof of citizenship, any required corporate documents, and $350 in fees.1Home Builders Licensure Board. How to Get Licensed The state does not require a pre-license course. A license is required for any residential construction, remodeling, repair, or improvement project where combined labor and materials exceed $10,000.2Home Builders Licensure Board. Frequently Asked Questions – Home Builders Licensure
Who the License Covers
The Board’s jurisdiction runs to residential structures no more than three floors high with no more than four residential units.3Home Builders Licensure Board. Alabama Code Title 34 Chapter 14A That covers site-built homes, condominiums, duplexes, and small multi-unit buildings. Work on your own residence or your own real estate holdings is exempt.
Alabama issues two license types. The Unlimited license permits any residential construction work in the Board’s jurisdiction. The Limited license is for builders who perform a single trade that does not affect structural integrity, such as painting, flooring, or siding.4Home Builders Licensure Board. Instructions to New Limited License Application Anything involving framing, foundation, load-bearing walls, or other structural work requires the Unlimited license.
The Two-Part Licensing Exam
The Unlimited exam is administered by Prov, a third-party testing service. You schedule and pay Prov directly; the Board is not involved in setting up your test date.1Home Builders Licensure Board. How to Get Licensed Both sections are open-book.
- Business and Law: contract management, estimating, financial management, and Board rules. Passing score is 70.
- Skills: technical construction knowledge, building codes, and structural concepts. Passing score is 66.
Taking both exams the same day costs $130. Splitting them across separate days costs $80 per exam, so sitting them together saves $30.5Prov. Alabama Home Builders Licensing Board Candidate Information Bulletin If you fail one section, you only retake the section you failed.
How to Prepare
The Board requires no pre-license course, and you can schedule the exam without Board authorization.1Home Builders Licensure Board. How to Get Licensed Preparation is on you.
Because the exam is open-book, the practical work of preparing is knowing your reference materials cold. The key texts are the International Residential Code and the NASCLA Business Law and Project Management guide for Alabama. Tabbed and highlighted references turn the exam from a search problem into a lookup problem. AHBLB-approved prep courses are built around those books and cover building codes, structural concepts, estimating, financial management, construction safety, and Alabama-specific rules. A prep course is worth considering if your field experience hasn’t touched all of those areas.
What Goes in the Application Package
A license can be issued to an individual, partnership, corporation, LLC, or nonprofit.6Home Builders Licensure Board. Instructions to New Limited License Application Every applicant, whatever the structure, submits the same core documents; entity applicants add a few more.
Business Credit Report
You must order a business-related credit report that includes a public records search, and the credit reporting agency has to send it directly to the Board. A printout you submit yourself will not be accepted.6Home Builders Licensure Board. Instructions to New Limited License Application The Board uses the report to assess financial responsibility, which is a core licensing standard. Liens, judgments, and bankruptcies can delay or complicate approval.
Proof of Citizenship
You need proof of United States citizenship or lawful presence. A driver’s license or passport copy works.
Corporate Documents (Entity Applicants)
Corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships need a Certificate of Compliance from the Alabama Department of Revenue. It costs $14 and confirms your entity has filed all required state tax returns.7Alabama Department of Revenue. Certificate of Compliance
Qualifying Representative
Partnerships, corporations, LLCs, and nonprofits must designate a Qualifying Representative, a specific person who meets the Board’s experience and ability requirements on the entity’s behalf.6Home Builders Licensure Board. Instructions to New Limited License Application If that person leaves, you must designate a qualified replacement or the license cannot stay active. Individual applicants serve as their own qualifying representative.
Insurance Disclosure After You’re Licensed
Alabama does not require general liability insurance to obtain the license. Once licensed, though, you must give every homeowner a written disclosure of your insurance status before starting work. You and the homeowner both sign it, and a witness chosen by the homeowner attests to it.8Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code Title 34 Chapter 14A Article 1 Section 34-14A-19 Skipping the disclosure is a violation the Board can discipline. If you have employees, state law separately requires Workers’ Compensation coverage.
Fees and How to Submit
The total submitted with a new application is $350:
- Application processing fee: $100 (non-refundable)
- Annual license fee: $250
Pay by check, cashier’s check, certified check, or money order made out to the Home Builders Licensure Board. The application form must be notarized.9Home Builders Licensure Board. New Unlimited Corporate Application Packet Once your complete package reaches the Board (application, exam score proof, credit report, citizenship documentation, any corporate documents, and payment), review takes several weeks.
Renewal, Continuing Education, and Inactive Status
Licenses expire December 31 each year. Renewal opens October 1. Applications postmarked by November 30 avoid a $50 late fee. If your renewal is postmarked after December 31, the license is treated as expired, and you owe a $350 application processing fee on top of the $250 annual fee.10Home Builders Licensure Board. Limited Home Builders License Renewal Instructions A fresh business credit report, sent directly by the reporting agency, is required at every renewal.
Licensees and qualifying representatives under age 60 must complete six credit hours of Board-approved continuing education before a new license is issued for the coming year. At least two of those hours must come from an Alabama-specific course.11Home Builders Licensure Board. Continuing Education Licensees who turn 60 by October 1 of the renewal year are exempt. First-time renewal applicants are also exempt for that first renewal cycle.
If you don’t plan to take on a residential project exceeding $10,000 during the upcoming year, you can place the license on inactive status for $125 annually. Reactivating later requires a new application and standard fees, but the inactive license satisfies the experience and ability requirements, so you do not retake the exam.2Home Builders Licensure Board. Frequently Asked Questions – Home Builders Licensure If a license stays expired for more than three years, the Board closes the file, and you start over with a new application, new exam, new credit report, and full fees.
Penalties for Working Without a License
Building without a required license in Alabama is a Class A misdemeanor. The Board can fine an unlicensed builder up to $5,000, issue a stop-work order, and pursue criminal charges.12Home Builders Licensure Board. Unlicensed Builders Filing false information to obtain a license carries the same criminal classification. Homeowners can void contracts with unlicensed builders, and insurance policies may deny claims tied to unlicensed construction.
Federal Rules That Apply Once You’re Working
The Alabama license handles the state side. Federal requirements attach as soon as you take on the right kind of work.
EPA Lead-Paint Certification
To renovate, repair, or paint housing built before 1978, the EPA’s Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule requires both your firm and your individual renovators to be certified in lead-safe work practices.13US EPA. What Does the Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule Require Initial certification is an eight-hour training course with two hours of hands-on instruction.14U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Renovation, Repair and Painting Program Renovator Training Certification lasts five years, with a four-hour refresher after that. Let it lapse and you retake the full eight-hour course.
OSHA Fall Protection
Federal safety rules require fall protection for residential construction work six feet or more above a lower level. Standard options are guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems.15Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 1926.501 – Duty to Have Fall Protection An alternative plan is available only if you show that standard systems are infeasible or would create a greater hazard, and OSHA presumes the standard systems are feasible.
Federal EIN
Builders operating as a business entity or hiring employees need a Federal Employer Identification Number. The IRS issues EINs at no cost through an online application, and you get the number immediately.16Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number Applying requires your Social Security number or ITIN and your business entity type. Having the EIN in hand before you submit your Alabama application makes several later steps easier.