Construction contractor registration

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Construction contractor registration

Most contractors who provide residential or commercial building construction or improvement services are required to register with us through this Contractor Registration Program if they do not hold a contractor’s license.

Contractors who are already licensed or bonded by us should not register.

Do I have to register?

An individual or business that performs commercial or residential building construction or improvement services must register with us unless they:

have a current license, certificate or registration issued by the agency;
are an employee of a business performing construction services;
have a current residential building contractor or remodeler certificate of exemption; or
are excluded from registration requirements under Minnesota Statutes 326B.701.

Contractors who hire unregistered subcontractors, misclassify workers or fail to register are in violation of the law and can be charged with monetary penalties.

Nine-factor test: What are the nine conditions to be an independent contractor?
Contractor registration enforcement actions

If a license is required, do not register

If contractors are performing any construction work for which a license, certification or separate registration is required (i.e. boiler, electrical, elevator, high-pressure piping, plumbing or residential building contractor), they must apply for a license and may not submit a contractor registration. Contact us at 651-284-5034 or dli.license@state.mn.us for more information about licensing.

A contractor registration is not a license

Being registered does not authorize you to contract with homeowners to perform construction or remodeling work of any kind. It is a violation of state law for a registered contractor to hold him or herself out as a licensed contractor or to imply that a registration number is a license number.

Why is registration important?

The Contractor Registration Program was created by the legislature to assist us while investigating worker misclassification (treating employees as independent contractors) in the construction industry.
By law, an unregistered subcontractor is presumed to be an employee of any contractor that hires them.
Hiring an unregistered individual is a violation of law, though the monetary penalty is forgiven for the first violation.
Even if your subcontractors are registered, your relationship with them must meet the nine-factor test or they will be deemed to be employees of your company even if they operate as a business entity (corporation or LLC) and maintain their own liability and workers’ compensation insurance.

Online verification of registered contractors

Verify contractor registrations here. View information about searching for registrations.