Georgia Contractor Continuing Education

How to Renew a GA Contractor License

We've created this guide to renewing your Georgia contractor license based on the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia — specifically, Chapter 553-12 — to help you understand what you need to do to maintain that license.

License renewal overview

By June 30 of every even-numbered year (e.g., 2022, 2024, etc), you're required to submit your renewal and the applicable fee to the Board for Residential and General Contractors. If you miss that deadline, you can renew before the year's end, but you'll be subject to an additional penalty fee.

To renew your license, you need to do a few things:

• Keep the required insurance (usually, workers' comp and general liability) coverage current
• Meet the continuing education (CE) requirement
• Submit your renewal application
• Pay the required fee

While the renewal fee has historically been $100, it's set by the Board and can consequently change.

Basically, renewing your Georgia residential contractor license comes down to keeping all the things in place that you set up to get your license initially, like your insurance and your Qualifying Agent, plus two extra things: completing CE and sending in your renewal. Let's look at each of those individually.

CE requirements for residential contractors in Georgia

The good news is that you don't need a ton of CE hours. The bad news is that you need them yearly, even though you only need to renew your license every other year. The hours you need depend on your license type:

If you have a residential basic license:

• You need to take three hours of CE from a state-approved provider each year (i.e., July 1 through June 30).

If you have a residential light commercial license:

• You need six hours of CE each year (again, the state sees the year as July 1 through June 30).

While the Board let contractors take all of their CE virtually during the pandemic, you're now back to the original Rule 553-12-.03. That mandates that you can only take up to 50% of your CE virtually. In other words, you need three in-person hours if you have a light commercial license, and 1.5 in-person hours with a basic license. Still, though, taking as many CE hours as you can online can make your life a little easier.

Whether you're looking for live or digital CE, make sure you choose an education provider that's approved by the state. Once you finish your hours, hold onto the certificate of completion for at least two years after you submit your renewal, because the state can audit you and ask for that documentation.

Renewing with the online portal

Once you've got your CE completed, you can renew and pay your renewal fee through the state's online services portal. The Board has step-by-step instructions to walk you through your online renewal.