How to Fill Out and Submit the Virginia DPOR Experience Verification Form

The Virginia DPOR Experience Verification Form (Form A501-27EXP) documents the hands-on work history that qualifies you to sit for a tradesman exam or receive a contractor license. You fill out Section A yourself, a qualified third party completes and signs Section B, and the finished form is mailed to the Board for Contractors at 9960 Mayland Drive, Suite 400, Richmond, VA 23233-1485.¹ It is not notarized. If more than one employer covers your experience period, you submit one form per employer.²

Where to Download the Form

Form A501-27EXP is on the DPOR website under the Board for Contractors page at dpor.virginia.gov.³ The Tradesmen Program page links to the same PDF.⁴ It is fillable, so you can type into the fields before printing. Print one copy for each employer or verifier you need to document.²

Filling Out Section A

Section A is the applicant’s portion. Enter your full legal name as it appears on your government-issued ID, including last name, first name, middle name, and generation (Jr., Sr., III) if applicable. The form asks for the last four digits of your Social Security number or your Virginia DMV control number, not the full SSN. Virginia law requires one of these identifiers on every licensing application.²

Then enter the license type you are pursuing (journeyman electrician, master plumber, Class A contractor, and so on) and the specific trade or classification. In the work-history section, describe the professional duties you performed. Be concrete. Instead of “performed electrical work,” write “installed residential wiring, ran conduit, and wired service panels in single-family homes.” Vague descriptions are one of the most common reasons the board asks for clarification, and each round of clarification adds weeks.

Enter exact start and end dates in MM/DD/YYYY format in the “From” and “To” fields.² The span between those dates has to line up with the total experience you claim. If you list two years of dates but claim three years of experience, the board will flag it.

Section B: Who Can Verify Your Experience

Section B is completed by the person confirming your work, not by you. The form lists seven acceptable verifier categories:

Building Official
Building Inspector
Licensed Contractor
Licensed Tradesman
Licensed Architect
Licensed Professional Engineer
Other (a supervisor, HR representative, client, or similar person with direct knowledge of your work)

Choosing someone from the “Other” category is allowed, but the board reviews those cases more closely, which can slow processing. A spouse or family member should not verify your experience. The form explicitly discourages it, and using one is a near-certain way to get the form returned.²

The verifier signs a certification statement: “I certify, to the best of my knowledge, all information provided on this form is true and accurate.”² The verifier is staking their professional reputation on what they attest to, and submitting false information on a state licensing document can trigger a board investigation.

How Much Experience the Form Has to Prove

The required experience depends on the license level and your formal education. Virginia lets you trade classroom hours for field time, so applicants with vocational training or a related degree can qualify with fewer years on the job. The tradesman regulations in 18 VAC 50-30-39 set out the tiers.⁵

Journeyman Electrician, Plumber, or HVAC Tradesman

Bachelor’s degree in a related engineering field: 1 year of practical experience
Associate degree or two-year certificate in a tradesman-related program: 2 years
240 hours of vocational training: 4 years
160 hours of vocational training: 5 years
80 hours of vocational training: 6 years
40 hours of vocational training: 7 years
No formal training: 8 years

Residential HVAC or Residential Plumber Tradesman

160 hours of vocational training: 2 years of practical experience
120 hours of vocational training: 3 years
80 hours of vocational training: 4 years
40 hours of vocational training: 5 years
No formal training: 6 years

Contractor applicants (Class A, B, or C) must also complete eight hours of pre-license education before applying, regardless of field experience.³ If your experience spans multiple employers, use enough forms to cover the total required duration.

Submitting the Form

The form does not need to be notarized. There is no notarization block, only the verifier’s signature and date.² Mail the signed form to:

Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
Board for Contractors
9960 Mayland Drive, Suite 400
Richmond, VA 23233-1485¹

The experience verification form is typically part of a larger application package that includes your initial license application and the required fees. Missing pages or an unsigned Section B will stall the process. Before sealing the envelope, confirm that Section A and Section B are both complete and that the verifier signed and dated the form.

DPOR’s online portal at myvirginia.dpor.virginia.gov handles some licensing transactions electronically. Because the experience verification form needs a third party’s original signature, it is generally submitted as a physical document or scanned upload depending on the license type.⁶

Fees That Come With the Application Package

The form itself has no separate fee, but you pay application fees when you submit the full licensing package. As of 2025, with updated exam fees effective March 2026, the Board for Contractors charges the following initial license fees:⁷

Class C license: $235
Class B license: $380
Class A license: $400

Every initial contractor license application also requires a $25 Recovery Fund assessment on top of the license fee. Tradesman examination fees will not exceed $200 for the journeyman exam or $225 for the master exam as of March 2026.⁷

After You Submit

DPOR staff review the form by comparing your reported hours and duties against the requirements for your license type and by checking the verifier’s credentials. If anything is unclear or incomplete, DPOR sends a deficiency notice with a deadline to fix it. You can reach the Board for Contractors at (804) 367-8511 or Contractors@dpor.virginia.gov to ask about a deficiency notice or check application status.³ Once the board validates your experience, your file moves to the examination stage.

Mistakes That Get the Form Returned

Using a spouse or family member as verifier. If you worked for a family business, find a licensed subcontractor, building inspector, or client who observed your work.
Vague job descriptions. “Helped with plumbing” tells the reviewer nothing. Name the tasks: installing water heaters, repairing drain lines, running copper pipe.
Dates and claimed years that do not match. If your start and end dates span two years, do not claim four.
Combining employers on one form. Each employer or verifier needs a separate form; combining two jobs gets the whole thing sent back.
Choosing “Other” without context. If your verifier is not in one of the six named categories, spell out their role and how they directly observed your work.
Missing signature or date on Section B. An unsigned form is an incomplete form.

1
Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. DPOR Contact Information
2
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Experience Verification Form
3
Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Board for Contractors
4
Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Tradesmen Program
5
Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Certification Regulations
6
Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation. Forms and Applications
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Virginia Regulatory Town Hall. Regulations Vol. 42 Iss. 13 – February 09, 2026