How to Check a Contractor's License in South Carolina

In South Carolina, contractors are licensed or registered by the state, not by the city. Two boards at the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) handle this work. Ask every contractor for a license or registration number and look it up yourself before you sign. Do the same with us.

Which board covers your project

• The Residential Builders Commission covers work on residential buildings no more than three floors high and with no more than 16 units in any single apartment building.
• It licenses residential builders once a job passes a set cost threshold in state law.
• It also covers residential specialty contractors. Plumbers, electricians and HVAC installers are licensed. Masons, carpenters, painters, roofers, siding, drywall, stucco, floor covering and solar panel installers are registered.
• The Contractor's Licensing Board licenses general and mechanical contractors, whose work includes commercial projects, once a job passes a set cost in state law.
• General and mechanical licenses are issued in five groups. Each group sets the largest job the contractor may take, and the top group has no limit.

How to look up a contractor

1. Ask for the license or registration number and the exact name it is issued under.
2. Open the Licensee Lookup linked from the Residential Builders Commission page or the Contractor's Licensing Board page on llr.sc.gov.
3. Check that the name, status and license type match the person or firm you are hiring.
4. Match the credential to the work. A roofer's registration is not a residential builder's license.
5. For work under the Contractor's Licensing Board, check that the license group covers the size of your job.
6. If something does not match, ask the board before you sign or pay.

Permits come from your city or county

A license is not a permit. State law requires every city and county in South Carolina to enforce the building, energy, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas and fire codes, and to have a building official. Permits come from the building department where the property sits.

Work homeowners may do themselves

State law lets owners do some minor work on their own homes without a license. Examples include painting, carpeting, fences, retaining walls no more than four feet high and certain one-story detached accessory buildings up to 200 square feet. Owners may also build or improve a home for their own use if they meet the conditions in the law. If the owner sells or rents the home within two years, the law presumes it was built for sale or rent.

Older homes and lead paint

If your home was built before 1978, anyone you pay to disturb painted surfaces must be certified under the EPA lead renovation rule and must follow lead-safe work practices. In general, the rule does not apply to homeowners working on their own homes, but it does apply if they rent out all or part of the home.