Who needs the license, and who does not
Section 339.2403 is the exemption list. A person may act as a residential builder, M&A contractor, or salesperson without an Article 24 license if the person is an authorized representative of the United States, this state, or a local government acting in that capacity; an owner of property with reference to a structure on the property for the owner's own use and occupancy; an owner of rental property with reference to the maintenance and alteration of that rental property; an officer of a court acting within that office; a person other than a salesperson that engages solely in performing work under contract with a licensed residential builder or licensed M&A contractor; a person working on one undertaking or project by one or more contracts if the aggregate contract price for labor, material, and any other items is less than six hundred dollars, unless the work is split to evade the Act; or certain licensed skilled-trade contractors performing only that trade's work. The six-hundred-dollar split-to-evade sentence is exam gold. Two three-hundred-dollar contracts on the same kitchen are still a licensed job.
A Residential Builder undertakes, offers to undertake, or purports to have the capacity to undertake the erection, construction, replacement, repair, alteration, addition to, subtraction from, improvement, wrecking, or demolition of a residential structure for a fixed sum, price, fee, percentage, or other compensation other than wages for personal labor only. An M&A contractor is narrower: maintenance and alteration crafts listed on the license. A salesperson is an employee or agent, other than a qualifying officer, who for a salary, wage, fee, percentage, commission, or other consideration sells, negotiates, solicits, or obtains a contract for the goods and services of a licensed builder or M&A contractor. Model-home greeters who solicit future construction, home-center staff who sell a product and contract its installation, and licensed builders who take a referral fee for sending a customer to another builder are in the salesperson definition on LARA's page.
A salesperson may be licensed to only one builder or M&A contractor. The wall license is displayed by the employer. The salesperson carries the pocket card. On termination, the employer sends the wall license and pocket card to the department with a letter stating the disassociation date, signed by the owner or qualifying officer. A currently licensed builder, or one actively licensed in the past three years, can be licensed as a salesperson for another builder without taking the salesperson examination. Everyone else sits the forty-five-question, ninety-minute, thirty-two-raw (seventy-two percent) closed-book salesperson paper. That is not this course.
A corporation, LLC, partnership, or other entity applies through a qualifying officer. The individual license is not the company license. LARA's materials warn that the individual license may not be used for a corporation, limited liability company, or partnership. The qualifying officer is the licensed individual responsible for the entity. If that person leaves, the entity has a qualifying-officer problem, not a 'the truck still has the number' solution. A residential builder or M&A contractor shall maintain a place of business in this state. Additional places of business need a branch-office license for each location.
Commercial work is not this license. Local jurisdictions may still require registrations, bonds, or permits for commercial jobs. Do not tell a commercial client that your Residential Builder number is a Michigan GC license. It is not. Do not skip Article 24 because you also hold a Detroit contractor registration. Residential work over six hundred dollars still needs the state credential.
This is the opening of the full study guide. The complete guide continues into code navigation, worked calculations and solved exam questions.
