Arizona Carpentry & Framing Contractor License Cost & Requirements (2026)
Arizona spreads carpentry across three Registrar of Contractors classifications, and choosing among them is the first decision this page has to make honestly. CR-7 Carpentry is the general classification, the dual license (residential R-7, commercial C-7) for carpentry work, with a qualifying party who needs four years of experience.
CR-60 Finish Carpentry isolates the finish end of the trade at two years. CR-61 Carpentry, Remodeling and Repairs, at four years, is aimed at the remodeling business. This page is built on the CR-7, with the other two laid out where they belong, in the open.
All three share the specialty fee schedule: $100 application, $120 of examinations, $380 for the two-year dual license, $370 to the Residential Recovery Fund at entry. Carpentry is the second trade on this site, after California's, where the visitor's word and the regulator's word do not match, and in both states the answer is a map, not a shrug.
Arizona Carpentry & Framing Contractor Fee Estimator
Regulatory fee breakdown for CR-7 Carpentry (Arizona ROC)
Arizona requires a $6,750 surety bond. Its annual premium is set by the surety provider; the board publishes no rate, so it is not included in the total.
Itemized Fee Schedule
Need your $6,750 Surety Bond?
Boards do not sell bonds. Before you buy one, read how a surety bond works, what the premium is based on, and how a bond differs from liability insurance.
Read: Bonds vs Liability InsuranceArizona Registrar of Contractors (AZ ROC)
All applications and exams must be registered directly with this board.
Fee figures on this page were checked against Arizona Registrar of Contractors — A.A.C. R4-9-130 fee schedule; classification requirements table (CR-7: 4 years) on October 30, 2026. View the official source
Regulatory & Licensing Requirements Summary
| Official License Classification | CR-7 Carpentry (Arizona ROC) |
| Minimum Experience | 4 Years (Journeyman / Field Supervisor) |
| Mandatory State Surety Bond | $6,750 Bond Required |
| General Liability Insurance | Not required. The ROC does not require liability insurance for licensure (workers' compensation insurance excepted). |
| Estimated Application Processing Time | Not published by the board |
| Renewal Cycle & CE Requirement | Every 2 year(s), with no continuing education requirement |
Warning: Unlicensed Contracting Penalties in Arizona
Class 1 misdemeanor (§32-1164): a first offense carries a fine of not less than $1,000 (not less than $2,000 for later offenses) and up to 6 months in jail, plus statutory surcharges that currently add about 79%.
Note: In many states, unlicensed contractors also lose the ability to file mechanic's liens or sue for non-payment in civil courts.
Special Statutory Notes for Arizona
Carpentry is not one Arizona license but three, and picking the wrong one is its characteristic mistake. This page covers CR-7 Carpentry, the Registrar of Contractors (ROC) dual license (residential R-7 and commercial C-7) for carpentry work generally, whose qualifying party needs 4 years of practical or management experience.
Alongside it sit CR-60 Finish Carpentry, for the finish end, whose qualifying party needs 2 years, and CR-61 Carpentry, Remodeling and Repairs (4 years), aimed at remodeling work. All three share the specialty fee schedule on this page, so the choice between them is about scope, not money. For CR-7, the commercial-only version costs $100 application / $480 license / $480 renewal with no Recovery Fund assessment.
The residential-only version costs $80 / $270 / $270 plus the Fund. The dual license also carries the Residential Recovery Fund assessment: $370 with the first license and $270 at every renewal, on top of the renewal fee. Both examinations apply: the Arizona Statutes and Rules exam ($54) and the PSI trade exam ($66). Every person named must also pass a background check, whose cost the ROC does not publish.
The bond is stated in two parts on a single form, sized by gross volume: $4,250 on the residential scale for under $375,000 of residential work and $2,500 on the commercial scale for under $150,000 of commercial work, $6,750 in all at the smallest tier. The amounts rise with volume. A cash deposit can be posted instead. Arizona requires no continuing education for ROC licenses, and licenses renew every 2 years.
Arizona licenses contractors statewide through the Registrar of Contractors (ROC). A license is required for any project of $1,000 or more in total cost (labor, materials and all other items), and for any work that needs a building permit, however small.
Three classifications, three different businesses
The CR-7 is the carpenter-contractor's license in the general sense: carpentry work across residential and commercial scopes, held by the firm whose product is carpentry itself, framing-adjacent work, rough and general carpentry contracted as a trade.
The CR-60 Finish Carpentry strips the trade to its finished surface (the trim, cabinetry-adjacent and detail work at the end of a build) and prices its experience gate at two years, the ROC's lower band, reflecting the same logic that puts painting at two years: the regulator charges experience where failure is expensive. The CR-61, Carpentry, Remodeling and Repairs, is the remodeler's license, framing the same skills as a repair and remodeling business rather than as new-work carpentry, and it sits at four years.
Above all three stands the general contractor's position: the KB-1 dual building contractor's scope encompasses the carpentry within its own projects, so a general builder does not need a CR-7 to frame what it builds. The CR classifications are for carpentry contracted as a trade in its own right, typically to homeowners directly or as the carpentry subcontractor on other builders' work, and the choice among them follows the work the firm actually sells.
The shared machinery: qualifying party, examinations, entity
Whichever classification is chosen, the machinery is the ROC's standard: the license issues to a legal entity, never to an individual as such; a qualifying party regularly employed by the entity supplies the experience (four years for CR-7 and CR-61, two for CR-60) and passes the Arizona Statutes and Rules exam ($54) and the classification's trade exam through PSI ($66); everyone named on the application is background-checked at a cost the ROC does not publish.
The license is required from $1,000 of combined labor and materials on a job, or whenever a permit is required, and the statute prohibits splitting contracts to stay beneath the threshold.
Experience documentation is where carpentry applications are won and lost, because carpenters' careers cross the classifications: the framer's years support CR-7, the trim carpenter's support CR-60, and mixed years must be certified for what they were by employers or licensees with firsthand knowledge. The board certifies experience in the classification sought, so the application should be written to the classification, not to the applicant's whole working life.
Fees, Fund and bond, once for all three
The dual form of each classification costs the same at the ROC: $970 in first charges ($100 application, $120 examinations, $380 license, $370 Residential Recovery Fund assessment), renewing at $380 plus the Fund's $270 every two years. Residential-only versions total $840 at entry; commercial-only versions $700 with no Fund assessment, the Fund being the residential customer protection financed by residential and dual licensees under A.R.S. 32-1132.
The bond is the specialty dual starting tier of $6,750 in total ($4,250 residential under $375,000 of volume plus $2,500 commercial under $150,000), stated separately on one bond, scaling with gross volume, with a cash deposit available instead and the premium left to the surety market. No continuing education is required at renewal for any Arizona classification.
The commercial conclusion is the one this page began with: an Arizona carpentry business should hold the classification that matches its order book, and may hold more than one. The ROC charges per classification, and a firm that frames new work and finishes it too will find CR-7 and CR-60 a natural pair; the examinations, not the fees, are the real cost of the second card.
Mistakes that delay a Arizona Carpenter application
- Applying for CR-60 to do general carpentry: finish carpentry is the trade's finish end only. General carpentry contracted as a trade is CR-7.
- Assuming the general contractor's license makes CR-7 pointless: the KB-1 covers carpentry within the GC's own projects. The CR-7 is for carpentry contracted as a trade, to owners and as a subcontractor.
- Certifying a whole career to one classification: the board credits experience in the classification sought. Mixed framing and finish years must be documented as what they were.
- Expecting an individual license: the ROC licenses entities. A solo carpenter licenses a sole proprietorship and stands as its qualifying party.
- Forgetting the Fund in the first-year budget: dual entry charges are $970 including the $370 assessment, and $270 rides on each renewal.
- Treating the $6,750 bond as the ceiling: it is the smallest dual tier and scales with the firm's gross volume.
Arizona Carpenter Licensing FAQ
What carpentry license does Arizona offer?
Three: CR-7 Carpentry, the general dual classification (four years of qualifying-party experience); CR-60 Finish Carpentry, for the finish end of the trade (two years); and CR-61 Carpentry, Remodeling and Repairs, aimed at remodeling businesses (four years). All share the specialty fees. A KB-1 general building contractor may also perform the carpentry within its own projects without a CR classification.
What does the CR-7 carpentry license cost in total?
In ROC charges, $970 for the dual license: $100 application, $120 of examinations ($54 Statutes and Rules + $66 PSI trade exam), the $380 two-year license fee and the $370 Residential Recovery Fund assessment. Renewal is $380 plus $270 to the Fund every two years. CR-60 and CR-61 cost the same in their dual forms. The volume-scaled bond premium and background checks are additional.
How much experience does each carpentry classification require?
The qualifying party needs four years of practical or management experience for CR-7 Carpentry and for CR-61 Carpentry, Remodeling and Repairs, and two years for CR-60 Finish Carpentry. Experience must be in the classification sought and is certified by employers or licensees with firsthand knowledge of the work.
Can a general contractor do carpentry without a CR-7?
Within its own projects, yes: the KB-1 Dual Building Contractor's scope includes the carpentry those projects involve. The CR classifications govern carpentry contracted as a trade in its own right, directly to owners or as a carpentry subcontractor, which is the work CR-7, CR-60 and CR-61 license.
How much is the bond for an Arizona carpentry license?
Volume-scaled on the specialty scales: $6,750 in total at the smallest dual tier ($4,250 for under $375,000 of residential volume plus $2,500 for under $150,000 of commercial volume), stated separately on one bond and rising with gross volume. A cash deposit may replace the bond; the premium is the surety's market price.
Does Arizona require continuing education for carpenters?
No. The ROC requires no continuing education for any classification, carpentry included. Renewal every two years is the $380 license fee plus the $270 Recovery Fund assessment on residential and dual licenses, with the bond maintained.
How much does a Carpentry & Framing Contractor license cost in Arizona?
The filing and licensing fees on the Arizona Carpentry & Framing Contractor schedule total approximately $970. This consists of a $100 application fee, a $120 examination fee, and a $380 initial license fee. The remaining $370 covers the residential Recovery Fund assessment (initial) ($370). A $6,750 surety bond is also required; its annual premium is set by the surety provider and no official rate is published.
How long does it take to get a Carpentry & Framing Contractor license in Arizona?
Arizona Registrar of Contractors (AZ ROC) does not publish a fixed end-to-end processing time for this license.
What are the penalties for working as an unlicensed Carpenter in Arizona?
Class 1 misdemeanor (§32-1164): a first offense carries a fine of not less than $1,000 (not less than $2,000 for later offenses) and up to 6 months in jail, plus statutory surcharges that currently add about 79%.
How often do you need to renew a Carpenter license in Arizona?
Licenses must be renewed every 2 year(s) with a renewal fee of $380. No continuing education is required for renewal.