Washington
District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Business Licensing Division
In short
District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Business Licensing Division issues 6 permits we publish for Washington, last verified 2026-09-03. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Business License | District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Business Licensing Division | $49–$198 per license term — $49 six months, $99 two years, $198 four years | 2 or 4 years, or 6 months where eligible | 2026-09-03 |
| Vending Business License | District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Business Licensing Division | $99 per two-year license | 2 years | 2026-09-03 |
| Beauty and Grooming Services License | District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Business Licensing Division | $49–$198 per license term — $49 six months for a chair or booth, $99 two years, $198 four years | 2 or 4 years, or 6 months for a barber chair or beauty booth | 2026-09-03 |
| Health Spa License | District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Business Licensing Division | $99–$198 per license term — $99 two years, $198 four years | 2 or 4 years | 2026-09-03 |
| Auto Repair Surety Bond | District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Business Licensing Division | $2,000–$5,000 bond amount, banded by headcount | for the duration of the license period | 2026-09-03 |
| Contractor and Construction Services License | District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Business Licensing Division | $49–$198 per license term — $49 six months for general contractors only, $99 two years, $198 four years | 2 or 4 years, or 6 months for general contractors and construction managers | 2026-09-03 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Basic Business License
One price whatever you open, which is unusual and recent. Until 1 October 2025 the District charged separately for each of more than a hundred endorsements; the BEST Act collapsed them into thirteen categories and made endorsements free by statute. So a restaurant, a salon, a garage and a gym all pay the same $99 for two years or $198 for four. The six-month $49 option is not open to everyone — it is limited to General Business, general contractors and construction managers, and barber chairs and beauty booths. A business expecting gross annual revenue between $2,000 and $10,000 is exempt from the fee entirely. Renew late and the penalty escalates hard: $75 within 30 days, $150 under six months, $350 under nine. Several categories cannot be licensed until DC Health has inspected — food services, beauty and grooming, health spas, massage establishments, pet shops and swimming pools — and every applicant needs a Certificate of Clean Hands and a Certificate of Occupancy first.
Vending Business License
$99 for two years across all four vendor classes, in line with every other Basic Business License category since the BEST Act. Site permits are charged separately — a mobile site permit is $300 and a sidewalk site permit $150 — and an employee badge is $55. One caution worth knowing before you budget: the District's own vending FAQ page still shows a much older and higher schedule, with Class A at $476.30 and a sidewalk site permit at $1,200. That page carries no date and predates the BEST Act; the $99 figure is the one corroborated by two current DLCP pages and by the statute, and it is what is recorded here.
Beauty and Grooming Services License
$99 for two years or $198 for four, and the six-month $49 term exists here for a specific reason: a single barber chair or beauty booth can be licensed on its own, which suits chair renters who are not opening a whole shop. The category covers barber shops, beauty shops, nails, esthetics, electrology and braiding, and endorsements within it cost nothing. Two things sit outside the license fee. DC Health must inspect the premises before the license issues, and every practitioner needs their own license from the Board of Barber and Cosmetology — $65 to apply plus $110 for the license, renewing at $110 for operators and owners and $155 for managers and instructors. Barber licenses expire on 30 September of odd years and cosmetology on 15 April of even years, so a shop with both runs two renewal cycles.
Health Spa License
The license is the standard $99 or $198; the bond is the part to plan for, and the District's own sources disagree about it. DLCP's page says $25,000 for annual membership sales up to $100,000, rising to $50,000 above that, while D.C. Code section 28-3817 says the bond must be "in an amount not less than $50,000". Because the two conflict, no single bond figure is recorded here — assume the statutory $50,000 and ask DLCP before relying on the lower one. The scope definition is worth reading before assuming you are in it: a health spa is a place with indoor or outdoor facilities for physical sport, exercise, training, therapy or rehabilitation, and it expressly excludes somewhere whose primary activity is instruction in a specific skill such as dance or swimming, and anywhere run primarily by a not-for-profit. DC Health must inspect before the license issues.
Auto Repair Surety Bond
The bond, not the license, is the real cost of opening a garage in the District. Five or fewer employees means a $2,000 surety bond; more than five means $5,000. It is a bond rather than a fee, so what you actually pay is the premium a surety charges to write it, not the face amount — but it must stay in place for the whole license period. The Basic Business License itself is the standard $99 for two years or $198 for four, the same as every other category since the BEST Act.
Contractor and Construction Services License
$99 for two years or $198 for four, with the six-month $49 term open to general contractors and construction managers but explicitly not to home improvement contractors. That exclusion matters because home improvement work carries the District's heaviest construction condition: a $25,000 surety bond that must stay in place for the whole two-year license period. So a general contractor can start for $49 and a home improvement contractor cannot start for less than $99 plus a $25,000 bond. Since the BEST Act the endorsements within the category — the A, B, C, G and H general contractor classes — cost nothing on top.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Washington
- Phone
- (202) 671-4500
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- D.C. Code section 47-2851.03 — endorsements shall not have a cost to the licensee (BEST Act, applicable from 1 October 2025)Council of the District of Columbia · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- D.C. Code section 47-2851.04 — basic business license fees of $49 for six months, $99 for two years and $198 for four yearsCouncil of the District of Columbia · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection — Beauty and Grooming Services license category and feesDistrict of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection — Contractor and Construction Services license categoryDistrict of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection — the BEST Act, reducing over 100 license categories to 13 from 1 October 2025District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection — Vehicular Services license category, including the auto repair surety bondDistrict of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection — vending business licencesDistrict of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
Other offices serving Washington
- District of Columbia Department of Health, Food Safety and Hygiene Inspection Services Division
- District of Columbia Department of Buildings
- District of Columbia Department of Health, Animal Facility Licensing
- District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education, Division of Early Learning
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
District of Columbia jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.