Contractors - General

General Business Licenses

Click here to view general business License Requirements.

Employment Requirements

If you plan to have employees click here to view Employment Requirements.

Industry Permits

A General or Mechanical Contractors license is issued by the SC Contractors Licensing Board a division of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation. The License is required for anyone performing “commercial” construction over $5000 in the regulated classifications listed in Title 40, Chapter 11, Section 40-11-410 (An Act to Regulate the Practice of General and Mechanical Contracting in SC).
To be eligible to obtain the license, you must pass a technical exam (when required), a business management/law exam and be able to document 2 years of “commercial” experience within the last 5 years. Residential work may also be performed using the General and Mechanical Contractors license but may not be used as part of the “commercial” experience. How to apply For a license Click Here. For more information on licensing Click Here.
To determine public health and environmental authority's standards and requirements Click Here.
Use Tax - Materials purchased outside of SC for use in SC. If you plan to purchase materials from outside the state of South Carolina and bring materials to the state for use on a job, the materials would be subject to South Carolina Use Tax when they are brought into the state. There is no charge for the Certificate. You may apply for a Department of Revenue Use Tax Certificate on-line through SCBOS.
Motor Carrier Property Tax: If you plan to operate a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of greater than 26,000 pounds for the purpose of the transportation of property on a public highway, the contractor would be required to register for Motor Carrier Property Tax by completing Form PT-442, Application for Motor Carrier Property Tax.
Land-disturbing activities including clearing, grading, grubbing, and excavation, except activities that disturb less than two (2) acres and are not part of a larger plan of development, require a state sediment and erosion control permit. For more information Click Here.
Call before you dig. Anyone proposing to excavate, dig, bore, tunnel, blast, or disturb the earth in any manner in which buried utilities may be damaged is requested to contact the Palmetto Utilities Protection Service.
Renovating or demolishing an existing facility? Before a facility or portion of a facility is demolished or renovated, the owner and the contractor must ensure that the facility has been thoroughly inspected for the presence of asbestos. The inspection must be performed by a person who has been trained as an asbestos building inspector in accordance with requirements of the Asbestos Model Accreditation Plan. For more information Click Here.