What permits do you need to open a contractor or trade in Indianapolis?

There is no single figure, and any site quoting one is rounding away the part that matters. Of the 9 records listed for a contractor or trade in Indianapolis, IN, 3 apply to every business of this type and 6 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 $215.00. That is a floor, not a total. 2 of the 9 are charged as a range or a formula set by the issuing agency, and 2 have no fee published at all. The ones that vary:

Commercial Building Permit (Class 1): New Class 1 (commercial/industrial/multifamily) construction up to 2,500 sq ft: $697, plus $42 per additional 1,000 sq ft. A Class 1 remodel/alteration/repair uses the same $697-plus-$42/1,000-sq-ft schedule. A general construction permit not otherwise specified is $170. An accelerated plan review is $316; a $32 additional service fee applies to demolition, master, sign, structural, and infrastructure permit applications.

Contractor Licence: 2025–2026 cycle, prorated by filing date: filed January 1–June 30, 2025: $247; July 1–December 31, 2025: $185; January 1–December 31, 2026: $124. Renewal: $247. Each authorized agent beyond the first 5 free ones costs $63.

Permits for a contractor or trade in Indianapolis, IN come from 4 separate offices: Department of Business and Neighborhood Services, Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, State Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services Division, Indiana Plumbing Commission, Professional Licensing Agency. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.

• Department of Business and Neighborhood ServicesIssues 3 permits on this page: Certificate of Completion and Compliance, Commercial Building Permit (Class 1), Contractor Licence200 E. Washington Street, Suite 1041, Indianapolis, IN 46204 · (317) 327-8700www.indy.gov/activity/commercial-development-permits
• Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, State Board of Cosmetology and Barber ExaminersIssues 1 permit on this page: General Contractor, Electrical and HVAC Licences (local, not state)402 West Washington Street, Room W072, Indianapolis, IN 46204 · (317) 232-2960www.in.gov/pla/professions/cosmetology-and-barber-home
• Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services DivisionIssues 4 permits on this page: Articles of Organization (LLC), Articles of Incorporation, Business Entity Report, General Business Licence (local, not state)302 West Washington Street, Room E018, Indianapolis, IN 46204 · (317) 234-9768inbiz.in.gov
• Indiana Plumbing Commission, Professional Licensing AgencyIssues 1 permit on this page: Plumbing Contractor Licence402 West Washington Street, Room W072, Indianapolis, IN 46204 · (317) 234-8800www.in.gov/pla/professions

Indianapolis has no 'Certificate of Occupancy' as such — filing this certificate itself carries no fee; the $215 applies only as a late-filing penalty. A pending 2025 council proposal (No. 239) would raise this to $250; whether it was adopted could not be confirmed a year after introduction, so the $215 figure — the one shown as currently codified in that same proposal's text — is used here, flagged for manual re-verification.

A pending 2025 council proposal (No. 239) would raise these figures substantially (e.g., a new Class 1 building to $1,000, plus new reinspection and stop-work-order fees) — adoption status could not be confirmed a year after introduction, so the pre-amendment codified figures are used here. Separately, DBNS's own FAQ describes a Class 1 Plan Review fee of $478 (regular, 3 hours) or $448 (accelerated, 1 hour) that could not be reconciled against the section 536 fee lines above — confirm directly with DBNS at (317) 327-8700 which fees are cumulative.

Indiana has no state general contractor licence — this is a genuinely city-specific requirement. Requires a $10,000 surety bond naming the Consolidated City of Indianapolis as obligee, plus general liability insurance (minimum $500,000/occurrence bodily injury or $500,000 combined single limit, $100,000 property damage) and workers' compensation coverage where applicable.

No fee, because Indiana licenses none of them — and the state says so in terms: the only construction contractors licensed by the State of Indiana are plumbers, and contractor licensing for everyone else is a local option. No state electrician licence at all is genuinely rare, and the professional licensing agency's complete roster of about forty regulated professions bears it out, with no general contractor, builder, remodeler, roofer, electrician or HVAC entry, and the professions title of the code containing only plumbers, water well drillers and manufactured home installers among construction trades. The state adopts an electrical code but adopting a code is not licensing anyone. Everything therefore turns on the city or county, and a contractor crossing municipal lines can need several licences.

The statute sets $75 for an electronic filing and $100 on paper, so filing online genuinely saves $25 — but $75 is not the checkout total. The Secretary of State adds a $20 enhanced-access charge on online filings under a separate statutory power, and the portal adds a processing charge disclosed only as at least a dollar and no more than 2.15 per cent. No official page publishes the sum, so it is not recorded here; expect around $96. Indiana charges no expedite fee at all, which the Secretary of State points out is unusual. A corporation costs exactly the same, and a nonprofit $20 electronically.

Identical to an LLC at $75 electronically or $100 on paper, with no share-based component — Indiana gives no filing-cost reason to prefer one structure over the other, at formation or afterwards, since both file the same biennial report at the same price. A nonprofit is cheaper at $20 electronically and $50 on paper. The same $20 enhanced-access charge and portal processing fee apply on top of an online filing.

Every two years, not every year, and the first one falls two years after formation — guidance describing an annual Indiana report is wrong, including the state's own business owner's guide, which still quotes a superseded $30. Nonprofits are on the same biennial cycle now too. One counterintuitive detail: a for-profit saves $18 by filing online while a nonprofit pays $2 more, because the enhanced-access charge is larger than the statutory electronic discount. There is no monetary late fee at all — the sanction is administrative dissolution sixty days after the due date, and recovering from that costs a reinstatement fee plus every delinquent report at the paper rate plus a revenue department clearance that can take four to six weeks. Name protection lapses a hundred and twenty days after dissolution. Sole proprietorships and general partnerships file nothing.

No fee, because Indiana issues no general business licence — the state's own guide says it does not have any one single comprehensive business licence, and its official start-up portal presents formation as exactly two steps, filing with the Secretary of State and registering with the revenue and workforce departments, with no licence step between them. What fills the gap is industry-specific state licences, local zoning and permits, and an annual personal property filing with the county assessor. One caution on that guide: it is authoritative for the licensing architecture and stale on every figure it quotes.

Plumbing is the only construction trade Indiana licenses, so this record carries more weight than its size suggests. The initial issuance fee is halved in an odd-numbered year because every licence expires on 31 December of an odd year, so a licence bought in an even year buys only about one year of validity. A journeyman pays $30 to renew and an apprentice $10 a year. Indiana offers no plumbing reciprocity with any other state for either journeyman or contractor. The trades Indiana does not license are the notable part — see the separate record.