“What jobs can I take without a contractor license?” In some states, small ones, as long as every condition of the state’s exemption holds. The dollar cap gets all the attention, but it is one condition of several, and the others can end an exemption on a job well under the cap. Do I Need a Contractor License? already sets the California, Florida and Arizona exemptions side by side and shows how to find any other state’s rule. This article takes the handyman’s side of the same statutes: it adds Nevada, and goes condition by condition through the details a summary table leaves out, such as Arizona’s plug-in appliance carve-out, Nevada’s trade list and $500 project line, and what each state’s advertising rule demands.
The four exemptions in one table
| State | Statute | The limit | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Bus. & Prof. Code §7048 | Under $1,000 | Work of a “casual, minor, or inconsequential nature” on one project, labor, materials and all other items counted |
| Florida | Fla. Stat. §489.103(9) | Under $2,500 | Work of a “casual, minor, or inconsequential nature,” labor, materials and all other items counted |
| Arizona | A.R.S. §32-1121(A)(14) | Under $1,000 | Work of a “casual or minor nature” on one project, labor, materials and all other items counted, less certain appliances (below) |
| Nevada | NRS 624.031(6) | Under $1,000 | Work “to repair or maintain property,” labor and materials counted |
Nevada’s wording is the narrowest of the four: its exemption speaks of work to “repair or maintain” property. A new deck or a new shed is new construction, so do not count on the exemption for one, whatever it costs.
The six things that end the exemption
1. The price, counted the state’s way
All four count labor and materials together, and California, Florida and Arizona add “all other items” to the count. Quote the whole job as the customer will pay for it, then compare that total with the limit.
Arizona has one exclusion worth knowing. Its count leaves out the price of an electrical fixture or appliance that the manufacturer designed, that nobody has altered, that plugs into a common household outlet (or runs on internal batteries of no more than 12 volts in a single, series or parallel configuration), and that uses no natural gas, propane or other fuel. So the price of a qualifying plug-in appliance stays out of the count; your labor and the other items still count.
2. A permit
In California, the exemption needs work that “does not require a building permit.” Arizona’s does not apply where the work requires a local building permit, and Nevada’s does not apply where a building permit is required. A $300 job that needs a permit is outside all three exemptions. Florida’s paragraph does not list a permit condition; check with the local building department anyway before you take work that needs one.
3. Work that belongs to a licensed trade
4. A helper, in California
California’s exemption does not apply to a person who “employs another person to perform, or assist in performing, the work or operation.” Bring a paid helper to hang a $400 door and the job needs a license. The other three states’ exemption paragraphs do not contain that condition, but hiring brings its own duties; Hiring your first employee lists them.
5. The way you advertise
This one ends exemptions for handymen who never go near the price cap, because it happens on the truck door and the website.
So “Licensed and insured” on an unlicensed handyman’s card is not a small exaggeration. In California, Florida and Arizona it ends the exemption, and in Nevada it is unlawful advertising in its own right.
6. Splitting the job, or one piece of a bigger one
Every one of the four closes the obvious trick. California, Florida and Arizona deny the exemption where the work is “a part of a larger or major operation, whether undertaken by the same or a different contractor,” or where the operation is divided into contracts under the limit to evade the law “or otherwise.” Read those last two words as a warning: do not count on a good reason for the split to save it.
Nevada sets its line lower. Its exemption does not apply when the work is part of a larger project worth $500 or more, or when contracts under $500 have been awarded to evade the law. Say a Nevada homeowner is redoing a backyard for $6,000 and asks a handyman to fix the gate for $350 as part of it: the gate repair is under $1,000, but it is part of a project over $500, so the exemption is gone.
Or say a Florida homeowner wants a $4,000 bathroom refresh and offers to sign two contracts of $2,000 each. Each contract is under $2,500; the operation is not, and dividing it is exactly what §489.103(9)(a) names.
Sorting a call in two minutes
Before you quote, run the job through these questions in order. One “yes” and the exemption is gone.
- Is the whole project, labor, materials and everything else, at or over the state’s limit?
- Does it need a building permit (in California, Arizona or Nevada)?
- Does it touch plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling or refrigeration (Nevada), gas or fuel connections or fire safety (Arizona), or electrical or alarm work (Florida)?
- In California: will anyone you pay help with it?
- Is it one piece of a bigger project, or one of several invoices for the same job?
- In Nevada: is it new construction rather than repair or maintenance?
- Does any ad, card or sign you use present you as a contractor, or leave out the “not licensed” statement your state requires?
The jobs that fail are not lost. Refer them to a licensed contractor you trust, or count how many you turned away last year; that number is the case for getting licensed yourself. If you work in Arizona, Contractor licensing in Arizona covers what the Registrar’s license takes. For the jobs that pass, Handyman pricing covers how to price them, and the handyman trade page walks through quoting a handyman’s list.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and vary by state; check with the agency named above or a professional for your situation.