Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, Division of Commercial Licensing

Automobile Body Repair Shop License

Rhode Island licenses collision and body repair as its own distinct trade, separate from any dealer or inspection-station license a shop might also hold — three hundred dollars a year, and a shop may buy up to three years of coverage at once by simply multiplying the annual rate. A second location costs a further $300, and a shop wanting to repair salvage-titled vehicles needs a separate endorsement at another $300 a year. This statute is written specifically around body and collision work; a shop doing only mechanical repair — engines, brakes, general service, with no bodywork at all — falls outside its wording, and no equivalent state license for that narrower kind of repair could be confirmed. Confirm directly with the department if a shop's work sits close to that line.