How to Become a Contractor in West Virginia

Six Steps From Employee to Licensed Contractor

Most people who become licensed contractors in West Virginia aren't starting from scratch. They've been working construction for years — framing houses, running electrical, managing crews — and they've hit the point where they want to stop building someone else's business and start their own.

The licensing process involves six sequential steps across multiple state agencies. Getting the order wrong doesn't just waste time — some steps are prerequisites for others, and skipping ahead means your application gets returned.

Here's the actual sequence that works.

Step 1: Register Your Business Entity

Before anything else, register your business with the West Virginia Secretary of State. If you're forming an LLC, corporation, or partnership, this is a mandatory filing. The state filing fee for a new domestic LLC is $25 through the One Stop Business Portal at onestop.wv.gov.

In the same session, register with the West Virginia State Tax Department to get your Business Registration Certificate and Tax Number. This carries a one-time fee of $30 and is a hard prerequisite for your contractor license — the Board won't process your application without it.

Even if you're operating as a sole proprietorship (which doesn't require Secretary of State registration), you still need the State Tax Department registration.

Step 2: Set Up Payroll and Labor Compliance

Register with WorkForce West Virginia for an unemployment compensation account. This is required even if you don't plan to hire employees immediately — the account number goes on your contractor license application.

If you're going to employ anyone — including active corporate officers or LLC members on the payroll — you must also purchase workers' compensation insurance from a licensed private carrier. Your workers' comp policy number is another required field on the license application.

Step 3: Handle the Wage Bond

Under West Virginia Code § 21-5-14, contractors who haven't been actively engaged in construction work in West Virginia with employees for at least one consecutive year must furnish a wage bond to the Division of Labor. The bond amount equals four weeks of maximum-capacity gross payroll multiplied by 1.15.

Before you spend money on a bond, check whether you qualify for an exemption. You can bypass the bond by submitting a notarized Wage Bond Status Affidavit if any of these apply:

• You work exclusively on single-family residential dwellings
• You've been in business with employees in another state for at least five consecutive years
• You hold at least $100,000 in tangible, unencumbered business assets
• You don't employ any workers in West Virginia (sole proprietor using independent subcontractors)

Most first-time sole proprietors qualify for the zero-employee exemption. You still need to submit the affidavit — the exemption isn't automatic.

Step 4: Pass Your Exams

Every contractor applicant must designate a qualifying party — an owner, officer, member, partner, or full-time employee — to take the required exams. Since September 2024, all contractor exams are administered through Prov Inc.

You'll need to pass two exams:

The West Virginia Business and Law Exam covers the state's Contractor Licensing Act, business regulations, and administrative requirements. Every contractor classification requires it.

A Trade-Specific Exam covers the technical knowledge for your classification — general building, residential, HVAC, plumbing, concrete, excavation, or another specialty. Class B (general building) applicants can substitute the national NASCLA Accredited Examination for the state trade exam.

Both exams cost $59.95 each, are open-book, and require a 70% passing score. You can take them at physical Prov testing centers or through the Examroom online proctoring platform.

Bring only the authorized reference manuals listed in Prov's current Candidate Information Bulletin. Unauthorized materials will get you turned away at the testing center.

Step 5: Submit Your License Application

With exams passed and all documentation in hand, compile your application packet and mail it to the West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board in Charleston. The packet includes:

• Completed, signed, and notarized application form
• $90 application fee (check, money order, or credit card)
• Physical exam score reports from Prov
• Proof of Business Registration Tax Number
• Certificate of Liability Insurance (COI) for general liability
• Workers' compensation and unemployment compensation account numbers
• Completed wage bond or approved Wage Bond Status Affidavit
• Secretary of State business registration (if applicable)

The business name across all documents must match exactly — your SOS registration, insurance COI, wage bond, and license application all need to reflect the same legal entity name. A single-character mismatch between documents is enough to get your application returned.

Step 6: Get Your Municipal Licenses

A state contractor license authorizes you to work in West Virginia, but it doesn't exempt you from local requirements. Before bidding or performing work in any city, you need a municipal business license and local tax registration.

Charleston charges $20 annually for a local business registration and levies a 2% B&O tax on gross receipts from contracting work within city limits. Huntington requires its own business license ($20 annually, July-June fiscal year), a $5.00 weekly City Service Fee per employee working inside city limits, and proof of general liability coverage listing the city as certificate holder. Morgantown charges $90 for a local contractor license.

Each municipality enforces its own registration and tax obligations independently. If you're working across multiple cities, you'll need separate registrations in each one.

How Long Does the Whole Process Take?

If you already have the required experience (five years for Class B, three years for Class B-2 residential), the bottleneck is usually exam scheduling and application processing. Most applicants can complete all six steps within four to eight weeks if they stage their documents correctly and don't have to redo rejected paperwork.

The biggest time sink is application rejections caused by documentation mismatches — name inconsistencies between agencies, missing wage bond affidavits, or expired insurance certificates. Getting every document right the first time is the single best way to speed up the process.

The West Virginia General Contractor License Guide provides a document preparation checklist and staging sequence designed to prevent the most common rejection triggers.

See more West Virginia guides →