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California

Starting a construction business in California

A California construction business is three registrations that have to agree with each other: the entity, the CSLB license the entity holds, and the tax accounts underneath both. These guides cover choosing between sole ownership and an LLC, what the franchise tax costs you either way, and the order the registrations have to happen in.

What comes after the ticket

The card in your wallet is the licence to charge for the work. Open a working business in your trade and see the quotes, invoices and documents that follow.

Open a working business

No card, no form. Sign in later and everything you built stays on the same account.

21 guides on this

Before you qualifyC-11 Elevator and conveyance licenseSpecial inspections as a condition of permit, deferred submittals that sit on your critical path, the 45 plus 10 day retention chain, and a lien window that drops from 90 days to 30 once a Notice of Completion is recorded.Before you qualifyC-17 GlazingWhat a C-17 covers, plus the two code chapters settled at the order desk: Chapter 7A envelope rules inside a fire hazard severity zone and the Title 24 fenestration line, with four years of experience, two exams and a $25,000 bond.Before you qualifyC-27 LandscapingThe C-27 route: four years, two exams, a $25,000 bond, the dig ticket before every trench, stormwater coverage at one acre of disturbance, and the 30 day lien window once a Notice of Completion is recorded on a job you just finished.Before you qualifyC-28 Lock and securityThe C-28 route for a trade that crosses the $500 licensing threshold in BPC s.7048 several times a week, with the C-7 boundary, CASp reports as a lead source, 7 day sub payment under BPC s.7108.5 and the 150 percent withholding cap.Before you qualifyC-31 Construction zone traffic controlAlmost all C-31 money is public, so DIR registration and a compliant certified payroll are the entry ticket. Covers the wage determination in force on the advertisement date, working days charged against the controlling activity, the 20 percent overhead cap and the half of one percent listing rule.Before you qualifyC-35 Lathing and plasteringInside a fire hazard severity zone Chapter 7A specifies the wall you apply, with defensible space at 100 feet and an ember resistant zone in the first 5 feet. Covers the $1,000 down payment cap that starts a $46,000 re-stucco at 2.2 percent, fall protection above 7.5 feet and the $25,000 license bond.Before you qualifyC-42 Sanitation systemCalifornia sends school work to DSA and hospitals to HCAI, and on-site wastewater to the county environmental health program, which writes its own soil evaluation, sizing and setbacks. Covers a $28,500 replacement where the biggest material buy lands before the first billable milestone, and the four milestones that get most of it paid inside three weeks.Before you qualifyC-53 Swimming poolOn an $86,000 pool the deposit is capped at $1,000, so the excavation, steel and gunite run on your money. Covers cave-in protection at 5 feet, egress at 4 feet, fall protection above 7.5 feet, and the county health file every public pool clears before it opens.Before you qualifyC-54 Ceramic and mosaic tileYou are the consumer on materials under CDTFA Regulation 1521, so the tax on a $3,780 tile allowance is your cost, and a client picking $19 porcelain over $9 adds $4,200 plus tax. Covers the 150 percent cap on withholding, 7 days from the prime contractor progress payment to yours, and the 30 day lien window once a Notice of Completion is recorded.How to run the businessStart a construction businessTen steps in the order that stops one blocking the next, from classification to the first insurance certificate. The $450 application and $200 issue fee, the $25,000 bond, the CDTFA seller's permit, the city certificate, and twelve months of real dates.How to run the businessSole owner or LLCThe $800 minimum franchise tax, the LLC gross receipts fee from $900 to $11,790, CSLB fees of $200 against $350 to issue and $450 against $700 to renew, and the extra $100,000 worker bond, costed across two years of a $620,000 business.Before you qualifyC-23 Ornamental metalThe C-23 scope, plus CDTFA Regulation 1521 and the deemed manufacturing profit on metal you fabricate yourself, special inspection on field welds and anchorage, and the $1,000 deposit cap on a $46,500 stair and rail package.Before you qualifyC-29 MasonryRead the statement of special inspections before you price the block, because every continuous item puts an inspector on site while you grout. Covers the four dwelling seismic line, the $25,000 bond, two exams and 5 percent retention released 60 days after completion.Before you qualifyC-39 RoofingSigning with the owner makes the clocks yours: a Notice of Completion recorded inside 15 days of your final cuts the lien window from 90 days to 60. Covers stage billing on a $38,000 reroof that starts on a $1,000 deposit, fall protection above 7.5 feet, and the Chapter 7A vents, eaves and valleys where the bid is won.Before you qualifyC-50 Reinforcing steelAn $8,000 inspection item caps the withholding at $12,000 under BPC s.7108.5, and the other $34,000 of a $46,000 progress payment is due within 7 days of the prime being paid. Covers the purchased weight that never comes back as a change order, retention at 45 days, and a 90 day lien window cut to 30 by a recorded Notice of Completion.Before you qualifyC-57 Well drillingDepth is the whole cost and nobody can price it from the surface, so the contract carries a stated base depth, a per foot rate above it and a change order signed at the sample tray. Covers the county well permit, the groundwater agency that can move a start date by months, and six months to sue on a public works payment bond.Before you qualifyC-8 Concrete contractor licenseBank, loose and compacted are three counts of the same dirt, and California has no standard method of measurement. Covers the Caltrans and Greenbook pay item families, the one acre SWPPP line, and the five foot trench permit.Before you qualifyC-12 Earthwork and paving licenseCaltrans charges working days against the controlling activity, and a quantity moving more than 25 percent opens a price adjustment. Covers trench permits at 5 feet, SWPPP coverage at one acre, the $450 application and the $25,000 bond.Before you qualifyC-32 Parking and highway improvementFour specification families measure the same stripe differently, and Caltrans final pay quantities are never remeasured. Covers escalating to the construction midpoint, the 20 percent path of travel cap on accessibility upgrades, and the 20 day preliminary notice on private lots.Before you qualifyC-33 Painting and decoratingAnything built before 1978 is a lead job under Cal/OSHA limits far stricter than the federal ones, and Chapter 7A governs the exterior in a fire hazard severity zone. Covers the $1,000 down payment cap on a $28,000 repaint, fall protection at 7.5 feet and the three day cancellation right.Before you qualifyC-55 Water conditioningThe lesser of $1,000 or 10 percent binds, so a $6,400 whole house system carries a $640 deposit and three business days of cancellation before you install. Covers the $500 license threshold, the $25,000 bond, and where CDTFA Regulation 1521 puts you in the retailer seat.

The rest of the California library

Getting and keeping a CSLB licensePreliminary notices and mechanics liens in CaliforniaRetention on California jobsPrevailing wage and public works in CaliforniaBuilding standards on a California siteCal/OSHA on a construction siteWorkers comp for California contractorsSales tax for California contractors
Every guideThe whole California libraryBefore you qualify