How to Renew a Minnesota Contractor or Remodeler Business License

Keeping your contracting business licensed with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) requires quite a few steps.

One tricky thing to note right out of the gate: while your license technically doesn’t expire until March 31, the state only flags it as a timely renewal if you get your renewal steps completed by March 1. It might take the DLI more than a month to process your renewal. And if that processing period extends past March 31, your municipality might not be able to issue you the permits you need.

All told, it’s best to handle all of this in February. So let’s get to it.

Get your QPs continuing education done

First off, all licensed contracting businesses are required to have a qualifying person (QP) with current registration. If you’re not sure who that individual is for your business, look your business up. That info will be toward the bottom of the page and the QP’s license number will start with a Q.

In order for your QP to keep their registration current — enabling you to renew your business license — they need to take 14 hours of continuing education (CE) every two years. If they do that on time, their registration will automatically renew.

To learn everything you need to know about renewing a qualifying person registration, check out our guide.

Keep your business registration current

When you initially got your residential contractor or remodeler license, you registered your business with the Minnesota Secretary of State (SOS). To be eligible for license renewal, you need to keep that registration current. In the SOS portal, screenshot (for online renewals) or print out (for mailed-in renewals) the SOS Business Record Detail that shows your registration is active.

Submit updated insurance and workers’ comp documentation

If the DLI doesn’t have current information on file for you, you’ll need to get it updated. Specifically, they need both of these things to renew your contractor license:

A current liability insurance certificate
A current workers’ compensation compliance certificate

Make sure the business name on those certificates exactly matches the business name you filed with the Secretary of State.

To get those certificates to the state, you can email them to dli.license@state.mn.us. When you do, include your license number in the email.

Renew online and pay the fee

At the end of January, the DLI opens up the renewal portal. At that point, assuming your QP’s registration is current, you can renew your Minnesota contractor or remodeler business license online. Have your license number handy to get started.

Alternatively, you can mail in the paper renewal packet.

In either case, you’ll need to submit proof of the following:

Your active SOS Business Record Detail
A disclosure of everyone who owns more more than 10% of the business
Your certificate of liability insurance
Your certificate of workers’ comp compliance
The qualifying person designation form

If you mail in the renewal packet, you’ll need to include all of those individual components. If you submit your renewal online, the online process will walk you through each of those pieces and prompt you to upload the appropriate documentation.

Finally, to complete your renewal, you need to pay the applicable renewal fee. The fee is:

$445 for businesses with gross annual receipts of less than $1 million
$545 for businesses with gross annual receipts between $1 and $5 million
$645 for businesses with gross annual receipts of more than $5 million

If the state processes your renewal before March 31 (remember, you want to submit by March 1 to make sure this happens), you’re good. But if your renewal application gets deemed late, there’s a $60 additional fee.

The DLI doesn’t accept cash. You can pay your fee with a check or money order that you include in your mailed-in renewal packet, or an electronic payment method if you renew online.

If you run into any issues while renewing your Minnesota residential contractor or remodeler license, you can contact the DLI at dli.license@state.mn.us or (651) 284-5034.