How to Transfer a Contractor License to Another State, Trade by Trade
Contractor license reciprocity is trade-specific and narrow: agreements cover one trade (general, electrical, plumbing, or HVAC) and often one class (commercial or residential) at a time, and they usually waive only the trade exam — not the business, law, or bonding requirements. Hawaii offers no contractor reciprocity at all, and 29 states issue no state general contractor license (licensing is local, or a registration), so there is no GC license there to transfer. Two networks carry the most portability: NERA for electricians and the NASCLA exam for commercial general building.
Check your exact transfer pathway
Pathway, requirements, fees, and board links for your specific state pair.
Contractor licensing is the messiest transfer landscape in this entire site, and the honest version is worth more to you than the optimistic one. There is no contractor compact. There is no state that honors all others. What exists is a web of narrow, trade-by-trade agreements — Tennessee waives its building trade exam only for licensees from a short list of named states, Nevada matches each state's classifications against its own equivalency charts, and some licensing states offer no contractor reciprocity at all. Many states issue no general contractor license in the first place, only local licenses or a registration. Aggregators inflate these numbers badly; the counts on this site come from the boards.
Two things actually travel well. Electricians should know NERA — the National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance — a group of member states whose electrical boards waive each other's exams for licensees who earned their license by exam and have held it at least a year. Commercial general contractors should know the NASCLA Accredited Examination: pass it once and every state that accepts it counts it in place of its own trade exam (each state page says whether that state does). Everything else is state-by-state, trade-by-trade, and best answered by the checker with your specific trade and class selected.
The four transfer pathways
Trade-specific reciprocity agreements
The Southeast runs the densest web of these: Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, and Florida trade exam waivers among themselves, often with different partner lists for commercial versus residential work. An agreement waives the destination's trade exam for your specific trade — it does not touch the business/law exam, bond, or registration.
The NASCLA exam (commercial general building)
A group of states accepts the NASCLA Accredited Commercial General Building Contractor Examination in place of its own trade exam (each state page says whether that state does). Pass it once and you carry a credential recognized across all of them. For a commercial GC planning to work in several states, NASCLA is usually the highest-leverage move — take it before you need it.
NERA (electrical)
The National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance links a group of member states whose electrical boards waive each other's exams for licensees who earned their license by examination and have held it at least a year. It is the closest thing electricians have to portability — but grandfathered (non-exam) licenses are excluded, and it does not cover general or mechanical trades.
Endorsement and full application
Where no agreement or network covers your trade, states fall back to endorsement (case-by-case credit for your experience and exams) or, in the no-reciprocity states, full application as a new licensee. Utah, notably, uses endorsement rather than reciprocity — despite aggregator claims of a large "reciprocity" list.
Definitions in depth: how contractor transfer works· full reciprocity overview
Every state, one table
Sorted A-Z. Each state links to its full transfer guide with requirements, fees, steps, and board links. For how contractor (gc/electrical/plumbing/hvac) compares with every other licensed profession — median transfer fees, the share of moves that go to an honor-all state or through a compact, and the hardest states to enter — see the license reciprocity statistics.
Frequently asked questions
Does my contractor license transfer to another state?
Contractor license reciprocity is trade-specific and narrow: agreements cover one trade (general, electrical, plumbing, or HVAC) and often one class (commercial or residential) at a time, and they usually waive only the trade exam — not the business, law, or bonding requirements. Hawaii offers no contractor reciprocity at all, and 29 states issue no state general contractor license (licensing is local, or a registration), so there is no GC license there to transfer. Two networks carry the most portability: NERA for electricians and the NASCLA exam for commercial general building.
Which states have no contractor reciprocity?
Hawaii offers no contractor reciprocity of any kind as of 2026-07-21 — out-of-state contractors apply as new applicants. Separately, 29 states issue no state general contractor license at all (licensing is local, or a registration), so there is no GC license there to transfer.
What does contractor reciprocity actually waive?
Usually just the trade or technical exam. You almost always still complete the destination's business and law exam, financial statement, bond, and insurance — reciprocity shortens the process, it does not skip it.
What is NASCLA and how does it help contractors move?
NASCLA accredited exams (commercial general building, and electrical) are accepted by 12 states + DC in place of their own trade exam, as of 2026-07-21. Passing one once lets you apply in an accepting state without re-sitting that state's trade exam — the business and law exam, bond and application still apply.
What is NERA for electricians?
The National Electrical Reciprocal Alliance is a group of member states whose electrical boards waive each other's licensing exams. Each member keeps its own partner list, so check that the destination's electrical board lists your state. Eligibility typically requires holding your license at least a year and having earned it by examination (grandfathered licenses are excluded).
Why do reciprocity lists online disagree so much?
Because contractor licensing is split by trade and class, aggregators combine unrelated per-trade waivers into one inflated 'reciprocity' count. Widely copied errors include overstating Nevada and Utah. This site lists each trade separately and cites the state board.
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-09-01.
- NASCLA — National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies (accredited exam) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- NCCER — reciprocity map (cross-check only; verify against state boards) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
Per-state sources are listed on each state's page — this hub cites the national bodies; the full source registry is at /sources/.
Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-09-01
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]