South Carolina Residential Contractors License with Waiver
Believe it or not, South Carolina is the only state that allows a Residential General Contractor to perform electrical, HVAC and plumbing work on a project but only if the contractor passes the South Carolina Residential trade exam and receives a license without a waiver.
The alternate is a South Carolina Residential license with waiver. This is applicable if you’re a General Contractor coming in from another state, the qualification you’re coming in with offers reciprocity in the state of South Carolina and you don’t wish to take the South Carolina Residential exam. In this case, you would receive a residential license with waiver which means you have passed a qualifying exam in another state.
South Carolina honors the Residential trade exam from the following States:
So, what’s the difference between with waiver and without waiver?
If you take the South Carolina Residential exam, your general contractor license without a waiver allows you to perform all the trades for projects that you are working on, like electrical and plumbing. The license classification of Residential General Contractor without a waiver means you can pull electrical, plumbing and HVAC work permits for your own projects. It doesn’t mean you are suddenly a licensed electrician or plumber. You still can’t perform work outside of your license classification. For example, you can’t suddenly sell HVAC units on the weekend. Any project you contract for must still fall under the classification of your General Contractor’s license.
If you receive a South Carolina Residential license with waiver, that means you did not take the South Carolina trade exam and you are therefore not allowed to perform additional trades on a project you’re working on. You can still act as a General Contractor for the project. However, when you need to pull permits for all trades, you will have to hire the respective licensed electrician, plumber, HVAC company or any other individual to perform that portion of the job.
Regardless of which route you take to secure your South Carolina Residential General Contractor’s license; you will need to pass the South Carolina Residential Business Law and Project Management exam. The two-hour open book exam lists 50 questions, and you must be pre-approved by the board to take the exam.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at My Contractors License where our industry experts can clarify and address all your concerns.