Contractor licensing — Oklahoma

Oklahoma does not issue a general contractor license at the state level. General construction (carpentry, masonry, painting, general remodeling) is licensed locally by cities and counties that require contractor registration above a dollar threshold. Where Oklahoma is unusual is the trades. The Oklahoma Construction Industries Board (CIB) runs a unified state-level licensing system for three trades (electrical, plumbing, and mechanical HVAC) under three parallel chapters of the Oklahoma Administrative Code: Title 158 Chapter 40 (Electrical), Title 158 Chapter 30 (Plumbing), and Title 158 Chapter 50 (Mechanical). If you work in one of those three trades, one state agency, one set of exams, and one bond-and-insurance structure cover the whole state. Electrical licenses (OAC 158:40). - Apprentice (registered). Must be registered with CIB and work under the direct supervision of a licensed journeyman or contractor in the appropriate category. Maximum three apprentices per licensee. - Residential Journeyman. 4,000 hours (2 years) experience; limited to one- and two-family dwellings. - Residential Contractor. 4,000 hours as a residential or unlimited journeyman; limited to one- and two-family dwellings. - Unlimited Journeyman. 8,000 hours (4 years), at least 4,000 hours in commercial/industrial. - Unlimited Contractor. 12,000 hours (6 years), at least 6,000 in commercial/industrial; two years as an unlimited journeyman required. - Limited Electrical Contractor (specialty; electrical engineering degree or 16,000 hours of estimating/project management experience). - Refinery Electrical Journeyman (refinery-only scope). - Poultry House Contractor (environmentally controlled poultry house scope, $500,000 liability insurance required). Plumbing licenses (OAC 158:30). - Apprentice (registered). - Residential Journeyman (detached one- or two-family dwellings, townhouses up to three stories). - Residential Plumbing Contractor (residential journeyman + 1 year). - Unlimited Journeyman. Three years of plumbing experience under a licensed contractor, or vocational-program substitution on a sliding scale. - Unlimited Plumbing Contractor. Unlimited journeyman + 1 year. - Medical gas piping requires additional NFPA 99 certification. Mechanical licenses (OAC 158:50). - Mechanical Apprentice (registered). - Mechanical Journeyman. Three years in the specific category of mechanical work, or vocational substitution. - Mechanical Contractor. Journeyman + 1 year. - License categories include: HVAC Limited (cooling up to 25 tons, heating up to 500,000 BTU/h), HVAC Unlimited, Natural Gas Piping, Process Piping, Refrigeration, Sheet Metal, Ground Source Piping, Fueled Hearth Product Work, Limited Residential Journeyman, Limited Residential Installer, Petroleum Refinery Journeyman, and Medical Gas Journeyman. What gets filed at application. - Application form and fee (contractor $30, journeyman $25, apprentice $5). - Initial license fee (contractor $300, journeyman $50, apprentice registration $20). - Proof of experience, including apprentice-registration records and employer verification. - Examination: business and law portion plus trade portion for contractors (75% passing on each part). Journeymen take the trade portion only. - Bond and insurance filing (see the Bonding and Insurance articles in this series). - Workers' compensation compliance per 85A O.S. Other Oklahoma trades with state licensing. Roofing contractors are separately regulated by the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board under 59 O.S. Section 1151.1. Elevator mechanics, irrigation, and some specialty trades have separate programs; check the CIB home page for the full list. Nonresident electrical contractor bond. A nonresident electrical contractor must also have a nonresident contractor bond on file with the Oklahoma Tax Commission per 68 O.S. Sections 1701–1707. This is separate from the $5,000 CIB license bond.