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For Business Owners

How to Become a Licensed Contractor in PA (Berks Edition)

Pennsylvania has no statewide general contractor license. This owner's guide walks through the Attorney General registration, Reading's three trade licenses, and what Berks boroughs and townships ask for with a permit.

Berks Connect Blog|Published September 3, 2026
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You typed "how to become a licensed contractor in PA" and you are expecting a test and a wallet card at the end. This page is for the Berks County owner who did that. We wrote it so you know which pieces of paper exist and what each one costs.

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry puts it in one sentence: "The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania currently has no licensure or certification requirements for most construction contractors." What exists instead is smaller and more specific. Here is what is inside:

  • The four things Pennsylvania has in place of a contractor license.
  • The Attorney General's registration, step by step, with the fee and timeline.
  • Reading's three trade licenses, with fees, exam codes and prerequisites.
  • What Berks boroughs and townships ask for with a permit.
  • The statewide licenses that do exist.
  • What your customer will check before they sign.

One more thing before the paperwork. When your number comes through, claim or add your free business page on BerksConnect so a homeowner comparing estimates finds you and the number in the same place.

What exists in Pennsylvania instead of a contractor license.

  1. Home improvement contractor registration with the Office of Attorney General, for anyone doing $5,000 or more of home improvement work a year. The AG's page says registration "is not an endorsement, recommendation or approval by the Office of Attorney General of the contractor's competency or skill."
  2. City of Reading trade licenses for electrical, plumbing and mechanical work. Each is tested and renewed every year.
  3. Municipal requirements. Insurance certificates, a local trade license, or your PA number on the permit form. Labor and Industry keeps no list: "This information can only be obtained by contacting the municipality where construction work will occur."
  4. Statewide licenses and certifications for specific trades: crane operators, asbestos and lead work, and manufactured-housing installers.

The state's business guide for contractors, revised April 10, 2026, adds three facts:

  • There is "no license specifically for commercial contracting."
  • There is no general business license that every Pennsylvania business must hold.
  • You do not collect sales tax on construction services. You pay it on the materials you install, per the Department of Revenue's retailer guide dated February 2026.

Who has to register with the Attorney General.

The Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (Act 132 of 2008, in force since July 1, 2009) covers anyone who "owns or operates a home improvement business or who offers, performs, or agrees to perform home improvements in Pennsylvania." The AG's FAQ says that includes:

  • Sole proprietors, corporations, partnerships and every other business entity.
  • Subcontractors, even when they never sign a contract with the homeowner.
  • Electrical contractors, master plumbers, landscapers and similar trades, when the job is a home improvement at a private residence.
  • Out-of-state contractors doing work here.

Two exemptions exist: a person whose home improvements totaled less than $5,000 in the previous taxable year, and a retailer with a net worth above $50 million. The law does not grandfather existing businesses.

Some work sits outside the act altogether:

  • Construction of a new home.
  • Work on commercial property. A "private residence" is a single-family home, a two-unit building, or a single unit inside a larger multifamily building.
  • Work an owner does on their own residence without pay.

How to register with the Attorney General, step by step.

The online system, PA-HICRS, has been operating since April 24, 2026, after an August 2025 cyber incident took the old one down. Contractors who started or lapsed after August 8, 2025 and never filed on paper had a grace period that ended June 8, 2026.

  1. Register your business name first. Any name other than your own first and last name must be on file with the Department of State before you use it.
  2. Get a certificate of insurance. Commercial general liability with at least $50,000 personal injury and $50,000 property damage, with the insured named as the business (or as you, if registering as an individual).
  3. Gather the disclosures. Prior home improvement businesses, partners and officers, other contractor licenses, a business description, and the background answers below.
  4. Apply. Create an account at hic.attorneygeneral.gov and pay $100, or mail the paper form with a $100 check or money order to the Bureau of Consumer Protection, 349 Walnut Street, 15th Floor, Strawberry Square, Harrisburg, PA 17120.
  5. Watch your email. You get one of three results: approved, pended or denied.
    • Pended means something is incomplete, and you have 30 days to fix it before the application is terminated.
    • Denied comes with a number to call: 1-888-520-6680.
  6. Put the number everywhere it belongs. Ads, contracts, estimates and proposals, and on your truck if the truck carries advertising.

The background questions are specific. The form asks whether you have ever:

  • Been convicted of fraud, theft, a crime of deception, fraudulent business practices, or a home improvement offense.
  • Filed a petition in bankruptcy, or had a home-improvement civil judgment entered against you within the past ten years.
  • Had a home improvement registration or license revoked or suspended.

The new system is built to run "automated Pennsylvania criminal docket checks," per the Attorney General's May 6, 2026 announcement.

HICPA registration What the state posts (checked September 2, 2026)
Fee, new or renewal $100 every two years. The AG cites the Fiscal Code, 72 P.S. § 1603-U; the statute text at § 517.5 still reads $50.
Online payment $2 processing fee on credit cards. ACH is free.
Updates Free, and required within 30 days of any change.
Certificate timing 2 to 3 weeks by mail, per the portal; paper applicants are asked to allow about 4 weeks.
Number format "PA" plus your digits, for example PA123456. Leading zeros are optional.
If you skip it The AG's FAQ names "civil penalties of $1,000 or more," and the instructions warn the contract may be voidable and unenforceable.

The number is also a contract term. Under section 517.7 of the act, a home improvement contract (any job over $500 by the act's definition) is not enforceable against the owner unless it is in writing and carries your registration number.

Reading's trade licenses: electrical, plumbing and mechanical.

The city's Building and Trades Division sits at 815 Washington Street, Room 3-10, (610) 655-6284. Its permits page lists exactly three trade license applications, all revised 7.7.23.

Every application carries a notarized affidavit and needs three attachments:

  • A copy of your current driver license.
  • The documents that prove your qualifications for the class you want.
  • Your passing results from the International Code Council exam.
Trade (rev. 7.7.23 form) Classes and annual fee ICC exam Prerequisite
Electrical Master $90; journeyman $50; apprentice (AIE) $50; reciprocal master $190; reciprocal journeyman $150 Master G16Y; journeyman G17Y Master: two years holding a Reading or reciprocated journeyman license. Journeyman: four-year approved apprenticeship with 144 classroom hours a year, or eight years under a registered master electrician.
Plumbing Master $90; journeyman $50; appliance contractor $40; appliance installer $40; sprinkler contractor $90; sprinkler installer $50; reciprocal master $190; reciprocal journeyman $150 Master G24-N; journeyman G25-N Master: two years employed as a journeyman by a registered master plumber. Journeyman: four-year apprenticeship with 216 classroom hours a year, or eight years under a registered master plumber.
Mechanical (heating) Master heating contractor $90; journeyman installer $50; reciprocal master $190; reciprocal journeyman $150 Master F29-N; journeyman listed as F31-N in the form header (confirm with the division before booking) Master: two years employed as a journeyman by a registered mechanical contractor. Journeyman: four-year apprenticeship with 216 classroom hours a year, or eight years under a registered mechanical contractor.

Reciprocal fees fold a one-time reciprocation charge into the first annual fee. The city posts reciprocity lists dated 6/9/2023 for electrical and 7/7/2023 for plumbing and mechanical.

Electrical applications go to the city's Electricians' Examining Board, which reviews them quarterly; the city posts the deadlines.

The city's permit application asks contractors for two numbers: your trades license number and your BPL. The business privilege license costs $55 and needs zoning approval before it issues. A permit goes void if no work starts within 180 days.

What Berks boroughs and townships ask for with a permit.

Every municipality sets its own requirements, and the act tells them what they may ask. Under section 517.12, a municipality may:

  • Require building permits and local code enforcement, for a reasonable fee.
  • Require proof of workers' compensation under the Workers' Compensation Act.
  • Keep a trade license that was on its books on July 1, 2009 and is conditioned on testing or training certificates.

It may not license or register home improvement contractors on its own. That is why the table below is full of insurance certificates and short on licenses. Call before you apply.

Municipality (checked September 2, 2026) What it asks a contractor for
Reading (city) Trades license number and business privilege license ($55) on the permit application.
Kutztown Borough (general contractors) No borough license. A workers' comp certificate naming the Borough (or a notarized no-employee affidavit), the EIN on letterhead, and the PA HIC number if applicable.
Kutztown Borough (electricians and plumbers) A calendar-year borough license: master $25, journeyman or apprentice $10, installer $20, with a $10 late fee after February 15. A COI showing $300,000 per occurrence general liability plus workers' comp.
Amity Township A $100 township contractor's license, valid one year, with proof of liability insurance, for new homes and commercial work only. Not required for residential home improvements.
Muhlenberg Township A township trade license for plumbers and heating contractors: master plumber $100, journeyman plumber $50, heating contractor $100, heating installer $50, renewals less, with proof of insurance.
Exeter Township A certificate of insurance and an owner affidavit or signed contract with the building permit. Plumbers are licensed with the township.
Bern Township Your PA Contractor Registration number on the application, workers' comp proof for each contractor, and an $80 application fee. Public water or sewer hookups need a Bern plumbers license.
Sinking Spring Borough A certificate of liability insurance, a workers' comp certificate and your PA Contractor Number, per the posted checklist.
Spring Township A certificate of insurance with every building permit application.
West Reading Borough A certificate of insurance before any contractor permit issues, and a workers' comp affidavit for sole proprietors without coverage. Business privilege license $50 a year.
Wyomissing Borough A workers' comp certificate with commercial applications, and paper applications only at Borough Hall.
Cumru Township A workers' comp certificate, self-insurance certificate or exemption affidavit under Act 44 with each building permit.
Lower Heidelberg Township Proof of workers' comp naming the municipality as certificate holder, or a notarized exemption.

Most counters in the table want two documents:

  • A certificate of insurance.
  • Proof of workers' comp, or a notarized exemption.

Three also ask for your PA number:

  • Kutztown.
  • Bern.
  • Sinking Spring.

Keep all three documents in the truck.

Keep all three in the truck.

The statewide licenses that do exist.

Labor and Industry lists three.

  • Crane operators. Licensed by the State Board of Crane Operators at the Department of State for cranes rated 15 tons or more, after national certification. The application fee is $100 and biennial renewal is $130.
  • Asbestos and lead. Certified by Labor and Industry's Certification, Accreditation and Licensing Division, at both the firm and the individual level.
  • Manufactured-housing installers. Certified under the Pennsylvania Manufactured Housing Improvement Act (Act 158 of 2004).

HICPA contains no reciprocity provision, and the FAQ's answer on whether the law applies to out-of-state contractors opens with "Yes." An out-of-state entity also lists a Pennsylvania resident agent and its home-state license numbers on the application.

What your customer will check.

We wrote the other side of this page for homeowners: what your customer will check before hiring a contractor in Berks County.

  • The AG search tool. It shows active registrations only, searchable by PA number, business name, county and type of work, under a line that registration "is not an endorsement, recommendation, or approval."
  • The number on your estimate. The act requires it on estimates and proposals, so a missing number shows before you get the job.
  • Your certificate of insurance. Most of the Berks permit counters above want it anyway.
  • The HelpLine. 1-888-520-6680 confirms registration status by phone.
  • The city. For the three trades Reading licenses, a call to the Building and Trades Division at (610) 655-6284.

Here is why the number pays for itself. In the review themes attached to the Berks trade listings we carry, pulled September 2, 2026 and grouped by concept, professionalism and expertise leads or ties for the lead in all five trades.

Trade (directory pull, September 2, 2026) Most-carried praised theme Runner-up
General contractors Quality of work and professionalism, tied Communication and timeliness, tied
Plumbers Professionalism and expertise Communication and responsiveness
Electricians Professionalism and expertise Communication and pricing, tied
HVAC companies Professionalism and expertise Communication and responsiveness
Roofers Quality of work and professionalism, tied Communication and responsiveness

A printed registration number is inexpensive proof of professionalism: $100 every two years. When the certificate arrives, add or claim your free BerksConnect business page and put the PA number on it. Then put it on the estimate, where the act requires it anyway.

Frequently asked questions.

Is there a general contractor license in Pennsylvania?

Not a statewide one. Labor and Industry states that Pennsylvania "has no licensure or certification requirements for most construction contractors," and the state's business guide adds there is "no license specifically for commercial contracting." Residential work of $5,000 or more a year requires Attorney General registration; some municipalities license specific trades.

How much does HIC registration cost, and how long does it take?

$100 every two years, plus a $2 card fee online (ACH is free). The portal says certificates arrive by mail within 2 to 3 weeks for online applications and about 4 weeks for paper. Your PA number arrives by email when the application is approved.

Do I need a license to work in Reading?

For the three trades the city licenses, yes: a city trade license, master or journeyman, and the permit application asks for its number. Every contractor pulling a city permit is also asked for a business privilege license ($55). Residential improvement work in the city still requires the state registration.

Can an out-of-state contractor work in Berks County?

Yes, and the act applies in full, so you register with the Attorney General like anyone else. An out-of-state entity also lists a Pennsylvania resident agent and reports its home-state license numbers. Reading reciprocates trade licenses from the jurisdictions on its 2023 lists.

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