STATE LICENSE
RequiredArkansas Contractors Licensing Board / Re…
The Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board (ACLB), part of the Department of Labor and Licensing, licenses commercial contractors under Ark. Code Ann. § 17-25-101 et seq. whenever the cost of work on anything other than a one-to-four-unit single-family residence is $50,000 or more, labor and materials included. The Building and Light Building major classifications require five years of experience, a Business & Law exam, a $10,000 contractor bond, and a CPA financial statement showing $50,000 net worth for Building — half of it cash.
Its Residential Contractors Committee licenses residential building contractors (new 1–4 unit homes) and home improvement contractors (existing homes) under § 17-25-501 et seq. once a job exceeds $2,000. A Residential Builder license needs four years of experience shown through three references, the Business & Law exam, and a balance sheet with positive net worth; a Residential Remodeler license comes in Limited (projects under $50,000) and Unlimited versions.
The state sets the license floor; the county or city permit office controls filing, inspections, and local rules wherever the job site sits.
Contractor licensing is state-level through the ACLB and its Residential Contractors Committee; cities and counties issue building permits and inspect. ACLB's application guidance states Arkansas's state-adopted building codes apply statewide as minimums, even in areas with no local permit or inspection program.
The local offices section below names the exact permit desk for every Arkansas county on file.
Each row names the issuing authority, cost, timeline, citation, and status behind the requirement — verified against the official source.
Published fees from the issuing authorities, as of October 2026. Local permit fees vary by project and jurisdiction — the basis is stated where a flat number does not exist.
ACLB's application states that a commercial license automatically qualifies you for residential work in the same classifications.
For the Building classification the $50,000 net-worth requirement must be at least half ($25,000) cash in the bank, not receivables or stockholder notes.
A commercial applicant may file a surety bond of ten times the required net worth instead of a financial statement — in addition to the $10,000 contractor bond (§ 17-25-304(c)).
A practical sequence for a new general contracting contractor in Arkansas. Actual agency processing times are noted in the ledger above.
Each item names the issuing authority, cycle, and citation.
Statutory consequences with their citations — not estimates, not “commonly cited” guesses.
Bidding or performing work of $50,000 or more (labor and materials) without a license or registration in the proper classification is a crime, and the Board may also assess a civil penalty after a hearing.
Acting as a residential building or home improvement contractor without the required Residential Contractors Committee license is a crime and draws a per-day civil penalty.
A contractor who works in violation of the licensing law cannot sue to enforce the contract; on residential work quantum meruit is barred too, while a commercial violator may seek unjust enrichment only after paying fines and applying for a license.
Inside city limits, the city office listed here issues the permit; the county office serves unincorporated areas. Every office links to its official page.
Every fact in this file was checked against these official sources on October 2026.
Pending verification: Restricted commercial license ceiling: the 10/2026 application limits Restricted (compiled-financial-statement) licensees to projects under $750,000, while Ark. Code Ann. § 17-25-304(a)(2) as compiled in April 2026 allows a compiled statement for single projects under $1,500,000 — the statute is reported here; the conflict is unresolved · Exact residential trigger: § 17-25-513(3) exempts jobs that do not exceed $2,000 (so licensure starts above $2,000), while the 10/2026 builder and remodeler application affidavits refer to residential work of '$2,000.00 or more' · Actual annual renewal fee charged by ACLB (statute caps it at $100 per year, Ark. Code Ann. §§ 17-25-303(b), 17-25-512; the fee in use was not published on the pages retrieved) · Whether the Contractors Licensing Board or Residential Contractors Committee imposes any continuing-education requirement (none found in the April 2026 statute compilations or current applications) · Statutory section for the residential pre-work lien notice (described in ACLB application guidance; the lien statute itself was not retrieved)
General information, not legal advice. Always confirm requirements, deadlines, and forms with the issuing authority before filing or contracting.
Store licenses, permits, policies, and renewal dates in one place.