Virginia has 40,000 licensed contractor firms. Here is where the Class A, B and C licenses are

Virginia's Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) publishes downloadable lists of the firms its Board for Contractors licenses. This site loaded those lists to build its contractor directory. After matching each firm to a Virginia county or independent city, the directory holds 40,170 DPOR-licensed firms, plus 327 VDOT-prequalified contractors with Virginia addresses.

What the classes mean

Virginia licenses contracting firms in three classes, defined in Code of Virginia § 54.1-1100. The class sets how big a job a firm may take on:

• Class A: required when a single contract or project is $150,000 or more, or when total contracts in a 12-month period reach $1 million or more.
• Class B: for a single contract or project of $30,000 up to less than $150,000, or total contracts of $250,000 up to less than $1 million in 12 months.
• Class C: for a single contract over $1,000 but less than $30,000, or total contracts over $1,000 but less than $250,000 in 12 months.

Within each class, a firm holds one or more classifications. This site counts firms with a commercial building, residential building or highway/heavy classification as general contractors, and the rest (electrical, plumbing, HVAC and other specialties) as specialty contractors.

The counts

• Class A: 15,267 general contractors and 7,181 specialty contractors.
• Class B: 2,751 general contractors and 4,548 specialty contractors.
• Class C: 1,815 general contractors and 8,608 specialty contractors.

That split is notable. Among general contractors, Class A firms outnumber Class B and C combined by more than 3 to 1. Among specialty contractors, Class C is the largest group. Many small electrical, plumbing and HVAC shops work under the Class C limits.

Where the firms are

Fairfax County has the most licensed firms of any locality, with 4,288 on the directory. It is followed by Prince William County (2,406), Chesterfield County (2,202), the City of Virginia Beach (2,159), Loudoun County (1,512), Henrico County (1,313), Hanover County (1,220) and the City of Chesapeake (1,210).

Fairfax leads in every class. It has 1,696 Class A general contractors, followed by Virginia Beach (829), Chesterfield (813) and Prince William (700). For Class C general contractors, Virginia Beach (83) narrowly edges Fairfax (81).

VDOT's prequalified contractors are spread differently. The localities with the most VDOT-prequalified firms are Prince William County (20), the City of Chesapeake (19), Fairfax County (19) and Chesterfield County (15).

By VDOT district

Grouped by the VDOT construction district each locality falls in, the directory's 40,497 entries (DPOR firms plus VDOT-prequalified firms) break down like this:

• Northern Virginia District: 9,145
• Richmond District: 7,458
• Hampton Roads District: 6,991
• Salem District: 3,725
• Staunton District: 3,586
• Fredericksburg District: 3,240
• Culpeper District: 2,999
• Lynchburg District: 2,000
• Bristol District: 1,353

Northern Virginia, Richmond and Hampton Roads together hold more than half.

How to use the directory

Every firm on the lists starts with a basic listing showing its license class, license number and locality. Owners and general contractors can search the Sub Finder and GC Finder by locality and trade. Firms can claim their listing free to add trades, service areas and contacts.

Check before you hire

A listing here is a starting point, not a verification. License status can change after a list is published. Before hiring, check the firm's license class and status on DPOR's license lookup, and make sure the class covers the size of the job. Virginia's Class A threshold means a firm with a Class B license should not be taking on a single $150,000 contract.

About the data

DPOR's regulant lists were downloaded on Oct. 30, 2026. Firms without a Virginia address are not included in the county counts. Some firms hold more than one classification; each firm is counted once, and a firm that is on both a DPOR list and VDOT's prequalified list is counted once, as VDOT-prequalified. VDOT's list of prequalified vendors is published separately by VDOT and updated weekly.