Louisiana contractor license requirements: what your license or registration lets you do, and where a handyman must stop

Published November 3, 2026 · Law checked November 3, 2026, including Acts 757 and 908 of 2026

• Free to read, nothing to download. The "can I take this job?" table below is the tool.
• Deepsel is our product: free estimate, invoice and scheduling software for contractors (scheduling, quotes, invoicing, card payments). The section before the FAQ says where it fits and where it doesn't.
• Not legal advice. Every rule here links to the statute, rule or court decision it comes from. Call the LSLBC (225-765-2301) or a Louisiana attorney before you bet a job on my reading.

Louisiana has no handyman license. It has one board, the State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC), and three lines on a house. Under $7,500 you need nothing from the state. From $7,500 to $49,999 you need a home improvement registration or a residential license. At $50,000, or for any structural work or any roof from $7,500, you need the residential license.^1,4 The price that counts is the whole project, labor and materials, "regardless of who pays the costs."¹ Plumbing needs a licensed plumber at any price, and electrical, HVAC and gas work belong to their own licensed trades.¹⁷

Your credential sets the rest. The registration stops below $50,000 and never touches structure or roofs. The residential license covers houses up to three floors at any price, with a short list of jobs you still sub out. And if you hold a commercial (building construction) license, 2026 moved your line: since August 1 it doesn't cover home improvement work at all, and it never let you build a house.^2,7

That wasn't the only 2026 change. Act 757 raised the liability insurance minimum from $100,000 to $500,000 on August 1, and Act 908 moves plumber licensing from the State Plumbing Board to the LSLBC on January 1, 2027.^2,18 The legislature's statute pages don't show either act yet. The board's rule book still says home improvement runs to $75,000, its consumer brochure still says $100,000 of insurance, and on the day I wrote this Google's AI answer for "louisiana contractor license requirements" repeated both old numbers. Where they disagree with the statute, I go with the statute. What has to be in the contract you sign is its own article: Louisiana contract template.

Louisiana contractor license requirements: the lines at a glance

These are the state's lines. Your parish or city can add its own on top, and the law lets it be stricter than the state.¹⁰

Two details about how the lines read. "Or more" means a job at exactly $7,500 needs the registration. The statute says "seven thousand five hundred dollars or more," while some board pages say "exceeding $7,500."^1,7 Price at $7,499 or register. And the lines are per project. Nothing in the law caps how many small jobs you do in a year.

What your Louisiana home improvement license covers (it's a registration)

The board calls it a registration, and nearly everyone else calls it a license. The statute defines a home improvement contractor as anyone who bids or performs a home improvement project worth "at least seven thousand five hundred dollars but less than fifty thousand dollars."¹ Home improvement is work on an existing house or on "structures which are adjacent" to it: "reconstruction, alteration, renovation, repair, modernization, conversion, improvement, removal, or demolition, or the construction of an addition."¹

Then comes the sentence that decides most jobs. A registrant "shall not perform any structural work that is integral to the structural integrity of any new or existing structure, including but not limited to footings, foundations, outside walls, skeleton, bearing columns and interior load bearing walls, floor slabs, or roofing systems to any type."¹ The board's brochure says it shorter: projects of $50,000 or more, "or requiring any structural work, must be bid and performed by a licensed Residential Building Contractor."⁷

• Inside the registration: kitchens and bathrooms that leave the bearing walls where they are, flooring and tile, drywall, cabinets, trim, painting, same-size windows and doors, non-bearing partitions, and demolition of residential work within the registration's dollar limit.⁶
• Outside it: anything at $50,000 or more, roofs, foundations and slabs, bearing walls, outside walls, and new houses. Additions too. The definition of home improvement mentions them, but an addition needs footings and outside walls, and those are on the structural list.
• What you carry: $500,000 of general liability plus workers' compensation, with the LSLBC listed as certificate holder and every registered scope covered "with no exclusions."^2,3 A lapse can bring a cease-and-desist order and a suspension.⁶

Watch the $50,000 line while the job is running

The line applies to the project, and change orders are part of the project. A $44,000 kitchen with a $7,000 change order is a $51,000 kitchen, and your registration stopped at $49,999. A federal bankruptcy judge in Baton Rouge described how this goes in a 2024 case: the home project "was originally $50,200, but it more than tripled due to changes and additions the Rincons requested." The contractor held nothing, and the court said he needed the registration at the start and the residential license once the changes pushed the job past the residential line (then $75,000).¹⁵ If a job is creeping toward $50,000, get the residential license before you sign the change order. Splitting it into two contracts doesn't work: the board disregards "any division of a contract or scope of work into parts which would avoid the necessity of a license."⁸

What your Louisiana residential contractor license covers

The residential license (the Residential Construction classification) is the whole-house license. It covers:

• New houses of $50,000 or more, up to three floors. A taller residential building takes a building construction license as well.¹
• Home improvement at any price, structural work included. Residential license holders are exempt from the registration.⁵
• Roofs. The roofing law accepts "Residential Roofing or Residential Construction."⁴

Two jobs you can sign but not do yourself. Raising a house over $7,500 belongs to contractors with a building construction, house moving or foundation classification. A residential license holder "may bid or contract" for it "but must contract with" one of them. Residential pools over $7,500 work the same way, through a contractor with a pool or building construction classification.⁶ Mold remediation from $7,500, asbestos and lead abatement at any price, and the electrical, mechanical and plumbing work go to their own licensed trades (next sections). You also owe six hours of board-approved continuing education a year.⁶

Your subs, apart from the trades, don't need their own credential

Louisiana gives residential license holders a subcontractor exemption. The licensing law doesn't apply to "any person performing work as a subcontractor for a residential construction license holder, except for electrical, mechanical, plumbing, mold remediation, water wells, asbestos, or hazardous materials scopes of work. The subcontractor shall contract directly with the residential license holder."⁵ So your framer, drywall crew and tile setter need nothing from the board if they contract with you. Your electrician, plumber and HVAC sub do.

If you hold only the registration, the exemption isn't yours. It names residential license holders only (Act 757 removed the old exemption for home improvement work done for building construction license holders), and I found nothing that extends it to registrants. A sub whose own part of your job comes to $7,500 or more should hold a registration or license of their own.

If you hold a Louisiana commercial contractor license

"Commercial" in the statute means any project "except residential structures intended to be primarily occupied as a residence with no more than two separate dwelling units incorporated into one structure."¹ Commercial work needs a license from $50,000, in the classification that covers most of the work.^1,8 If you want residential jobs too, three things:

• It doesn't cover new houses. From the board's FAQ: "A Commercial license does not allow you to build a single residential home."⁷ Its rules let a major classification cover its subclassifications "with the exception of Residential Construction."⁶ The good news: a building construction license holder is exempt from the residential trade exam.³
• Since August 1, 2026 it doesn't cover home improvement either. The law used to exempt building construction licensees from the registration. Act 757 "removes exemption for building construction contractors from home improvement licensure."² A $20,000 house remodel now needs the registration or the residential license, even if you've held a commercial license for years.
• Triplexes and fourplexes sit in a gap. Under the statute a building with three or more units is commercial, so a $30,000 remodel in one needs nothing from the board for the building work. The board's brochure still treats up to four units as residential, and for roofing alone the statute now does too.^1,4,7 Ask the board before you bid one.

The case every commercial license holder should know is Quaternary Resource Investigations v. Phillips. A company with a commercial license took a $232,195 renovation and addition on a house in Livingston Parish, and the parish issued the building permit on the commercial license number. The First Circuit held the contract "an absolute nullity," void from the start, because the company didn't hold the residential license. Its work was found substandard, so it recovered nothing toward the $389,962 it said the job cost, and the homeowners were awarded $154,483.57.¹⁴ A permit issued on your number doesn't prove you held the right license.

Electrical, plumbing, HVAC and gas: the trade licenses you sub out to

The LSLBC's line for the trades is $10,000. Electrical, mechanical (heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, ventilation, gas piping) and plumbing contractors need the matching classification from there.¹ Below $10,000 other rules take over: plumbing has its own license law, and cities and parishes license electricians and HVAC contractors.

Louisiana plumbing license: any price, on someone else's house

Plumbing in Louisiana is "the work or business of installing in buildings and on premises the pipes, fixtures, and other apparatus for supplying water, or removing liquid waste."¹⁷ Doing it takes a State Plumbing Board license (residential plumber limited, journeyman or master), and no business may hold itself out as doing plumbing "unless it employs a master plumber."¹⁷ There's no small-job exception. The law excludes only work "on his own personal residence" and an owner's maintenance staff, and that maintenance "shall specifically not include construction or installation."¹⁷ Jefferson Parish spells out what that means on a permit: "Replacement or installation of water heaters, toilets, faucets, etc. requires filing by a State Plumbing Board of Louisiana licensed plumber."¹⁹

On January 1, 2027 the State Plumbing Board is abolished and the LSLBC takes over. The new law says "any natural person who engages in any plumbing work of any kind" needs a plumber's license, and the new definition of a plumbing contractor drops the $10,000 floor.¹⁸ So 2027 makes the rule stricter.

Gas

Natural gas piping is gas fitting, and the plumbing board must "require that any person performing work as a gas fitter or master gas fitter shall possess a license issued by the board."¹⁷ One carve-out matters to remodelers: "Piping connection, disconnection, or reconnection from the outlet side of the appliance shutoff valve to the appliance inlet" isn't gas fitting.¹⁷ Connecting a new range to the existing valve is outside the license. Running a new line or moving the valve isn't. Propane work belongs to people licensed by the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission.

Louisiana electrical license: the state line is $10,000, the local one is lower

The state licenses electrical contractors at $10,000. Below that your parish or city decides, and the big ones license electricians themselves. New Orleans: "electricians performing work within the City of New Orleans are required to obtain and renew annually an Electrical License from the City."²⁰ Jefferson Parish: "Replacement or installation of electrical service panels, light fixtures, ceiling fans, switches, outlets, etc. requires filing by a Jefferson Parish licensed electrician."¹⁹ State law allows these local licenses, though it spares statewide-licensed electrical, mechanical and plumbing contractors from local exams.³ Outside those two, call your permit office before you swap a fixture for pay.

HVAC

Mechanical work needs the LSLBC Mechanical classification from $10,000.¹ Jefferson Parish wants a licensed mechanical contractor to "install or replace any A/C condenser."¹⁹ And anyone who opens a refrigerant circuit needs EPA Section 608 certification, at any price, anywhere.²⁵

Check every sub, because their license is your problem

• "Entering into a contract with an unlicensed contractor" is a violation for you. The board's April 2026 residential agenda had two: an $11,300 job in New Orleans and an $18,250 job in Amite, each with an unlicensed plumbing company.^8,16
• Knowingly using an unlicensed sub is one of the facts that lets a prosecutor infer residential contractor fraud.¹³
• Look each one up on the LSLBC contractor search before they start and keep a copy. The board can ask for five years of records on your subs, due within 72 hours.⁶

What can a handyman do without a license in Louisiana?

If you hold a registration or license, this section is about the people around you: helpers, subs, the guy who did your punch lists and wants to go out on his own. If you still take small jobs yourself, it's how to count them.

The $7,500 line, counted the Louisiana way

• Labor and materials, whoever buys them. Project value "includes the entire cost of the labor, materials, rentals, and all direct and indirect project expenses," counted "regardless of who pays the costs or if they are donated."¹ A $5,000 labor quote on a bathroom where the owner buys $3,000 of tile and fixtures is an $8,000 project.
• Splitting doesn't work. The board disregards divided contracts and looks at "drawings, plot plans, blueprints" and the like to decide what one scope of work is.⁸
• Change orders count. "The task just got bigger, do you charge more or eat it?" is a common handyman question (r/handyman). In Louisiana there's a second one: did it just cross $7,500?
• Per project, not per year. I found no yearly cap and no part-time exemption.^1,5
• Commercial work runs on a different line: nothing from the board under $50,000, apart from the trade, mold and hazardous-materials lines.¹

The owner's exemption covers the owner, not you

A common move is to have the homeowner pull the permit as owner-builder. The exemptions cover owners who supervise work on their own residence, and, for the registration, "a residential property owner who physically performs the home improvement work on his personal residence."⁵ Neither covers the person the owner pays. East Baton Rouge requires a notarized "Affidavit claiming exemption from licensure" from owner-builders, and the form "will be forwarded to the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors."²¹

The exemptions a small shop can use

• Working for a licensee. Employees of a licensee are exempt, and so are subs who contract directly with a residential license holder (trades excluded).⁵
• Flood tear-out. "Any work covering dewatering or water mitigation" is exempt, and the board's rule says removing water-damaged materials "does not require a license." Putting new materials back is home improvement again.^5,6
• Landscaping, or interior painting and wall covering, if that's all you do. Those are exempt from the registration.⁵

What no handyman can take, at any price

Plumbing on someone else's home and gas fitting.¹⁷ Electrical or HVAC work where the parish or city licenses it (New Orleans licenses electricians; Jefferson Parish licenses both).^19,20 Asbestos removal or lead abatement, where the board's line is $1.⁶ And paint work in a pre-1978 home without EPA certification (next section). Jefferson Parish adds its own license at the state's number: a "Jefferson Parish Home Builder's license is required to perform any work which value exceeds $7,500.00."¹⁹ If you're pricing small jobs to stay under the line, the handyman price list has job prices and minimum charges to start from.

Lead paint, asbestos and mold

Lead paint (EPA's RRP rule)

Louisiana isn't on EPA's list of states that run their own lead renovation program, so EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies directly.²³ Disturb paint for pay in a home built before 1978 and your firm needs EPA certification, and the work must be "directed by renovators certified" by EPA. That covers "all firms, even sole proprietorships," in EPA's words. The exception is small: "6 square feet or less of painted surface per room for interior activities or 20 square feet or less" outside. Window replacement never qualifies, and jobs "in the same room within the same 30 days must be considered the same job."²³ One owner's post opens with the line nobody wants to write: "I recently got caught scraping and painting a small area on pre 1978 house" (r/Contractor). The federal penalty behind the rule is up to $49,772 per violation at EPA's January 2025 inflation adjustment.²⁴ Lead abatement, meaning permanent removal, is a separate LSLBC classification at any price, with approval from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ).⁶

Asbestos

Removing friable asbestos for pay takes the LSLBC's Asbestos Removal and Abatement classification "when the value exceeds $1," plus LDEQ asbestos certification.⁶ In houses it turns up in textured ceilings and old pipe insulation. Test before you scrape, and sub it out if the test comes back positive.

Mold, and the flood exemption

Mold remediation from $7,500 needs its own license with 24 hours of approved training, and I found no exemption for residential license holders.^1,6 A mold licensee also can't "perform both mold assessment and mold remediation on the same property."⁸ Pulling out wet drywall and flooring after a flood is dewatering, which needs no license. Treating mold-contaminated material is remediation.^5,6

Can I take this job? A table for Louisiana home improvement registrants and residential license holders

The verdicts assume a house or duplex, the price counted the Louisiana way (labor plus all materials), and a job under $50,000 unless the row says otherwise. Louisiana adopts the residential building code without its administrative part, which is where the list of permit-exempt jobs sits, so ask your parish or city which jobs need a permit.²⁶ Below $7,500 you need neither credential for the building work, but every "sub it out" row still applies.

Sources for the table: the lines and the structural list,¹ roofing,⁴ exemptions,⁵ the board's classification, house raising, pool and dewatering rules,⁶ plumbing and gas,¹⁷ Jefferson Parish and New Orleans,^19,20 lead,²³ refrigerant,²⁵ the brochure.⁷

What happens if you cross the line

The board

• A fine "of up to ten percent of the total contract or the value of the work bid or being performed," plus "administrative costs and attorney fees for each offense," and cease-and-desist orders or an injunction to stop the work.¹² On a $45,000 job without the right credential, that's up to $4,500 before costs.
• The board uses it on small jobs too. Its April 15, 2026 residential agenda listed unlicensed-work hearings on jobs of $11,150 in Oak Grove, $13,973 and $19,357 in Baton Rouge, and $25,125 in New Orleans. On a $338,750 job it had already "assessed an administrative penalty of the maximum fine plus $1,000 in administrative costs" (10% of $338,750 is $33,875).¹⁶

Criminal charges

• Contracting without a license is a misdemeanor: up to $500 a day, three months in prison, or both.¹¹
• Unlicensed and causing more than $300 of harm: $500 to $5,000, and six months to five years with or without hard labor.¹¹
• Residential contractor fraud. Failing "to possess the required license for home improvements or residential construction" is one of the facts that lets a prosecutor infer misappropriation (taking a payment and then doing no work for 45 days is another). At $25,000 or more the penalty runs to 20 years at hard labor.¹³

Getting paid: the courts treat the contract as void

The licensing statute doesn't say an unlicensed contract is void. The courts do. In Quaternary, the First Circuit wrote: "Any contract made in violation of the Contractors Licensing Law is null and void." An unlicensed contractor's recovery is limited "to the actual costs of their materials, services, and labor ... with no allowance for profit or overhead," and the court let the company recover nothing at all because its work was substandard.¹⁴ The Louisiana Supreme Court declined to review the case in 2021.¹⁵

The owner can come after you too. In the 2024 Baton Rouge bankruptcy case, the court restored the owners to where they stood before the contract: $50,884.51 in damages plus $19,300 in attorney fees, a $70,184.51 judgment. Because the contractor had misled them about his license, the debt survived his bankruptcy.¹⁵

And there's no lien. A contractor who fails to get a required license can't file "a statement of claim or a statement of lien or privilege" for the money.⁹

The wrong license counts

The board's list of violations covers work done "without possessing a license with the proper classification," the same as work with no license.⁸ Quaternary shows the courts do the same on getting paid: a commercial license, a permit issued on its number, and a void contract.¹⁴ A registrant who signs a $55,000 job, or a $20,000 job with a bearing wall in it, is in the same position.

Insurance

Your $500,000 certificate has to cover "all licensed scopes, with no exclusions for those scopes."² It says nothing about work outside them, and I found no Louisiana rule on what your insurer owes you when you work outside your license. That's in your policy. Ask your agent in writing whether it covers work outside your LSLBC classification, and keep the reply.

Lending your license

Someone will ask you to pull a permit for a job you're not running. "Permitting a license to be used for any purpose by any person other than the person to whom the license is issued" is a violation, and so is "assisting a person to circumvent the provisions of this Chapter."⁸ A GC on Reddit gave the best answer to the question: "Never attach your name to anything in a legal way that you don't have control over... Just a recipe for disaster" (r/GeneralContractor).

Where your license number has to appear

• Every contract for licensed work: your full name, address and license number, plus current insurance certificates.⁹ The contract article covers the other required items.
• The same name everywhere. You "bid, contract, conduct all business transactions, and perform work in the name as it appears on the current license or registration," and the board "does not recognize DBA's."^3,7
• On request: your name, license number, classification and insurance certificates, in writing, to the customer.⁸
• Public bids: the number on the bid envelope, or the bid comes back marked "Rejected" and isn't read.¹²
• Permits: the building department can't issue one to anyone without "an active license in the appropriate classification for the scope of work."¹⁰
• Ads and trucks: I found no statewide rule requiring the number. What the law does forbid is any "misleading or false claim related to a person's license status or classification in any medium, including but not limited to digital platforms."⁸ Name the credential you hold.

Louisiana occupational license and other local licenses

The state license lets you contract. Your parish or city taxes you for doing business through an occupational license, and the board is blunt about the difference: "An occupational license is NOT a contractor's license."⁷ State law lets any parish or municipality levy that tax, and it lets them license the competency of electrical, mechanical and plumbing contractors.^22,3 The big ones:

• New Orleans: "An Occupational License is required if you will be conducting any business in Orleans Parish." Contractors pay by gross receipts, $50 a year under $100,000, and the city caps the tax for licensed contractors at $750. Electricians also need a city electrical license, renewed every year.²⁰
• Jefferson Parish: an occupational license from the Sheriff's Office (zoning clearance first), a Parish Home Builder's license above $7,500, and parish-licensed electricians and mechanical contractors.¹⁹
• East Baton Rouge: an occupational license from the Finance Department "one month prior to opening," $50 if you open in the first half of the year or $25 in the second. Residential work above $7,500 goes only to registrants and residential licensees.²¹

Lafayette, Shreveport, Lake Charles, St. Tammany and the rest set their own rules, and they can be stricter than the state.¹⁰ I didn't check each one, so call the permit office and the tax office before your first job in a new parish.

Before the next job

1. Look yourself up on the LSLBC contractor search and write down your classification: home improvement, residential construction or building construction. That's your scope.
2. Price the whole job before you promise it, owner-bought materials included. Near $7,500 with no registration, or near $50,000 with only the registration, sort out the license first.
3. Read the scope for structure: footings, slabs, outside walls, bearing walls, the roof. Any of those from $7,500 means the residential license.
4. Check that your insurance certificate shows $500,000 and lists the LSLBC as holder.
5. Line up a licensed plumber, electrician and HVAC contractor now, and look each one up. Don't wait for the first bathroom.
6. If you'll work on pre-1978 houses, get the firm EPA-certified and take the renovator course before you disturb paint.
7. Get the occupational license where you're based, and ask about local licenses wherever you work.
8. Put your license number and your exact licensed name on every contract and quote.

Where Deepsel fits

Deepsel is the field service software I build, and it doesn't know Louisiana licensing. It won't warn you when a quote passes $7,500 or $50,000, it won't look up your subs, and it can't attach your insurance certificates to a quote, so send those with the contract. What it does help with: the shop-wide terms text you set once is copied onto every quote and shows on the customer's quote page, and the invoice footer is copied onto every invoice, so your license number, classification and licensed name go on every document without retyping. Quotes can carry options, the customer approves and signs on screen, and an optional card deposit is credited on the final invoice. Free covers 30 estimates and 30 invoices a month for your whole team, with scheduling and dispatch, quotes, invoicing, card payments, and customer and equipment records; Pro is $29 a month with unlimited estimates and invoices (pricing).

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a license to be a handyman in Louisiana?

Louisiana has no handyman license. On a house, jobs under $7,500 need nothing from the State Licensing Board for Contractors, counting labor and all materials, even those the owner buys. From $7,500 you need a home improvement registration. Plumbing on someone else's home and gas fitting need a license at any price, and New Orleans and Jefferson Parish license electricians. You'll also need a local occupational license.

How much work can you do without a contractor license in Louisiana?

On an existing home, under $7,500 per project, counted 'regardless of who pays the costs.' A job split into smaller contracts counts as one. New houses and commercial work need nothing from the board under $50,000, and electrical and mechanical contracts nothing under $10,000, though New Orleans and Jefferson Parish license electricians at any price. Plumbing needs a plumber's license at any price. There's no yearly cap and no part-time exemption.

Does Louisiana require general contractors to be licensed?

Yes, above the state's lines. On homes: a home improvement registration from $7,500 to $49,999 for non-structural work, and a residential license for $50,000 or more, for any structural work or roof from $7,500, and for new houses from $50,000. Commercial work, which under the statute includes buildings of three or more units, needs a commercial license from $50,000.

Can I build a house with a commercial license in Louisiana?

No. The board's FAQ: 'A Commercial license does not allow you to build a single residential home.' Add the Residential Construction classification; building construction license holders are exempt from its trade exam. And since August 1, 2026 a commercial license doesn't cover home improvement either, so a $7,500 to $49,999 house remodel needs the registration or the residential license.

Do you need a plumbing license in Louisiana to replace a faucet or water heater?

Yes, on someone else's home. Plumbing includes installing 'the pipes, fixtures, and other apparatus for supplying water,' and it takes a State Plumbing Board license. The only exclusions are your own home and an owner's maintenance staff, which can't do installation. From January 1, 2027 the LSLBC takes over, and 'any plumbing work of any kind' needs a plumber's license.

Is a Louisiana occupational license the same as a contractor license?

No. In the board's words, 'An occupational license is NOT a contractor's license.' The occupational license is a local business tax license from your parish or city; New Orleans, Jefferson Parish and East Baton Rouge all require one. The LSLBC license or registration is what lets you take jobs above the state's lines. Most contractors need both.

What insurance does a Louisiana home improvement registration or residential license need?

Since August 1, 2026, at least $500,000 of general liability (it was $100,000) plus workers' compensation. The certificate must come from your agent or insurer, cover at least six months and every licensed scope with no exclusions, and list the LSLBC as certificate holder. The board's brochure still says $100,000; the statute says $500,000.

Sources

1. La. R.S. 37:2150.1, definitions: (2) "Commercial" (no more than two dwelling units excluded), (4) "Contract" (project value "includes the entire cost of the labor, materials, rentals, and all direct and indirect project expenses ... regardless of who pays the costs or if they are donated"), (5) "Contractor" ($50,000 commercial and new residential, $7,500 improvements to an existing residence, $7,500 mold), (8) electrical, (16) mechanical and (21) plumbing contractors at $10,000, (12) "Home improvement," (13) "Home improvement contractor" ("at least seven thousand five hundred dollars but less than fifty thousand dollars"; the structural work exclusion), (19) mold remediation, (24) "Residential contractor," (27) "Residential structure" (not more than three floors). legis.la.gov (history through Acts 2025, No. 422), cross-checked with the LSLBC's "Contractors Licensing Law and Rules and Regulations" updated 8/1/2026, pp. 3-6, lslbc.gov. Read November 3, 2026.
2. Act 757 of 2026 (SB 326), effective August 1, 2026: enrolled text, Section 2 ("R.S. 37:2157(A)(19) is hereby repealed"), legis.la.gov; Résumé Digest ("removes exemption for building construction contractors from home improvement licensure"; liability insurance "from $100,000 to $500,000"), legis.la.gov; LSLBC memorandum "Changes to Contractor Licensing Laws," July 13, 2026 ($500,000; proof must "cover at least six months and all licensed scopes, with no exclusions for those scopes"; roofing up to four units), lslbc.gov. Read November 3, 2026.
3. La. R.S. 37:2156 (F) (work only within your classification, in the licensed name) and (N) (local occupational license taxes and local competency licenses for mechanical, electrical and plumbing contractors), and 37:2156.1 (B)(2) (net worth $50,000 residential and commercial, $25,000 home improvement), (E)(4) (building construction licensees exempt from the residential exam), (F) ($500,000 liability and workers' compensation for residential, mold and home improvement) and (I) (statewide-licensed mechanical, plumbing and electrical contractors excluded from local exams). LSLBC law book updated 8/1/2026, pp. 11-16, lslbc.gov; the legislature's page for 2156.1 still shows $100,000, legis.la.gov. Read November 3, 2026.
4. La. R.S. 37:2156.4, residential roofing ("any portion of a roofing system on a residential structure for which the project value is seven thousand five hundred dollars or more shall hold the classification of Residential Roofing or Residential Construction"), with subsection D (up to four dwelling units) added by Act 757. legis.la.gov and LSLBC law book p. 17. Read November 3, 2026.
5. La. R.S. 37:2157(A), exemptions: (11) dewatering or water mitigation, (12) employees of a licensee, (13) owners supervising work on their personal residence, (15) exempt from home improvement licensure (owner who "physically performs" the work; residential licensees; landscaping, interior painting or wall covering only), (17) subcontractors of a residential construction license holder, except electrical, mechanical, plumbing, mold, water wells, asbestos and hazardous materials, (18) since Act 757 of 2026, electrical, mechanical and plumbing licensees acting within their classification (moved up from (19); Act 757 struck the old (18), home improvement work for a building construction license holder). legis.la.gov and LSLBC law book updated 8/1/2026, pp. 18-19 (which still prints the pre-Act 757 numbering). Read November 3, 2026.
6. LSLBC rules, LAC 46:XXIX, in the law book updated 8/1/2026, pp. 28-43: §105(B) (insurance; a lapse may bring a cease-and-desist order and suspension or revocation), §129 (records for five years, produced within 72 hours), §301 (classifications: major classifications cover subclassifications "with the exception of Residential Construction"; electrical $10,000; Asbestos Removal and Abatement and Lead Based Paint Abatement and Removal from $1 with LDEQ credentials; mold remediation $7,500 with 24 hours of training; home improvement "limited to a value of $75,000," which conflicts with the statute), §303 (raising a residential structure), §305 (demolition), §307 (dewatering "does not require a license"), §309 (classification for the majority of the work), §503 (residential swimming pools), §505 (six hours of continuing education). lslbc.gov, read November 3, 2026.
7. LSLBC, "FAQ" ("A Commercial license does not allow you to build a single residential home"; "LSLBC does not recognize DBA's"; "An occupational license is NOT a contractor's license"), lslbc.gov; LSLBC brochure "Licensing Requirements for Contractors in Louisiana" (PDF dated March 2, 2026: "Residential construction or home improvement projects of $50,000 or more, or requiring any structural work, must be bid and performed by a licensed Residential Building Contractor"; still lists $100,000 insurance and up to four units as residential), lslbc.gov. Both read November 3, 2026.
8. La. R.S. 37:2158: (A)(1) work without a license "or without possessing a license with the proper classification," (2) misleading or false claims about license status "in any medium," (4) classification for the majority of the work, (7) contracting with an unlicensed contractor, (8)(a) permitting a license to be used by another, (14) assisting a person to circumvent the Chapter, (15) name, license number, classification and insurance certificates in writing on request, (23)(c) mold assessment and remediation on the same property; (B) divided contracts treated as one scope of work. legis.la.gov and LSLBC law book updated 8/1/2026, pp. 19-22. Read November 3, 2026.
9. La. R.S. 37:2159(A)(2), (6) (license number and insurance certificates in the contract) and (D) (no statement of claim, lien or privilege for a contractor who fails to obtain a required license). legis.la.gov, read November 3, 2026.
10. La. R.S. 37:2160(B) (no building permit without "an active license in the appropriate classification for the scope of work") and (D) (local requirements "not less stringent than those specified by the state"). legis.la.gov and LSLBC law book pp. 23-24. Read November 3, 2026.
11. La. R.S. 37:2163(C): misdemeanor, "fined a sum not to exceed five hundred dollars per day of violation, or three months in prison, or both"; unlicensed and causing harm "in excess of three hundred dollars," $500 to $5,000 or six months to five years, or both. legis.la.gov, read November 3, 2026.
12. La. R.S. 37:2164(A) (fine "of up to ten percent of the total contract or the value of the work bid or being performed," plus administrative costs and attorney fees), (C)-(E) (cease-and-desist orders and injunctions), as amended by Act 757; La. R.S. 37:2165(A)(1) (license number on public bid envelopes). legis.la.gov and LSLBC law book pp. 25-27. Read November 3, 2026.
13. La. R.S. 14:202.1, residential contractor fraud: misappropriation "may be inferred" from (1) no work for 45 days after payment, (6) failing "to possess the required license for home improvements or residential construction," (7) knowingly employing an unlicensed subcontractor; penalties by amount, up to 20 years at hard labor and $50,000 at $25,000 or more. legis.la.gov, read November 3, 2026.
14. Quaternary Resource Investigations, LLC v. Phillips, 2018 CA 1543 (La. App. 1 Cir. 11/19/20), 316 So.3d 448: permit "improperly issued by Livingston Parish based on QRI's commercial contractor's license number"; "Any contract made in violation of the Contractors Licensing Law is null and void"; recovery limited "to the actual costs of their materials, services, and labor ... with no allowance for profit or overhead," and denied under the substandard work exception; owners awarded $154,483.57. law.justia.com, read November 3, 2026.
15. In re Hicks (Rincon v. Hicks), U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Louisiana, Case No. 23-10289, Adv. No. 23-1014, Memorandum Opinion, September 9, 2024: project "originally $50,200, but it more than tripled"; contract "null and void" for lack of a license; $50,884.51 plus $19,300 in attorney fees, nondischargeable; footnote 26 gives Quaternary's writ history (writ denied, 2020-01450 (La. 3/2/21)). govinfo.gov, read November 3, 2026.
16. LSLBC, Residential Contractors Subcommittee meeting agenda, April 15, 2026 (hearings on unlicensed work and on contracts with unlicensed plumbing companies; minutes excerpt: "the maximum fine plus $1,000 in administrative costs"). lslbc.gov, read November 3, 2026.
17. State Plumbing Board law, La. R.S. 37:1361 (board licenses plumbing and gas fitting), legis.la.gov; 37:1366(J) (gas fitter license), justia.com; 37:1367 (license required for residential plumber limited, journeyman and master; "No employing entity shall hold itself out as engaging in the business or art of plumbing unless it employs a master plumber"), justia.com; 37:1377(D) (definition of plumbing; exclusions for "his own personal residence" and owner maintenance that does "not include construction or installation") and (K) (gas fitting; appliance connections on the outlet side of the shutoff valve excluded), justia.com. 2025 versions; repealed January 1, 2027 by Act 908. Read November 3, 2026.
18. Act 908 of 2026 (HB 953), enrolled: new R.S. 37:2156.1.1(A) ("Any natural person who engages in any plumbing work of any kind ... is required to possess the appropriate plumber's license"), amended definition of "plumbing contractor" without the $10,000 floor, Section 2 (repeal of R.S. 37:1361-1380), Section 7 (effective January 1, 2027). legis.la.gov, read November 3, 2026.
19. Jefferson Parish: Building Regulatory Division (licensed plumber for water heaters, licensed electrician for any electrical work, "Jefferson Parish Home Builder's license is required to perform any work which value exceeds $7,500.00," licensed mechanical contractor for any A/C condenser), jeffparish.gov; FAQ (plumbing, mechanical and electrical filings; zoning clearance before an occupational license with JPSO), jeffparish.gov. Read November 3, 2026.
20. City of New Orleans: Class "A" Master Electrical License ("electricians performing work within the City of New Orleans are required to obtain and renew annually an Electrical License from the City"), nola.gov; Occupational License ("required if you will be conducting any business in Orleans Parish"), nola.gov; Bureau of Revenue occupational license tax tables (contractors on Table 2, $50 under $100,000; Section 150-972, licensed contractors' tax "shall not exceed $750.00"), nola.gov. Read November 3, 2026.
21. City of Baton Rouge / Parish of East Baton Rouge: Occupational License Tax ("New businesses must obtain their occupational license one month prior to opening"; $50 or $25), brla.gov; Residential permits ("Residential work exceeding $7,500 must be performed by a registered home improvement contractor or licensed residential contractor"; owner-builder affidavit "forwarded to the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors"), brla.gov. Read November 3, 2026.
22. La. R.S. 47:341(A): "Any municipality or parish shall have the right to impose a license tax on any person conducting any business herein enumerated." legis.la.gov, read November 3, 2026.
23. EPA, "Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Program" (authorized states, Louisiana not among them; "all firms, even sole proprietorships"), epa.gov; 40 CFR 745.81 (firm certification; renovations "directed by renovators certified"), law.cornell.edu; 40 CFR 745.83 (minor repair and maintenance: 6 square feet per room inside, 20 outside, not window replacement; same room within 30 days is one job), law.cornell.edu. Read November 3, 2026.
24. 40 CFR 19.4, Table 1: 15 U.S.C. 2615(a)(1) (TSCA), $49,772 for penalties assessed on or after January 8, 2025. law.cornell.edu, read November 3, 2026.
25. 40 CFR 82.161(a)(1): anyone "reasonably expected to violate the integrity of the refrigerant circuit" must pass an approved technician certification exam. law.cornell.edu, read November 3, 2026.
26. LAC 17:I.107, Louisiana State Uniform Construction Code: "International Residential Code, 2021 Edition, not including Parts I-Administrative, and VIII-Electrical" (Part I holds the code's list of permit-exempt work, so that list is set locally). law.cornell.edu, read November 3, 2026.