STATE LICENSE
RequiredMontana Department of Labor & Industry — …
Ch. 644, Laws of 2025 repealed Montana's contractor registration (Title 39, Chapter 9) and replaced it with a Construction Contractor License under Title 37, Chapter 45, effective January 1, 2026. The license is an administrative business credential: the application lists owners, officers, or members, the EIN, and proof of workers' compensation compliance. There is no trade exam, experience requirement, bond, or continuing education, and the fee is $70 to apply and $70 to renew.
The license covers anyone who, as an independent business, builds, alters, repairs, improves, moves, or demolishes a structure or improvement attached to real estate for another — and owners who employ more than one trade on their own project. Exemptions include jobs under $2,500 aggregate, owners working on their own property, licensed electricians and plumbers within their license, and independent contractors with no employees, who instead carry an Independent Contractor Exemption Certificate or workers' comp.
The state sets the license floor; the county or city permit office controls filing, inspections, and local rules wherever the job site sits.
MCA 37-45-204 makes the state construction contractor provisions exclusive: a city or county may not require or issue registrations, licenses, or bonds for the same or a similar purpose, though it may levy a general, nondiscriminatory business license fee on all businesses and may regulate contractors the chapter does not cover. Building codes are enforced by cities and counties certified by DLI's Building Codes Program; everywhere else, the state program issues permits and inspects.
The local offices section below names the exact permit desk for every Montana 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.
The Title 39 registration statutes were repealed by Ch. 644, L. 2025; the Construction Contractor License under Title 37, Chapter 45 has applied since January 1, 2026.
A party who hires a contractor licensed on the date of the contract is not liable as the employer for that contractor's workers' comp, unemployment insurance, or wages (MCA 37-45-202) — unlicensed subs lose work for that reason.
DLI lists continuing education as 'Not Required'; the license is about identity, workers' comp, and labor-law compliance, not trade competency.
A practical sequence for a new general contracting contractor in Montana. 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.
DLI may issue a cease-and-desist order to anyone practicing a Title 37 occupation without the required license, then enforce it in district court; officers and members who knowingly take part are personally liable.
Fraud, misclassifying workers without an ICEC, or failing workers' comp, unemployment, or wage law triggers program sanctions plus a chapter-specific penalty.
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: Length of the Construction Contractor License term: DLI says it renews on the anniversary of issuance with the window opening 60 days before expiration, but does not state whether the term is one year or two (the repealed registration's term was not re-confirmed) · How the no-employee exemption in MCA 37-45-104(24) applies to corporations and manager-managed LLCs: DLI's FAQ says those entities need a CCL 'regardless of employee count,' while the statute exempts an 'independent contractor who has no employees' — the rule text reconciling them was not retrieved · Text of ARM Chapter 24.227 (rules.mt.gov not retrieved); the $70 fee and 30-day change-notice rule come from DLI's checklist and FAQ summaries of it · MCA 37-45-204 still refers to 'registered' construction contractors after the 2025 recodification; that the local-licensing bar applies equally to CCL licensees is presumed, not confirmed
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.