Transfer Your Contractor License to Vermont: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)

Last verified: 2026-08-07 · source: Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety (electricians and plumbers); Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation (residential contractor registration) ↗

Vermont issues no general contractor license: it requires only a state registration, so there is no license to transfer by reciprocity or endorsement. Register with the Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation. Vermont has no state general-contractor license — residential contractors merely register with the Secretary of State's Office of Professional Regulation, with no exam and therefore nothing to reciprocate. The Division of Fire Safety licenses electricians and plumbers statewide, and both boards issue licenses without the Vermont examination on two routes: a bilateral reciprocal license for residents of Maine or New Hampshire (electrical), and a 'universal license' for anyone currently licensed outside Vermont at a level equal to the Vermont credential sought, supported by a certified letter of licensure from the issuing state. Electrical and plumbing work is licensed statewide and handled separately — check your trade in the checker.

Moving to Vermont from a specific state?

Pick your current state — the checker returns your exact pathway.

Run the Reciprocity Checker →

Verdict

No state license — registration only

The structural fact first: Vermont issues no general contractor license — contractors only register, so a general contractor moving here has no state license to transfer; what it needs is the state registration. The work is to identify the registration the Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation requires and meet its rules. Trade licenses are a separate question: check your trade and class in the checker before you assume anything carries over.

Vermont clearly does offer an out-of-state path, so endorsement_available is true. Two claims that circulate about Vermont were checked and are NOT supported by the current official applications and so are excluded: there is no 2-hour Vermont code course required of universal-license plumbers, and there is no 'Vermont Energy Goals' education module in either the electrical or plumbing application. There is no separate state HVAC licence — heating work sits under the plumbing specialist fields. firesafety.vermont.gov returns 403 to automated clients, so its three documents were read through Internet Archive captures of those official URLs (electrical application captured 2026-05-28, electrical instructions 2025-04-17, plumbing application 2024-05-11 — the plumbing figures are therefore the oldest evidence in this row and should be re-checked at the next cadence); the OPR page was read live on sos.vermont.gov.

Vermont requirements at a glance

Out-of-state contractor license transfer requirements for Vermont, verified 2026-08-07
Exam	Vermont has no state general-contractor license — residential contractors merely register with the Secretary of State's Office of Professional Regulation, with no exam and therefore nothing to reciprocate. The Division of Fire Safety licenses electricians and plumbers statewide, and both boards issue licenses without the Vermont examination on two routes: a bilateral reciprocal license for residents of Maine or New Hampshire (electrical), and a 'universal license' for anyone currently licensed outside Vermont at a level equal to the Vermont credential sought, supported by a certified letter of licensure from the issuing state.
General contractor registration	Register with the Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation. Residential contractors on work valued at $10,000 or more must separately register with the Secretary of State's OPR, carry liability insurance and use a written contract
Registration fee	Not on file — check with the Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation
Registration processing	Not on file — check with the Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation
Trade licenses (not general contracting)	Submit a certified letter of licensure from the issuing state — a photocopy of the license alone is not accepted Maine and New Hampshire bilateral electrical reciprocity is limited to residents of those states; applicants from elsewhere use the universal-license route Universal-license plumbers must document the apprenticeship or schooling required for the out-of-state license plus 8,000 hours (journeyman) or 12,000 hours (master) of experience File the application at the Division of Fire Safety two weeks before the licensing board meeting, signed and notarized
Trade-license fees	$90–$150 (Division of Fire Safety trade licenses are 3-year: Electrical Master $150, Electrical Journeyman $115, Electrical Specialist $115 per field; Plumbing Master $120, Plumbing Journeyman $90, Plumbing Specialist $50 per field. Exam fees are not included in the application. The separate OPR residential-contractor registration carries its own fee, which is published only behind OPR's online fee page and is not asserted here.)

Step by step

Register with the Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation: Vermont issues no general contractor license, so there is no license to transfer by reciprocity.
Check the Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation (linked on this page) for its current registration requirements and fee — rules change.
Residential contractors on work valued at $10,000 or more must separately register with the Secretary of State's OPR, carry liability insurance and use a written contract.
Electrical and plumbing work is licensed statewide in Vermont and handled separately: use the checker with your trade selected.

Official links

Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety (electricians and plumbers); Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation (residential contractor registration) ↗Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation ↗Vermont trade-license application ↗

Coming from a specific state?

Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into Vermont:

California → Vermont Florida → Vermont Georgia → Vermont Illinois → Vermont Maine → Vermont Michigan → Vermont New Hampshire → Vermont New York → Vermont North Carolina → Vermont Ohio → Vermont Pennsylvania → Vermont Texas → Vermont

Nearby states

Contractor license transfer into the states bordering Vermont:

Vermont for other professions

Frequently asked questions

Does my contractor license transfer to Vermont?

Vermont issues no general contractor license: contractors register with the Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation instead, so there is no license to transfer by reciprocity. Vermont has no state general-contractor license — residential contractors merely register with the Secretary of State's Office of Professional Regulation, with no exam and therefore nothing to reciprocate. The Division of Fire Safety licenses electricians and plumbers statewide, and both boards issue licenses without the Vermont examination on two routes: a bilateral reciprocal license for residents of Maine or New Hampshire (electrical), and a 'universal license' for anyone currently licensed outside Vermont at a level equal to the Vermont credential sought, supported by a certified letter of licensure from the issuing state. Its electrical licenses do have reciprocity — select your trade in the checker.

Which states does Vermont have electrical contractor reciprocity with?

New Hampshire, Maine (verified 2026-08-07 against the Vermont Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety (electricians and plumbers)). Two distinct routes on the Division of Fire Safety application. Bilateral reciprocity with Maine and New Hampshire is open to RESIDENTS of those states only. Separately, a 'Reciprocal universal license' route accepts a current out-of-state license equal to the Vermont Master or Journeyman from any state on a certified letter of licensure plus a photocopy of the license. A military reciprocal route also exists (DD-214 plus 12R course and hours).

Does reciprocity waive all of Vermont's requirements?

There is no state general contractor license in Vermont for reciprocity to apply to; any trade license that does reciprocate waives the trade exam only, not the business/law exam, bond, or insurance.

What fees apply in Vermont, and how long does processing take?

Registration fee not on file — check with the Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation. Registration processing: not on file — check with the Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation. The fee figures on file are for Vermont's trade licenses, not general contractor registration: $90–$150 (Division of Fire Safety trade licenses are 3-year: Electrical Master $150, Electrical Journeyman $115, Electrical Specialist $115 per field; Plumbing Master $120, Plumbing Journeyman $90, Plumbing Specialist $50 per field. Exam fees are not included in the application. The separate OPR residential-contractor registration carries its own fee, which is published only behind OPR's online fee page and is not asserted here.)

Sources

Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-08-07.

Reviewed by the License Reciprocity Editorial Team · verified against primary sources 2026-08-07

How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]