What the law says where you build
Contractor license requirements, license bond amounts, retainage caps and deadlines, lien waiver forms and rules, and mechanics lien deadlines, state by state. Every figure comes from the statute or the licensing agency, is quoted where we can quote it, and carries the date it was verified. A state without a verified record says so instead of guessing.
Contractor license bonds
- Alabama, row in the table
- Alaska, state page
- Arizona, state page
- Arkansas, state page
- California, state page
- Colorado, row in the table
- Connecticut, row in the table
- Delaware, state page
- District of Columbia, state page
- Florida, state page
- Georgia, state page
- Hawaii, row in the table
- Idaho, row in the table
- Illinois, state page
- Indiana, row in the table
- Iowa, state page
- Kansas, row in the table
- Kentucky, row in the table
- Louisiana, row in the table
- Maine, row in the table
- Maryland, state page
- Massachusetts, row in the table
- Michigan, row in the table
- Minnesota, state page
- Mississippi, row in the table
- Missouri, row in the table
- Montana, row in the table
- Nebraska, row in the table
- Nevada, state page
- New Hampshire, row in the table
- New Jersey, state page
- New Mexico, state page
- New York, row in the table
- North Carolina, state page
- North Dakota, row in the table
- Ohio, row in the table
- Oklahoma, state page
- Oregon, state page
- Pennsylvania, row in the table
- Rhode Island, row in the table
- South Carolina, state page
- South Dakota, state page
- Tennessee, state page
- Texas, row in the table
- Utah, state page
- Vermont, row in the table
- Virginia, state page
- Washington, state page
- West Virginia, state page
- Wisconsin, state page
- Wyoming, row in the table
Filled chips open a state page. The others open that state's row in the contractor license bonds table.
Retainage laws
- Alabama, state page
- Alaska, state page
- Arizona, state page
- Arkansas, state page
- California, state page
- Colorado, state page
- Connecticut, state page
- Delaware, state page
- District of Columbia, row in the table
- Florida, state page
- Georgia, row in the table
- Hawaii, state page
- Idaho, state page
- Illinois, state page
- Indiana, state page
- Iowa, state page
- Kansas, state page
- Kentucky, state page
- Louisiana, state page
- Maine, state page
- Maryland, state page
- Massachusetts, row in the table
- Michigan, state page
- Minnesota, state page
- Mississippi, state page
- Missouri, state page
- Montana, state page
- Nebraska, state page
- Nevada, state page
- New Hampshire, row in the table
- New Jersey, state page
- New Mexico, state page
- New York, state page
- North Carolina, state page
- North Dakota, state page
- Ohio, state page
- Oklahoma, state page
- Oregon, state page
- Pennsylvania, state page
- Rhode Island, state page
- South Carolina, state page
- South Dakota, state page
- Tennessee, state page
- Texas, state page
- Utah, row in the table
- Vermont, state page
- Virginia, state page
- Washington, state page
- West Virginia, row in the table
- Wisconsin, state page
- Wyoming, state page
Filled chips open a state page. The others open that state's row in the retainage laws table.
Lien waivers
- Alabama, row in the table
- Alaska, row in the table
- Arizona, state page
- Arkansas, row in the table
- California, state page
- Colorado, row in the table
- Connecticut, row in the table
- Delaware, row in the table
- District of Columbia, row in the table
- Florida, state page
- Georgia, state page
- Hawaii, row in the table
- Idaho, row in the table
- Illinois, row in the table
- Indiana, row in the table
- Iowa, row in the table
- Kansas, row in the table
- Kentucky, row in the table
- Louisiana, row in the table
- Maine, row in the table
- Maryland, row in the table
- Massachusetts, state page
- Michigan, state page
- Minnesota, row in the table
- Mississippi, state page
- Missouri, state page
- Montana, row in the table
- Nebraska, row in the table
- Nevada, state page
- New Hampshire, row in the table
- New Jersey, row in the table
- New Mexico, row in the table
- New York, row in the table
- North Carolina, row in the table
- North Dakota, row in the table
- Ohio, row in the table
- Oklahoma, row in the table
- Oregon, row in the table
- Pennsylvania, row in the table
- Rhode Island, row in the table
- South Carolina, row in the table
- South Dakota, row in the table
- Tennessee, row in the table
- Texas, state page
- Utah, state page
- Vermont, row in the table
- Virginia, row in the table
- Washington, row in the table
- West Virginia, row in the table
- Wisconsin, row in the table
- Wyoming, state page
Filled chips open a state page. The others open that state's row in the lien waivers table.
Lien deadlines
- Alabama, state page
- Alaska, state page
- Arizona, state page
- Arkansas, state page
- California, state page
- Colorado, state page
- Connecticut, state page
- Delaware, state page
- District of Columbia, state page
- Florida, state page
- Georgia, state page
- Hawaii, state page
- Idaho, state page
- Illinois, state page
- Indiana, state page
- Iowa, state page
- Kansas, state page
- Kentucky, row in the table
- Louisiana, state page
- Maine, state page
- Maryland, state page
- Massachusetts, state page
- Michigan, state page
- Minnesota, state page
- Mississippi, state page
- Missouri, state page
- Montana, state page
- Nebraska, state page
- Nevada, state page
- New Hampshire, state page
- New Jersey, row in the table
- New Mexico, state page
- New York, state page
- North Carolina, state page
- North Dakota, state page
- Ohio, state page
- Oklahoma, state page
- Oregon, state page
- Pennsylvania, row in the table
- Rhode Island, state page
- South Carolina, state page
- South Dakota, state page
- Tennessee, state page
- Texas, state page
- Utah, state page
- Vermont, state page
- Virginia, state page
- Washington, state page
- West Virginia, state page
- Wisconsin, state page
- Wyoming, state page
Filled chips open a state page. The others open that state's row in the lien deadlines table.
Contractor license
- Alabama, state page
- Alaska, state page
- Arizona, state page
- Arkansas, state page
- California, state page
- Colorado, state page
- Connecticut, state page
- Delaware, state page
- District of Columbia, state page
- Florida, state page
- Georgia, state page
- Hawaii, state page
- Idaho, state page
- Illinois, state page
- Indiana, state page
- Iowa, state page
- Kansas, row in the table
- Kentucky, row in the table
- Louisiana, state page
- Maine, state page
- Maryland, state page
- Massachusetts, state page
- Michigan, state page
- Minnesota, state page
- Mississippi, state page
- Missouri, row in the table
- Montana, state page
- Nebraska, state page
- Nevada, state page
- New Hampshire, state page
- New Jersey, state page
- New Mexico, state page
- New York, row in the table
- North Carolina, state page
- North Dakota, state page
- Ohio, state page
- Oklahoma, state page
- Oregon, state page
- Pennsylvania, state page
- Rhode Island, row in the table
- South Carolina, state page
- South Dakota, row in the table
- Tennessee, state page
- Texas, state page
- Utah, row in the table
- Vermont, state page
- Virginia, state page
- Washington, state page
- West Virginia, state page
- Wisconsin, state page
- Wyoming, state page
Filled chips open a state page. The others open that state's row in the contractor license table.
The tables behind every page
Contractor license bonds by state
50 of 51 records verified and published, as of 2026-09-29; the rest are listed as not yet verified.
Open the table →Retainage laws by state
47 of 51 records verified and published, as of 2026-10-17; the rest are listed as not yet verified.
Open the table →Lien waivers by state
35 of 51 records verified and published, as of 2026-09-29; the rest are listed as not yet verified.
Open the table →Lien deadlines by state
48 of 51 records verified and published, as of 2026-10-03; the rest are listed as not yet verified.
Open the table →Contractor license requirements by state
44 of 51 records verified and published, as of 2026-10-09; the rest are listed as not yet verified.
Open the table →How these records are made
Each state's record starts from the statute or the licensing agency's own page. A second, independent pass re-reads every cited page and checks that the quoted text and the number are really there; where an official site refuses automated reads, the check is made against an archived copy of the official text, and the page says so. Only records that pass are published. The others stay in the table as "Not yet verified", with no figure. A state page adds plain-English prose written from that record alone and fact-checked against it. The full method is on the methodology page.