Ohio contractor license requirements
What you need before your first paid job in Ohio, one page for each trade. The license, the least insurance you must carry, whether the state asks for a bond, when you charge sales tax, and the deadlines that protect your right to be paid.
Plumbing in Ohio
- License you need
- Plumbing Contractor (state license, also called a master license) Renew Annual, or every three years if you choose the three-year option
- Insurance you must carry
- $500,000 liability, at least
- Workers' comp
- Required as soon as you hire anyone
- The Ohio state plumbing license is for commercial work only. Houses and other residential buildings are left out of the state law, so residential plumbing is licensed by cities and counties, and each one has its own rules.
- Your $500,000 liability insurance and your license both have to be in the name of a contracting company, not in your own name. The state will not issue the license to you alone.
HVAC in Ohio
- License you need
- HVAC Contractor (state license, also called a master license) Renew Annual, or every three years if you choose the three-year option
- Insurance you must carry
- $500,000 liability, at least
- Workers' comp
- Required as soon as you hire anyone
- Ohio has no state license for residential HVAC work. The state law leaves out residential buildings, so the state HVAC license is for commercial jobs and each city or county sets its own rules for houses.
- HVAC and refrigeration are two different state licenses in Ohio. If you also do commercial refrigeration you sit a second exam and pay for a second license.
Not finished yet for Ohio: Electrical. A page only appears once a person has checked every figure on it.
Across states
Sales tax on labor for plumbers and HVAC contractors by state. Which states tax the work itself, which tax only the parts, and how a repair differs from a new install.