STATE LICENSE
ConditionalTennessee Board for Licensing Contractors…
Cleaning and chemical service on pools needs no Tennessee trade license. The contractor law reaches pool construction: 'Swimming Pools' is building subcategory BC-26 (no trade exam), required to contract with an owner on a pool project of $25,000 or more. The Home Improvement definition explicitly includes swimming pools, so residential pool work from $3,000 to $24,999 in Bradley, Davidson, Hamilton, Haywood, Knox, Marion, Robertson, Rutherford and Shelby counties needs the HI license.
Public pools (apartments, subdivisions, hotels, clubs, camps, schools) are regulated by the Tennessee Department of Health. Each pool needs a $100 annual operating permit and plan approval before construction or alteration, and must hold set water chemistry; for Type A, B, C and E pools that's free chlorine 0.5–3.0 ppm and pH 7.2–7.6. Licensed trades apply around the pool: the Fire Marshal's rule requires the exterior portion of pool wiring to comply with NEC Article 680, and gas piping to pool heaters is CMC/CMC-A/CMC-C work.
The state sets the license floor; the county or city permit office controls filing, inspections, and local rules wherever the job site sits.
Public pools are permitted and inspected through the Tennessee Department of Health and local health departments, which want to hear from you before any construction or substantial alteration. TDH's pool rules cover public pools; permits for private residential pools are set by local code. Tennessee licenses contractors at the state level; the local desk issues the permit and does the inspecting. Every contractor also needs a business tax license for each city or county where it operates. All four big metros sit inside Home Improvement counties: Davidson (Metro Nashville), Shelby (Memphis), Knox (Knoxville) and Hamilton (Chattanooga). Residential remodeling from $3,000 to $24,999 there needs the state Home Improvement license, whether or not the job needs a permit. Memphis & Shelby County Construction Code Enforcement makes every state-licensed general contractor register its license before pulling a permit. The registration costs $50 and needs a Board-issued Qualifying Agent affidavit and a Memphis & Shelby County business license. Knoxville ties every permit applicant to a registration type: state contractor, homeowner, or unlicensed/state limited license. Where a city or county does not enforce its own building code, one- and two-family dwellings fall under the State Fire Marshal's residential permit program, which uses the 2018 IRC and state-contracted inspectors.
The local offices section below names the exact permit desk for every Tennessee 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.
Routine cleaning and balancing needs no state license. Building, renovating or remodeling a pool triggers the HI or contractor license by dollar value and county.
Type A, B, C and E pools: free chlorine 0.5–3.0 ppm (bromine 2.0–5.0), pH 7.2–7.6, total alkalinity 80–200 ppm, cyanuric acid no more than 100 ppm.
Gas piping to pool heaters is CMC/CMC-A/CMC-C work; pool wiring goes through a licensed electrician and an inspection.
A practical sequence for a new pool service contractor in Tennessee. 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.
Anyone who engages or offers to engage in contracting without a valid license, or outside its classification or monetary limit, may not be awarded the contract or take part in any re-bid of the project. The Board's licensing instructions add that the offender's own license application may be denied or held for up to six months.
The Board may assess $50–$5,000 for violations of T.C.A. § 62-6-120(d) and for unlawful bidding, and $50–$1,000 for other violations of the contractor law. Each day of continued violation counts as a separate violation.
No operating permit may be issued for a constructed, altered or reconstructed public pool whose design the Department has not approved.
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: Prov's per-exam fee for the Business & Law and trade exams from July 1, 2026 is not published on tn.gov (PSI charged $57 per exam per the Board's Rev. 02/25 application package) · Whether applying EPA-registered algaecides or sanitizers to pools for hire counts as 'custom application' needing a TDA pesticide charter: TDA's guidance says any product with an EPA registration number is a pesticide but does not address pools directly · TDH's pool rules contain no operator-certification requirement in the sections reviewed; local health departments may add their own
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.