Contractor licensing — Utah

Utah uses a single-agency model. The Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), inside the Utah Department of Commerce, licenses all construction trades and general contractors under Utah Code Title 58 Chapter 55 (Construction Trades Licensing Act). There is no separate statewide journeyman board. Individual trade licenses (Apprentice, Journeyman, Master) and firm contractor licenses run through the same agency. Source: Utah DOPL (https://dopl.utah.gov/). License classifications. - General Contractor: B100 General Building Contractor, E100 General Engineering Contractor. - Residential General: R100 Residential and Small Commercial Contractor. - Electrical: E100 General Electrical Contractor (separate from above, same code reused), E200 Residential Electrical, S200 Residential Electrical specialty, S201 General Electrical specialty. - Plumbing: P200 Plumbing Contractor, S210 Residential Plumbing Contractor. - Mechanical / HVAC: S350 Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, S351 HVAC, S354 Refrigeration, S355 Heating Only. - Specialty: numerous S-classes covering carpentry, concrete, roofing, drywall, siding, solar, landscape, and more. Full classification list on the DOPL contractor page (https://dopl.utah.gov/contracting/). Scope of work is tied to the specific classification; working outside your class is separately actionable under Utah Code 58-55-501. Qualifier experience. Utah Code 58-55-302 requires the qualifier, the individual whose experience and exam qualify the license, to document four years of full-time paid experience in the classification sought under the supervision of a licensed contractor, or equivalent experience defined in R156-55a. Technical training may substitute for up to two of the four years. The qualifier must pass the trade exam and the Utah Business and Law exam. Bonding. No statewide DOPL license bond for contractors. Proof of general liability insurance and workers' compensation (where employees are hired) is required under R156-55a-308a. Municipal contractor-registration bonds in certain cities add a separate requirement. See the bonding article. Renewal. DOPL contractor licenses renew biennially on November 30 of even-numbered years. 6 hours of continuing education is required each two-year cycle under R156-55a-303b, split between "core" (law/rule/business) and "professional" categories. Individual trade licenses (journeyman, master) have their own CE rules on the same two-year cycle. Residence Lien Recovery Fund. Residential contractor licensees pay a per-license assessment into the Fund at issuance and renewal under Utah Code 38-11. The Fund pays qualified homeowner claims against insolvent or abandoned contractors when subcontractors or suppliers still hold lien rights. Unlicensed contracting. Contracting without a required DOPL license is prohibited under Utah Code 58-55-501 and is enforced through cease-and-desist orders, civil penalties, and, for repeat or scale violations, misdemeanor or felony referral. Working outside your classification is separately actionable. DOPL publishes enforcement actions on its Disciplinary Actions database.