All states › Virginia (DPOR Board for Contractors)
Virginia is a state where the most confidently repeated answer is the wrong one. Search "Virginia contractor license CE" and you will be told, over and over, that you owe eight hours, or three hours, on renewal. Both numbers are real numbers from the Virginia Board for Contractors. Neither one is a renewal requirement for a Class A, B, or C contractor license. The eight hours is pre-license education, owed once, before the license exists. The three hours is tradesman continuing education, owed by the individual electrician, plumber, or HVAC tradesman on a completely different clock, under a completely different chapter of the Administrative Code.
A Virginia firm that employs licensed tradesmen is therefore running two renewal calendars that share a board, share a website, and share almost nothing else — different terms, different requirements, different grace mechanics. Below is what each one actually says, quoted from the regulation rather than from a summary of it.
Under 18VAC50-22-110, licenses issued under the contractor chapter expire two years from the last day of the month in which they were issued, as indicated on the license. That phrasing matters: the term does not run from the day you applied, or from a fixed statewide date the way Georgia's or Hawaii's do — it runs from a month-end anchored to your own issue date, which is why no two Virginia firms share a renewal deadline and why "when do Virginia licenses renew" has no state-wide answer.
The class letter is not a skill level. DPOR's own description is that contractor licenses have two parts: the class (A, B, or C), which determines the monetary value of contracts and projects you may perform, and the classification or specialty, which determines what type of work is allowed. Renewal preserves both, and 18VAC50-22-130(B) is explicit about what preserving them requires: applicants for renewal of a Class C license must continue to meet all the qualifications in 18VAC50-22-40, Class B in 18VAC50-22-50, and Class A in 18VAC50-22-60. Continuing education is not among the conditions that section imposes.
From the Board's own Education page, and it is real — but it is a one-time entry requirement, not a renewal one: "In order to become licensed as a Contractor (Class A, Class B, or Class C), applicants must complete eight hours of pre-license education." For Class A and Class B applicants that education must be completed by a member of responsible management or the designated employee; for Class C applicants, by a member of responsible management. DPOR adds that it is a basic business course covering regulations, statutes, and requirements — not specific to any classification or specialty — and that it is separate from the Class A and Class B examinations. A Board-approved advanced contractor class also satisfies it.
Stated as a negative drawn from the text of 18VAC50-22-130 and from the Board's own published education page, rather than from a rule that says "no CE is required." If your license carries a specialty, a consent order, or a Board directive, confirm with the Board for Contractors at (804) 367-8511 before treating your renewal as CE-free. Contractors placed under a disciplinary or consent order are separately required to complete remedial education — a full-day, eight-hour, in-person class at DPOR in Richmond, attended by a member of the license's responsible management, with no credit given unless you attend the entire day.
18VAC50-30-120(A) sets a different term entirely. Licenses issued to electricians, gas fitters, liquefied petroleum gas fitters, natural gas fitter providers, HVAC tradesmen, and plumbers expire three years from the last day of the month of issue. Every other license or certification under that chapter — backflow prevention device workers, elevator mechanics, accessibility mechanics, automatic fire sprinkler inspectors, water well systems providers, residential building energy analysts — expires in two.
Subsection (C) is the CE rule, and it is worded per-designation: individuals holding tradesman licenses with the trade designations of plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation and cooling must complete three hours of continuing education for each designation; individuals holding a license as a liquefied petroleum gas fitter, natural gas fitter provider, or gas fitter must complete one hour. The coursework must relate to applicable building code changes, from a Board-approved provider.
Gas is the one place the rule simplifies rather than multiplies. The course for gas fitters, LPG fitters, and natural gas fitter providers must cover the International Fuel Gas Code, so there are no different courses for each designation — any approved class listed as GFC satisfies all of them, and holding more than one of those designations still means only one approved course.
| Credential | CE per renewal | Subject matter fixed by the regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Tradesman — plumbing / electrical / HVAC | 3 hours per designation | Applicable building code changes |
| Gas fitter / LPG fitter / natural gas fitter provider | 1 hour | International Fuel Gas Code (one course covers all three) |
| Certified elevator mechanic & certified accessibility mechanic | 8 hours | Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (13VAC5-63) provisions on elevators, escalators and related conveyances |
| Certified water well systems provider | 8 hours | Technical aspects of water well construction, statutory and regulatory provisions, related business practices |
| Certified automatic fire sprinkler inspector | 8 hours | Changes to and knowledge of the Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code (13VAC5-52). No renewal permitted once 30 days past expiration — after that, apply for a new certification under current entry requirements. |
| Residential building energy analyst | No CE hours stated; instead, documented continued good-standing membership of a Board-approved certifying organization and proof of insurance | — |
The fire sprinkler inspector line is not a typo and it is not the general rule. Everywhere else in this chapter a lapse opens a reinstatement window; for that one certification, 18VAC50-30-120(F) closes the door at 30 days and sends you back to entry requirements. If you hold it, it is the earliest deadline on your calendar by a wide margin.
Almost every state gives you some slack after the expiration date. Virginia's slack is administrative only, and the regulation says so in the plainest possible words. 18VAC50-22-130(A): the renewal form and fees must be received within 30 days of the license expiration date in order to renew — and then, verbatim, "Licenses are not valid during the 30-day grace period."
DPOR's own FAQ says the same thing from the other direction, in answer to a contractor asking for a late fee to be waived: "Once your license expires, you no longer have a license to engage in contracting. The 30-day period is not a license extension, but only an additional 30 days to complete your renewal and submit payment without having to pay the reinstatement fee." And 18VAC50-22-160(C) closes the loop: any regulated activity conducted after the license expiration date may constitute unlicensed activity and be subject to prosecution under Chapters 1 and 11 of Title 54.1.
So the practical rule for a Virginia firm is not "you have 30 days." It is: you have zero days of legal contracting, and 30 days of cheaper paperwork. Signing a contract, pulling a permit, or continuing work on day 3 of that window is exposure, even though the renewal itself is still routine and penalty-free.
18VAC50-22-160(A): miss the 30 days and you must reinstate — meet all renewal requirements and pay the reinstatement fee. 160(B): a license may be reinstated for up to 24 months following the expiration date. After 24 months it may not be reinstated at all, and the firm must meet all current entry requirements and apply as a new applicant.
Then 18VAC50-22-180(A) delivers the surprise: when a license is reinstated, the licensee keeps the same license number and is assigned an expiration date two years from the previous expiration date — not two years from the day you reinstated. Reinstate 20 months late and you have not bought a fresh cycle; you have bought roughly four months before the next renewal. Contractors routinely reinstate, exhale, and get caught again almost immediately because they assumed the clock restarted.
| Credential (18VAC50-30-120(G)) | Renewal fee |
|---|---|
| Tradesman license | $160 |
| Liquefied petroleum gas fitter license | $110 |
| Natural gas fitter provider license | $110 |
| Backflow prevention device worker certification | $110 |
| Elevator mechanic certification | $110 |
| Temporary elevator mechanic certification | $25 |
| Certified accessibility mechanic | $110 |
| Certified automatic fire sprinkler inspector | $110 |
| Water well systems provider certification | $110 |
| Residential building energy analyst license | $110 |
All of them are nonrefundable and are not prorated. On top of them, DPOR has posted a notice that effective July 1, 2026, certain fees include a separate Technology Fee of $7.25 per year, pursuant to 2026's House Bill 30, in place through June 30, 2030 and used solely to upgrade or replace DPOR's software system. Budget it; do not be surprised by it.
This page does not quote Class A/B/C firm renewal fees, because the fee schedule at 18VAC50-22-140 was not read directly for this review and fee tables change. Pull your current amount from the renewal notice or from the Board rather than from any third-party page, including this one.
Unpaid Board money. 18VAC50-30-120(K): failure to timely pay any monetary penalty, cost reimbursement, or other fee assessed by consent order or final order "shall result in delaying or withholding services provided by the department, including renewal, reinstatement, or processing of a new application." An old, forgotten penalty does not simply sit there — it silently blocks the next renewal.
Board discretion. 18VAC50-30-120(J) lets the Board deny renewal for the same reasons it could refuse initial licensure or discipline you, subject to your right to request review under the Administrative Process Act. Renewal is a qualification check, not a formality.
Two facts from the Board's own page that are easy to miss. Virginia has Board-approved examination waivers with North Carolina (RBC Residential Building Contracting and CBC Commercial Building Contractor examinations) and with Ohio (Ohio Business and Law and Virginia Advanced and General Law). Anyone applying under those agreements must meet all terms of the agreement and submit verification of licensure from the out-of-state board.
And for military households: under § 54.1-117 of the Code of Virginia, active-duty personnel and their spouses who served outside the U.S., along with certain diplomatic service members and veterans, may be eligible for up to a five-year extension for meeting license renewal requirements — the single most generous relief valve in the Virginia scheme, and one almost nobody claims.
| Contractor firm (Class A/B/C) | Tradesman (ELE / PLB / HVAC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Governing chapter | 18VAC50-22 | 18VAC50-30 |
| Term | 2 years from the last day of the month of issue | 3 years from the last day of the month of issue |
| CE on renewal | None imposed by 18VAC50-22-130 (8 hours is pre-license education) | 3 hours per trade designation; 1 hour for gas fitters |
| Grace period | 30 days to renew without a reinstatement fee — license not valid during it | 30 days on the same terms (fire sprinkler inspectors: renewal barred after 30 days) |
| Reinstatement window | 24 months after expiration; then re-apply as a new applicant | See 18VAC50-30-130 — confirm with the Board |
| New expiration after reinstating | 2 years from the previous expiration date, not from the reinstatement date | Confirm with the Board |
| What controls timeliness | Date received by the department — not the postmark | |
| Online renewal | Yes (contractor firms and RBEA firms) | No — individual licensees renew by mail |
Cells marked "confirm" mean the sources consulted for this page did not settle the rule — not that no rule exists. 18VAC50-30-130 governs tradesman reinstatement and was not read directly for this review.
Virginia is the state where the answer depends on which of your licenses you meant. A firm license on a two-year month-end clock with no CE, tradesman licenses on a three-year clock with hours that multiply per designation, a grace period that is not a licence, and a reinstatement that does not restart the term. LicenseLedger keeps every licence you hold — across every trade and every state — on one calendar, with the CE hours owed against each and reminders well before the lapse window opens.
See how LicenseLedger tracks it →