A California C-47 General Manufactured Housing license authorizes you to install, alter, repair, or prepare for moving manufactured homes, mobilehomes, and multifamily manufactured homes — including their accessory buildings, structures, and foundations. That’s the classification’s exact legal scope under California Code of Regulations, Title 16, Section 832.47, authorized by Business and Professions Code Sections 7008 and 7059. The regulation draws two hard lines: it explicitly excludes recreational vehicles, commercial coaches, and factory-built (modular) housing, and it limits a C-47 contractor’s utility-connection work to single-family individual site placements. The facts below come from CSLB regulations, statute, and CSLB’s own examination study guide — not marketing copy.
What a C-47 License Actually Covers
The regulation is specific: a general manufactured housing contractor “installs, alters, repairs, or prepares for moving” manufactured homes as defined in Health and Safety Code §18007, mobilehomes as defined in §18008, and multifamily manufactured homes as defined in §18008.7, “including the accessory buildings or structures, and the foundations” (CCR Title 16 §832.47). CSLB’s own C-47 exam study guide (current for exams scheduled May 1, 2024 forward) breaks the trade into six tested content areas: Planning and Estimating (15%), Site Preparation (17%), Manufactured Home Installation (22%), Accessory Installation (12%), Repairs (13%), and Safety (21%). In practice, C-47 scope includes:
- Foundation and support systems — piers, footings, and tie-down systems that anchor a manufactured or mobilehome to its site
- Home set and connection — maneuvering and joining home sections, connecting and sealing marriage lines between multi-section homes
- Accessory structures — carports, skirting, decks, and other structures installed as part of the home’s site placement
- Utility hookups on a single-family site — connecting gas, water, sewer, and electrical utilities to the home, but only at a single-family individual site placement, not multifamily or commercial installations
- Repairs — troubleshooting and repairing installed manufactured housing components
CSLB’s study guide also names specific skills tested inside those content areas: lot evaluation and cost/material calculation under Planning and Estimating, lot development and preparing homes for transport under Site Preparation, and installing home accessories and building accessory structures under Accessory Installation. One of CSLB’s own published sample questions asks what minimum number of sides of a home’s perimeter skirting must have ventilation — a reminder that the exam tests practical field knowledge, not just paperwork.
The regulation is equally specific about what C-47 does not cover: recreational vehicles, commercial coaches, and factory-built housing are named exclusions. Factory-built (often called modular) homes are built to California’s Uniform Building Code / International Residential Code rather than the federal HUD Code that governs manufactured homes — a different regulatory track entirely, which is why the CCR carves it out by name. Not sure which classification actually fits your work? Our classification finder walks through the scope differences before you commit to an exam.
How C-47 Differs From C-36, C-10, and General Building Scope
C-36 Plumbing and C-10 Electrical take over once utility work goes beyond what CCR §832.47(b) permits. The regulation lets a C-47 contractor “provide utility services on a single-family individual site placement” — connecting gas, water, sewer, and electrical utilities to one home on one site. Utility connections for multifamily manufactured home communities, or commercial-scale installations, fall outside that carve-out and require appropriately licensed C-36 and C-10 contractors for the plumbing and electrical work respectively.
Factory-built (modular) housing is where contractors most often get the classification wrong. Because factory-built homes are certified to the Uniform Building Code / IRC rather than the HUD Code that defines “manufactured home” under Health and Safety Code §18007, they’re outside C-47’s legal definition entirely — CCR §832.47 excludes them by name. Installing a modular home built to UBC standards is general building/construction scope, not C-47 scope, even though the finished products can look similar from the curb.
Recreational vehicles and commercial coaches are the other two named exclusions in §832.47. Both are regulated under different Health and Safety Code definitions and neither falls under a C-47 contractor’s licensed scope, regardless of how similar the installation work looks.
Licensing Requirements: Experience, Bond, Fees — and a C-47-Specific Training Certificate
Experience
CSLB requires four years of journeyman-level, foreman, supervising employee, or contractor experience in manufactured housing installation work within the preceding ten years. Up to three of those years can come from a relevant apprenticeship or trade school, but CSLB requires at least one full year of verifiable hands-on field experience. Claimed experience must be documented (wage records, tax forms, employer certification) per California Code of Regulations §824.
The Installer Training Certificate — Required Only for C-47
C-47 carries a requirement most other classifications don’t have. Effective September 30, 2021, per California Code of Regulations §825.5, every new C-47 applicant must submit a Certificate of Completion of Training from a HUD-approved installer training program along with their license application — CSLB will not issue the license without it. Contractors who were already licensed in C-47 before that date are grandfathered in and don’t need to produce the certificate. If you’re applying fresh, budget time to complete a federally approved installer training course before you file.
Bond and Fees
Every active license needs a $25,000 contractor’s bond on file (Business and Professions Code §7071.6, raised from $15,000 by Senate Bill 607, effective January 1, 2023 — still current in 2026). If your Responsible Managing Employee holds less than 10% ownership, or you use an RMO arrangement, CSLB also requires a separate $25,000 Bond of a Qualifying Individual.
The application fee is $450 (single classification, non-refundable regardless of outcome). After passing, the initial license fee is $200 for a sole owner or $350 for any other entity, covering the first two-year period; renewal is $450 every two years after that. Live Scan fingerprinting is a separate cost paid to the vendor, typically reported in the $70–$90 range. See current exam-prep pricing if you’re budgeting the whole path to licensure, not just CSLB’s fees.
Workers’ Compensation
Senate Bill 1455 pushed the requirement for every California licensee to carry workers’ comp regardless of employee count back to January 1, 2028. As of 2026, only five classifications are barred from filing a no-employee exemption: C-8 Concrete, C-20 HVAC, C-22 Asbestos Abatement, C-39 Roofing, and C-61/D-49 Tree Service. C-47 isn’t on that list, so a solo C-47 operator with no employees can still file the standard exemption — for now.
The C-47 Trade Exam
The C-47 exam is a separate, closed-book, computer-based test administered through PSI, distinct from the required Law and Business exam every applicant also takes. Per CSLB’s own study guide (current for exams scheduled May 1, 2024 forward), it’s multiple-choice with four options per question, one best answer, no penalty for guessing, and a calculator is provided for the math-based estimating questions. CSLB’s guide breaks content weighting into Planning and Estimating (15%), Site Preparation (17%), Manufactured Home Installation (22%), Accessory Installation (12%), Repairs (13%), and Safety (21%) — CSLB itself calls these figures “approximate” and does not publish an exact question count or passing-score percentage for C-47 specifically, so this article won’t invent one. Reference materials named in CSLB’s own guide include the federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (24 CFR Part 3280), HUD’s Manufactured Home Installation Training Manual, and California’s Mobilehome Parks and Installations regulations (Title 25) — useful background reading, though the exam itself is closed-book. Structured, current practice with real content matters more than a rumored percentage — the premise behind Contractor Pathway’s C-47 study guide and practice exams, one of the most competitive CSLB exam-prep programs built for this classification.
Who Needs a C-47 License?
Manufactured home installation and set crews, mobilehome park service contractors handling home placement and foundation work, dealers who install the homes they sell, and companies that build accessory structures (carports, skirting, decks) as part of a manufactured home installation. It’s also the license retailers and installers need if they want to legally handle the full turnkey job — set, foundation, utility hookup on a single-family site, and accessory structures — rather than subcontracting pieces of it out to separately licensed trades.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a C-47 license let me connect utilities to a manufactured home in a mobilehome park?
Only for a single-family individual site placement. CCR §832.47(b) limits the utility-connection privilege to single-family sites; multifamily manufactured home communities and commercial installations require separately licensed C-36 (plumbing) and C-10 (electrical) contractors for that work.
Can I install a modular (factory-built) home with a C-47 license?
No. CCR §832.47 specifically excludes factory-built housing from the C-47 definition. Factory-built homes are certified to California’s Uniform Building Code / IRC rather than the federal HUD Code that defines a manufactured home, which puts them outside C-47’s licensed scope.
Do I need the HUD installer training certificate if I’m already licensed in C-47?
No. The certificate requirement in CCR §825.5, effective September 30, 2021, applies to new C-47 applicants only. Contractors already holding a C-47 license before that date are grandfathered and don’t need to submit it.
Is the C-47 exam open-book?
No. CSLB’s own C-47 study guide states plainly that it is a closed-book exam — no reference materials are allowed during testing, though a calculator is provided for the math-based estimating questions.
What’s the difference between a C-47 license and a recreational vehicle installer?
Recreational vehicles are a named exclusion under CCR §832.47. RVs are regulated and defined separately from manufactured homes, mobilehomes, and multifamily manufactured homes, so RV installation work does not fall under C-47’s licensed scope.
Getting the classification right is the easy part — passing the exam is where contractors actually get stuck. See how Contractor Pathway’s prep process works, compare pricing for study packages, and if you’re still unsure which classification fits before spending the $450 application fee, reach out and we’ll help you sort it out first.