Contractor licensing · ND

Contractor licensing in North Dakota

The agencies that license the work, set the workers compensation trigger and register the business, with a link to each one.

Checked 2026-07-28

An Arkansas contractor taking work in North Dakota deals with the same four questions everywhere: who licenses the trade, when a licence is actually required, when workers compensation kicks in, and where the business registers. Below is North Dakota's answer to each, with the agency's own link.

Licensing

North Dakota Secretary of State

Contractor license required when a job exceeds $4,000, issued by the Secretary of State through the FirstStop portal. Classes by contract size: D up to $100,000, C up to $300,000, B up to $500,000, A over $500,000. Liability insurance and WSI verification required.

https://www.sos.nd.gov/business/licensing-registration/contractors

Workers compensation

North Dakota Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI)

Monopolistic state fund: WSI is the sole workers' compensation provider and administrator; every ND employer, including prospective employers, must carry WSI coverage for employees.

https://www.workforcesafety.com/

Business registration

North Dakota Secretary of State

https://firststop.sos.nd.gov/

Tax registration

North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner

Contractors pay sales and use tax on materials as final users; repair labor is not taxable.

https://tap.tax.nd.gov/

New hire reporting

Most states require newly hired employees to be reported within a short window of their start date.

https://www.hhs.nd.gov/childsupport/employers/new-hire-reporting

Still to confirm. firststop.sos.nd.gov loads as a JavaScript app; its role as the entity-filing and contractor-licensing portal confirmed via the fetched sos.nd.gov contractors page.
These are pointers to each state's own agencies, checked on the date shown, not legal advice and not a substitute for asking the board directly. Rules change and thresholds move. The agency link is always the authority.

North Carolina · All fifty states · Ohio

Starting or running the business itself is covered in the contractor business guide. Arkansas licence records for Benton and Washington counties are in the contractor directory.

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