North Carolina does not have one generic contractor license. The North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors issues licenses by classification (what you build) and by tier (how big a project you can take). If you are preparing for the Building Contractor exam, the classifications are tested directly in the Licensing content area, and mixing them up is an easy way to lose points.
The classifications (G.S. 87-10(b))
Building. The classification the PSI Building Contractor Examination qualifies you for. It covers all building types, including residential. If you build or manage buildings of any kind, this is the classification you want.
Residential. Covers only residences governed by the residential code (G.S. 143-138). A Residential licensee does not cover commercial buildings. If the exam asks which classification a commercial project needs, "Residential" is wrong.
Highway. Highway construction work.
Public Utilities. This one has five subclassifications: (1) water and sewer mains and service lines, storage tanks, lift and pumping stations; (2) water and wastewater treatment; (3) electrical transmission and distribution ahead of the point of delivery; (4) public communications distribution; and (5) natural gas and petroleum distribution. The exam can test the subclassification count, so learn that there are five.
Specialty. For special-skill trades that fall outside another board's jurisdiction.
Unclassified. Added by Board rule, for work that does not fit neatly elsewhere.
One classification-related point the exam tests through the continuing-education rules: building, residential, and unclassified licensees must do annual CE (8 hours for at least one qualifier), while highway and public utilities classifications are exempt.
The tiers: Limited, Intermediate, Unlimited
Separate from the classification is the license tier, which caps the size of a single project you may take. These figures were raised by S.L. 2024-49, and the old numbers are dead distractors:
- Limited: single projects up to $750,000.
- Intermediate: single projects up to $1,500,000.
- Unlimited: no restriction.
All figures are measured excluding the cost of land and ancillary land-improvement costs. So a $1.4 million project on a $300,000 lot is an Intermediate bid, not an Unlimited one. The superseded $500,000 and $1,000,000 figures still appear in mirrored Board application materials and old prep sites; they are wrong.
Financial qualification by tier
Each tier also has a working-capital requirement (current assets exceeding current liabilities) under 21 NCAC 12A .0204:
- Limited: at least $17,000 in working capital. There is also a reported total-net-worth alternative of $80,000, but that figure is secondary-source only: corroborated but not confirmed in the rule text reviewed. Treat it as a flag, not a certainty.
- Intermediate: at least $75,000, shown by a CPA agreed-upon procedures report on a Board form or an audited financial statement.
- Unlimited: at least $150,000, under the same CPA or audited standard.
Watch for the wrong figure: some third-party sites claim Unlimited requires $1,500,000 in working capital. The rule says $150,000. Learn the pair together, because the wrong one is a natural exam distractor.
Instead of showing working capital, an applicant may post a surety bond: $175,000 for Limited, $500,000 for Intermediate, and $1,000,000 for Unlimited. The surety must be authorized in North Carolina with an A.M. Best rating of A++, A+, A, or A-, the State of North Carolina is the obligee, and the bond is continuous: maintained as long as the license is held.
License fees by tier
The statute caps the fees (G.S. 87-10(a1)); the Board charges the full cap:
- Limited: $75
- Intermediate: $100
- Unlimited: $125
All fees are nonrefundable. Step-up fees are $100 to move to Intermediate and $125 to move to Unlimited.
Choosing your tier
The exam will not ask you to pick a tier, but your application has to, and the strategy is simple. Bid size drives the choice: if your biggest likely project stays under $750,000 excluding land, Limited gets you in the game with the lowest financial bar ($17,000 working capital or the $175,000 bond). If you expect to touch projects between $750,000 and $1,500,000, Intermediate is the right tier. Unlimited is for firms that take work of any size, and it carries the $150,000 working-capital or $1,000,000 bond requirement.
One caution from the discipline side: the tier limit is per single project. Taking a project above your tier is a license violation, not just a paperwork issue, and it feeds the Board's misconduct grounds under G.S. 87-11(a). Know your ceiling and stay under it.
This is an independent study aid, not affiliated with the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors, PSI, or NASCLA. Verify current classifications, limits, and fees in the current PSI bulletin and Board rules.
Try the free practice quiz
Want to see where you stand right now? Take the free 12-question North Carolina Building Contractor practice quiz. You will get your score with explanations for every answer, so you can see exactly which topics need work. Start the free quiz