15 permits · verified 2026-09-11
What permits do you need to open a contractor or trade in Hawaii County?
In short
A contractor or trade in Hawaii County, HI has 3 permits that apply to every business of this type, plus 12 more that depend on your premises, signage or how you are set up. County of Hawai'i Planning Department (and Planning Commission) charges $500 one-time, per application, paid via EPIC for the use permit. 2 of the 15 are charged as a range or formula rather than a flat fee. Verified 2026-09-11 against the issuing agencies’ published fee schedules.
Permits particular to a contractor or trade in Hawaii County
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use Permitonly if it applies to you | County of Hawai'i Planning Department (and Planning Commission) | $500 one-time, per application, paid via EPIC | one-time, per application | 2026-09-11 |
| Special Permitonly if it applies to you | County of Hawai'i Planning Department (and Planning Commission) | $500 one-time, per application, paid via EPIC | one-time, per application | 2026-09-11 |
| County Contractor License (not found beyond the building permit process)only if it applies to you | County of Hawai'i, Department of Public Works, Building Division | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-11 |
| Individual Electrician or Plumber Licenseonly if it applies to you | Hawaii DCCA, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division | $40 application fee, plus a $95 examination fee | 3 years | 2026-09-04 |
| Contractor Licenseonly if it applies to you | Hawaii DCCA, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division | $338 biennial renewal for an entity or sole proprietor; a responsible managing employee license is $208 | biennial — every license renews by 30 September of even-numbered years | 2026-09-04 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
Local permits that apply to every type of business in Hawaii County
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Business License — Hawaii County positiononly if it applies to you | County of Hawai'i, Department of Finance, Vehicle Registration & Licensing Division | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-11 |
| Commercial Building Permit | County of Hawai'i, Department of Public Works, Building Division | Varies — formula on the Hawaii County page | one-time, per project — the permit itself expires 6 years after issuance (HCC §5-5-4) | 2026-09-11 |
| Special Management Area (SMA) Use Permit (Major)only if it applies to you | County of Hawai'i Planning Department (and Planning Commission) | $500 one-time, per application, paid via EPIC | one-time, per project | 2026-09-11 |
| Building Plan Review Fee | County of Hawai'i, Department of Public Works, Building Division | Varies — formula on the Hawaii County page | one-time, per project | 2026-09-11 |
| Certificate of Occupancy | County of Hawai'i, Department of Public Works, Building Division | $200 one-time — applies only to a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy authorizing partial occupancy before project completion; the standard Certificate of Occupancy issued at final inspection carries no additional published fee beyond the Building Permit fee already charged | one-time, no expiration once issued | 2026-09-11 |
| Plan Approvalonly if it applies to you | County of Hawai'i Planning Department (and Planning Commission) | No fee | one-time, per project — remains valid so long as the approved plan is followed | 2026-09-11 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
HI registrations that apply to every type of business
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Business License — Hawaii positiononly if it applies to you | Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-04 |
| Articles of Organization (LLC)only if it applies to you | Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division | $51 one-time filing, including the $1 state archives fee | perpetual, but an annual report is due every year | 2026-09-04 |
| Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division | $51 one-time filing, including the $1 state archives fee | perpetual, but an annual report is due every year | 2026-09-04 |
| Annual Reportonly if it applies to you | Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division | $15 a year on paper; a $10 late fee applies per year delinquent | annual — due at the end of the calendar quarter containing the entity's own original registration date | 2026-09-04 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
How much does it actually cost to permit a contractor or trade in Hawaii County?
There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 15 records listed for a contractor or trade in Hawaii County, HI, 3 apply to every business of this type and 12 are conditional. Adding every fee on the page together would overstate what most operators pay, because it would include permits they never need.
Of the 3 that always apply, 1 carry a flat fee, coming to $200.00. That is a floor, not a total. 2 of the 15 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 4 have no fee published at all.
The other 2 variable fees belong to permits that apply to every type of business here; their formulas are set out on the Hawaii County permits page and the HI state page.
Which offices issue these permits in Hawaii County?
Permits for a contractor or trade in Hawaii County, HI come from 5 separate offices: County of Hawai'i, Department of Finance, Vehicle Registration & Licensing Division, County of Hawai'i, Department of Public Works, Building Division, County of Hawai'i Planning Department (and Planning Commission), Hawaii DCCA, Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.
- County of Hawai'i, Department of Finance, Vehicle Registration & Licensing DivisionIssues 1 permit on this page: General Business License — Hawaii County position101 Pauahi Street, Suite 5, Hilo, HI 96720 · (808) 961-8351www.vrl.hawaiicounty.gov/other-services/business-occupation-licensing
- County of Hawai'i, Department of Public Works, Building DivisionIssues 4 permits on this page: Commercial Building Permit, Building Plan Review Fee, Certificate of Occupancy, County Contractor License (not found beyond the building permit process)101 Pauahi Street, Suite 7, Hilo, HI 96720 · (808) 961-8321www.hawaiicounty.gov/departments/public-works/building
- County of Hawai'i Planning Department (and Planning Commission)Issues 4 permits on this page: Use Permit, Special Management Area (SMA) Use Permit (Major), Special Permit, Plan Approval101 Pauahi Street, Suite 3, Hilo, HI 96720 · (808) 961-8288www.planning.hawaiicounty.gov
- Hawaii DCCA, Professional and Vocational Licensing DivisionIssues 2 permits on this page: Individual Electrician or Plumber License, Contractor License335 Merchant Street, Room 301, Honolulu, HI 96813 · (808) 586-3000cca.hawaii.gov/pvl
- Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration DivisionIssues 4 permits on this page: General Business License — Hawaii position, Articles of Organization (LLC), Articles of Incorporation, Annual Report335 Merchant Street, Room 201, Honolulu, HI 96813 · (808) 586-2727cca.hawaii.gov/breg
What does a contractor or trade need in Hawaii County that other businesses do not?
3 of the 5 permits particular to a contractor or trade here apply to no other business type we cover in Hawaii County: County Contractor License (not found beyond the building permit process), Individual Electrician or Plumber License and Contractor License.
Special Permit
Hawaii County's own current Special Permit Application states directly: 'A filing fee of five hundred dollars ($500) to be paid via EPIC' — the same figure charged for the Use Permit above. This is the Planning Commission's pathway for an 'unusual and reasonable' non-agricultural use of land zoned Agricultural or Rural — common on the Big Island, where a large share of land carries that zoning — and applies to any of the ten industries covered here proposing to operate on such land where the use is not permitted outright.
County Contractor License (not found beyond the building permit process)
No fee applies. Hawai'i County Code §5-6-1, read directly, requires a building-work permit applicant to be either a contractor licensed under Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 444 (the state Contractors License Board, recorded at the state layer) or an 'owner-builder' under the state's own owner-builder exemption, with no mention anywhere of a separate county contractor registration or credential. The Building Division verifies an applicant's state contractor licensing status as part of ordinary permit review rather than issuing an additional credential of its own. A Hawaii County contractor's local obligations are otherwise the same Commercial Building Permit and Plan Review fees recorded elsewhere in this file.
Individual Electrician or Plumber License
This is Hawaii's second, genuinely separate layer for these two trades. Where the contractor license above covers the business that contracts for electrical or plumbing work, this license covers the individual doing the hands-on work, issued by an entirely different board on a three-year cycle rather than the contractor board's two-year one. A business needs the first; the qualifying tradesperson it employs needs the second — holding one does not substitute for the other.
Contractor License
A license is required once a project's combined cost of labour, materials and taxes exceeds $1,000 — a strikingly low threshold compared with most states — unless the work needs no building permit and stands alone rather than as part of a larger project. General engineering, general building and specialty work each fall under this same board and this same fee, $338 to renew an entity or sole proprietor license and $208 for a responsible managing employee, on a shared biennial cycle ending 30 September of even years regardless of when the license first issued. Electrical and plumbing contracting sit inside this same system as specialty classifications rather than under a separate contractor board — but the individual electrician or plumber doing the work needs a further, separate license from an entirely different board; see that record.
Shared with other businesses in Hawaii County
- Use Permit — County of Hawai'i Planning Department (and Planning Commission), $500 one-time, per application, paid via EPIC, one-time, per application. Also required for retail stores, fitness studios, salons and barbers, auto repair shops, veterinary clinics and childcare centres; what it involves is set out on the fitness studios page.
The other 6 local permits in the tables apply to every type of business in Hawaii County, HI; what each one involves is set out on the Hawaii County permits page. The 4 state-level registrations apply to every type of business across HI and are covered on the HI state page.
How does a contractor or trade compare with other businesses in Hawaii County?
The closest match is a childcare centre, which shares 2 of these permits. A contractor or trade also needs County Contractor License (not found beyond the building permit process), Individual Electrician or Plumber License and Contractor License. A childcare centre needs Child Care License, which a contractor or trade does not.
| Business | Its own permits | Shared with a contractor or trade | Only a contractor or trade needs | Only it needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Childcare centres | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Retail stores | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Fitness studios | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Salons and barbers | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Veterinary clinics | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Auto repair shops | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Coffee shops | 4 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
| Food trucks | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Restaurants | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
Sources
Every figure for the permits explained on this page was read from one of these government pages on the date shown. Sources for the permits shared with other businesses are listed with their explanations on the fitness studios page. Sources for the permits that apply to every type of business are listed on the Hawaii County permits page and the HI state page. Confirmed by Editorial Team.
- Special Permit Application, County of Hawai'i Planning Commission (Rev. 12/8/2022) — a $500 EPIC filing fee for a non-agricultural, 'unusual and reasonable' use of land zoned Agricultural or Rural, citing chapter 205, HRS directlyCounty of Hawai'i Planning Commission · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-11
- Hawai'i County Code, Chapter 5 (Construction Administrative Code) — the complete permit-fee schedule at Article 7 (§§5-7-1 through 5-7-8), including the valuation-based Building Permit fee table (§5-7-3(b)), the 20%-of-permit-fee Plan Review fee with a $50 minimum (§5-7-1(a)), the $200 Temporary Certificate of Occupancy fee (§5-7-6), the Certificate of Occupancy requirement and its R-3/U exception (§5-8-22), and the contractor-eligibility provisions relying on state licensure (§5-6-1)County of Hawai'i, Office of the County Clerk / Department of Public Works · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-11
- Hawaii Board of Electricians and Plumbers — individual trade licensing, separate from contractor licensingHawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Hawaii Contractors License Board — license fees and the biennial renewal cycleHawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Hawaii Revised Statutes chapter 444 — contractor licensing, classifications and the $1,000 exemptionState of Hawaii · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
Related
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.