The $2,500 line for residential contracting
Georgia licenses residential contractors in two categories — Residential Basic and General Contractor — under O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 41. The trigger is project size: when a residential contract exceeds $2,500, the work must be performed by (or under) a state-licensed residential contractor. At or under that line, a contractor can take residential work without holding the residential license. Know which side of the line a job sits on before you quote it, because the line is drawn by the contract price, not by how the job feels.
Specialty trades: licensed at any price
The threshold does not soften the specialty trades. Electrical, plumbing, HVAC (conditioned air), and low-voltage contracting are separately licensed in Georgia and carry no small-job exception — the licensed-trade rules apply to a $150 repair the same as to a full install. If you subcontract part of a job into one of these trades, the person performing that part needs the right license behind them.
No license? Georgia has a written path — use it exactly
For residential work you take without a residential contractor license, O.C.G.A. § 43-41-17 requires a written disclosure to the homeowner, given before the contract is signed, stating that you are not a licensed residential contractor. Treat that disclosure as part of the job paperwork, signed and kept with the contract — not as a verbal aside. Skipping it, or working above the threshold without a license, can leave a contract you cannot enforce if a customer refuses to pay.
Permits follow the license, not the other way around
Pulling a permit does not make unlicensed work licensed, and a homeowner pulling a permit in their own name does not transfer the requirement off the work itself. Permit rules are enforced locally — county and city offices around Fort Stewart, Hinesville, and Savannah each run their own counters — so check the local requirement for the job type while you are scoping, not on install morning.
What CRS asks for before you are dispatchable
The platform mirrors the law's structure. A pro's record needs a verified license covering the trades and job sizes they will be dispatched to — or the § 43-41-17 written disclosure on file where the law allows the unlicensed path — alongside an insurance certificate, a background-check clearance, and a W-9. That paperwork is collected once, at onboarding, so it never becomes a per-job scramble. This article is general information about Georgia's licensing framework, not legal advice — for your specific situation, talk to a Georgia construction attorney or the Secretary of State's licensing board.
