Virginia contractor licensing: Class A, B and C thresholds and specialty designations

Virginia licenses contracting firms through the Board for Contractors, part of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). The license class depends on the value of the work, and the license carries one or more classifications or specialties that define the kind of work the firm may do. This guide summarizes the statute and regulations; check DPOR's current application before you file.

The three classes

Va. Code § 54.1-1100 sets the classes by contract size and annual volume:

• Class A: a single contract or project of $150,000 or more, or total work of $1 million or more in any 12-month period.
• Class B: a single contract of $30,000 or more but less than $150,000, or $250,000 or more but less than $1 million in a 12-month period.
• Class C: a single contract over $1,000 but less than $30,000, or less than $250,000 in a 12-month period.

The same section requires a master tradesman license as a condition of licensure for electrical, plumbing and HVAC contractors.

Classifications and specialties

The Board's regulations define broad classifications in 18VAC50-22-20: commercial building (CBC), residential building (RBC), highway/heavy (H/H), electrical (ELE), plumbing (PLB), HVAC (HVA) and fire sprinkler (SPR). Narrower specialty services are defined in 18VAC50-22-30, including concrete (CEM), masonry (BRK), asphalt paving and sealcoating (PAV), underground utility and excavating (UUC), steel erection (STL), roofing (ROC), painting and wallcovering (PTC), landscape service (LSC), blast/explosive (BEC), marine facility (MCC) and more than 40 others.

DPOR publishes its licensee lists by class. On the October 2026 lists we used to seed this site, the most common designations among Virginia-addressed firms were residential building, commercial building, home improvement, electrical and commercial improvement.

Highway work

A DPOR license is separate from VDOT prequalification. VDOT requires contractors to be prequalified before they bid or work on VDOT-administered contracts, and first-tier subcontractors generally need prequalification too. See our VDOT bidding guide.

Check a license

DPOR's License Lookup shows a firm's class, specialties and expiration date. Every firm listed on this site links back to its DPOR or VDOT record source.

Summary for general information, reviewed 2026-10-30. Not legal advice; check the source before relying on a deadline or threshold.