Know the $2,500 rule first
Georgia licenses residential contractors — the license categories are Residential Basic and General Contractor — and state law requires that license for a residential project when the contract price exceeds $2,500 (O.C.G.A. § 43-41). Below that line, a residential contractor can legally work without the state license. That is why a handyman doing a $400 repair is in a different legal position than a company signing a $9,000 remodel — and why the size of your job decides how hard to check.
Some trades need a license at any price
The $2,500 threshold does not apply to the specialty trades. Electrical contracting, plumbing, HVAC (conditioned air), and low-voltage work in Georgia are licensed trades at any dollar amount. If the work touches your panel, your water lines, or your air conditioning system, the person doing it should hold — or work under — a state license for that trade, whether the ticket is $150 or $15,000.
Look it up on the Secretary of State's license search
Georgia contractor and trade licenses are issued through the Secretary of State's Professional Licensing Boards, and the state publishes a free online license lookup. Search by the person's last name or the exact business name before you sign anything. Check three things: the license type matches the work you are hiring for, the status reads active (not expired, lapsed, or revoked), and the name on the license is the name on your contract. A mismatch on any of the three is a reason to pause.
If they are not licensed, Georgia law owes you a disclosure
For residential work where a license is not held, O.C.G.A. § 43-41-17 requires the contractor to give the homeowner a written disclosure, before the contract is signed, stating that they are not a licensed residential contractor. This is a legal path, not a loophole — plenty of below-threshold repair work is done this way — but the disclosure has to be in writing. A contractor who will not put it on paper has told you something important.
Watch for the quiet red flags
Be careful when a contractor asks you to pull the permit in your own name for work they are doing, splits one job into several smaller invoices to stay under a threshold, wants the full price in cash before starting, or gives a business name that does not match anything you can find in the state lookup. None of these prove bad intent on their own, but together they are the pattern behind most repair horror stories.
How CRS handles this so you do not have to
Before a pro can be dispatched through Coastal Repair Squad, the pro's record has to clear a credential gate: a verified license for the trades and job sizes that require one, or the § 43-41-17 written disclosure path where the law allows it — plus an insurance certificate and a W-9 on file. The platform checks the paperwork up front so the checking described in this article is already done before anyone knocks on your door. This article is general information about Georgia's rules, not legal advice.
