North Carolina Landscape Contractor License Cost & Requirements (2026)
This page exists because of a correction. North Carolina is widely described, including in an earlier audit of this site, as a state with no landscape contractor license. That is wrong. Under Chapter 89D of the General Statutes, the North Carolina Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board licenses landscape contracting, and the license becomes mandatory at a threshold low enough to catch ordinary firms: $30,000 of landscape contracting on a single site within any consecutive twelve months.
The license is real, it has an examination and a bond, and this page was rebuilt in October 2026 from the board's own requirements to replace a page that denied it existed.
What North Carolina does not require is experience. There is no years-in-the-trade prerequisite at all. The board tests competence directly, with a three-part examination it administers itself, and it secures the license with a $10,000 surety compliance bond that must be filed, in its original form, with the application itself.
North Carolina Landscape Contractor Fee Estimator
Regulatory fee breakdown for Licensed Landscape Contractor (N.C.G.S. Chapter 89D)
North Carolina requires a $10,000 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 $10,000 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 InsuranceNorth Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors (NCLBGC)
All applications and exams must be registered directly with this board.
Fee figures on this page were checked against North Carolina Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board — fee schedule (application $75, examination $150, license $60) on October 30, 2026. View the official source
Regulatory & Licensing Requirements Summary
| Official License Classification | Licensed Landscape Contractor (N.C.G.S. Chapter 89D) |
| Minimum Experience | 0 Years (Journeyman / Field Supervisor) |
| Mandatory State Surety Bond | $10,000 Bond Required |
| General Liability Insurance | Not required. North Carolina sets no insurance or bonding requirement for a GC license. Financial responsibility is shown through working capital ($17,000 Limited / $75,000 Intermediate / $150,000 Unlimited) or a surety bond in lieu ($175,000 / $500,000 / $1,000,000). |
| Estimated Application Processing Time | Not published by the board |
| Renewal Cycle & CE Requirement | Every 1 year(s) with 7 hours of Continuing Education |
Warning: Unlicensed Contracting Penalties in North Carolina
Class 2 misdemeanor (§87-13). The Licensing Board can also ask a court to enjoin unlicensed practice (§87-13.1). A license is required for any project of $40,000 or more (§87-1).
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 North Carolina
Licensed by the North Carolina Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board under N. C. G. S. Chapter 89D. The license is required to perform landscape contracting of $30,000 or more on a single site within any consecutive 12 months (§§89D-11, 89D-12(c)) — smaller landscape work is unlicensed in North Carolina, but the threshold is lower than most contractors expect.
There is no experience or education prerequisite: the competence gate is the board's own three-part examination (general landscape knowledge, plant identification, and site design), which must be passed in full within one year of the application being approved.
The application, signed and notarised, carries a $75 fee (individual), five reference letters (three personal, two professional), evidence of business identification, and the ORIGINAL of a $10,000 North Carolina Landscape Contractor's Surety Compliance Bond (or an irrevocable letter of credit) — the bond goes in with the application, not after the exam. The examination fee is $150 and the license fee on passing is $60.
A business entity needs a corporate license of its own as well ($100 application) with its own $10,000 bond. The license year runs August 1 to July 31. Renewal by August 1 costs $60 and requires 7 hours of board-approved continuing education each year (not required for the first renewal).
A late renewal adds $25, and a revoked license can be reinstated for a $100 fee plus the renewal and late fees and 7 further hours of continuing education. The board has no reciprocity agreements with any other state, and North Carolina sets no liability insurance requirement for this license.
North Carolina classifies contractor licenses by financial project limits: Limited ($750k), Intermediate ($1.5M), and Unlimited.
The $30,000-per-site threshold
Section 89D-11 makes it unlawful to practice landscape contracting at or above the threshold without the license, and §89D-12(c) frames the measure: the value of landscape contracting performed on any single site within any consecutive twelve-month period. The per-site, per-year framing matters. A firm doing $12,000 of work at each of five sites is outside the license; the same firm doing $31,000 across a year at one HOA property is inside it, even if no single invoice approached the figure.
Below the threshold, landscape work in North Carolina is unlicensed at state level, though the state's separate regimes still apply to the work itself: pesticide application is licensed through the Department of Agriculture, and irrigation contracting has its own licensing board with its own $10,000 bond, so a full-service landscape firm may hold several North Carolina credentials at once.
The applicant's side of the threshold is character and identification rather than experience: at least 18 years old, of good moral character, with evidence of the business identification under which they practice, and five letters of reference, three personal and two professional, submitted with the signed and notarised application.
The bond goes in with the application, and the board sets its own exam
The sequence differs from most licenses on this site. The $10,000 North Carolina Landscape Contractor's Surety Compliance Bond, or an irrevocable letter of credit from a financial institution in its place, is attached to the application in its original form (a copy will not do) before the board approves anything. The application fee is $75 for an individual ($100 for a corporate license).
Once approved, the applicant sits a three-part examination administered by the board itself, not by a national testing company: general landscape knowledge, plant identification, and site design. The examination fee is $150, all three parts must be passed, and they must be passed within one year of the application's approval. Only then is the license issued, on payment of a $60 license fee, which brings the first license to $285 in board charges plus the bond premium.
A business entity needs a corporate license as well as a licensed individual: the corporation, LLC or partnership applies in its own right ($100 application fee) and files its own $10,000 bond, so a typical incorporated firm carries two licenses and two bonds with this board. There are no reciprocity agreements with any other state; the board states this plainly, and experienced landscapers arriving from elsewhere take the same examination as everyone else.
The August 1 license year, seven hours of CE, and reinstatement's sting
The license year runs August 1 to July 31, out of step with every other North Carolina board on this site, and renewal by August 1 costs $60. Renewal requires 7 hours of board-approved continuing education completed during the license year, except at the first renewal. There is no liability insurance requirement attached to the license.
An unrenewed license is revoked rather than merely late: a $25 late fee applies, and reinstatement costs a $100 fee plus the $60 renewal and the $25 late fee, and, the sting, a further 7 hours of continuing education on top of the 7 needed to renew, so a careless August can cost fourteen hours of coursework to repair.
Read against the state's other licenses, the landscape license is a study in a different regulatory style: no experience gate, a board-run examination with a plant identification component no generic testing company would set, a bond filed up front, and a modest set of fees. It is also, as this site's own history shows, the North Carolina license most likely to be missing from a directory, which is precisely why its threshold catches firms out.
Mistakes that delay a North Carolina Landscaper application
- Believing North Carolina has no landscape license: it does, at $30,000 of landscape contracting per site in any twelve months, and directories that deny it are wrong.
- Sending a photocopy of the bond: the board requires the ORIGINAL $10,000 surety compliance bond (or irrevocable letter of credit) with the application.
- Running a corporation on the individual's license alone: the entity needs its own corporate license and its own $10,000 bond.
- Missing August 1: the unrenewed license is revoked, and reinstatement adds a $100 fee and a second set of 7 continuing-education hours.
- Assuming reciprocity from a neighboring state: the board has no reciprocity agreements at all.
- Treating the license as covering the whole service menu: pesticide application and irrigation contracting are licensed separately in North Carolina.
North Carolina Landscaper Licensing FAQ
What does a North Carolina landscape contractor license cost in total?
In board charges, $285 for an individual: a $75 application fee, the $150 examination fee and a $60 license fee on passing. On top of that sits the premium for the $10,000 surety compliance bond, which is filed in original form with the application. A business entity also needs a corporate license ($100 application, its own $10,000 bond, $60 license fee). Renewal is $60 a year.
When is a landscape license required in North Carolina?
When landscape contracting on a single site reaches $30,000 within any consecutive twelve-month period, under N.C.G.S. Chapter 89D (§§89D-11, 89D-12(c)). The measure is per site and per year, so several smaller contracts at one property add up toward it. Below the threshold the work is unlicensed at state level, although pesticide application and irrigation contracting carry their own separate North Carolina licenses.
Is there an experience requirement for the NC landscape license?
No. North Carolina sets no experience or education prerequisite for this license. Applicants must be at least 18, of good moral character, file business identification and five reference letters (three personal, two professional), and attach the original $10,000 surety compliance bond or an irrevocable letter of credit. Competence is tested directly by the board's three-part examination.
What is on the North Carolina landscape contractor exam?
Three parts, administered by the board itself rather than a testing company: general landscape knowledge, plant identification, and site design. All three parts must be passed, within one year of the application being approved, and the license is issued only when all three are passed. The examination fee is $150.
How does renewal work, and what does reinstatement cost?
The license year runs August 1 to July 31 and renewal by August 1 costs $60 with 7 hours of board-approved continuing education (waived at the first renewal). An unrenewed license is revoked; reinstatement costs a $100 fee plus the $60 renewal and a $25 late fee, and requires a further 7 hours of continuing education in addition to the renewal hours.
Does North Carolina offer reciprocity for landscapers?
No. The Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board states that it has no reciprocity agreements with any other state, reflecting the local character of its examination, including plant identification for North Carolina conditions. Out-of-state landscapers take the same route as new applicants: application, references, bond and the three-part examination.
How much does a Landscape Contractor license cost in North Carolina?
The filing and licensing fees on the North Carolina Landscape Contractor schedule total approximately $285. This consists of a $75 application fee, a $150 examination fee, and a $60 initial license fee. A $10,000 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 Landscape Contractor license in North Carolina?
North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors (NCLBGC) does not publish a fixed end-to-end processing time for this license.
What are the penalties for working as an unlicensed Landscaper in North Carolina?
Class 2 misdemeanor (§87-13). The Licensing Board can also ask a court to enjoin unlicensed practice (§87-13.1). A license is required for any project of $40,000 or more (§87-1).
How often do you need to renew a Landscaper license in North Carolina?
Licenses must be renewed every 1 year(s) with a renewal fee of $60. You must also complete 7 hours of approved Continuing Education (CE).