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

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 St Louis, MO, 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 $80.00. That is a floor, not a total. 4 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: A $25 application fee is payable when filing, regardless of project cost. The permit fee, payable after final approval: $19 (up to $1,000 in estimated construction cost); $23 ($1,001–$2,000); $30 ($2,001–$3,000); $10 per $1,000 (or fraction) of cost above $3,000. All fees are non-refundable.

Construction Industry Contractor Licence: Required instead of the standard Graduated Business Licence, under the same graduated employee-count tax table: $200 (0–2 employees) up to $37,500 (501+). A separate, distinct fee schedule specific to this contractor category was not independently confirmed beyond this shared table.

Articles of Incorporation: $58 for authorised capital of $30,000 or less, rising $5 for every further $10,000 authorised — the same fee on paper or online

Corporate Annual Registration Report: $20 a year online or $45 on paper for a corporation, due annually by default; an LLC files no such report at all

Permits for a contractor or trade in St Louis, MO come from 6 separate offices: City of St. Louis Building Division, Permits Section, City of St. Louis License Collector's Office, Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations Division, Missouri Division of Professional Registration, Missouri Department of Revenue, Missouri Office of Statewide Electrical Contractors, Division of Professional Registration. No single office issues them all, which is why an opening means filing in several places rather than one.

• City of St. Louis Building Division, Permits SectionIssues 2 permits on this page: Commercial Occupancy Permit, Commercial Building PermitCity Hall, Room 425, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/public-safety/building
• City of St. Louis License Collector's OfficeIssues 1 permit on this page: Construction Industry Contractor LicenceCity Hall, Room 102-104, 1200 Market Street, St. Louis, MO 63103 · (314) 622-4528www.stlouis-mo.gov/license-collector/index.cfm
• Missouri Secretary of State, Corporations DivisionIssues 3 permits on this page: Articles of Incorporation, Articles of Organization (LLC), Corporate Annual Registration Report600 West Main Street, Room 322, Jefferson City, MO 65101 · (866) 223-6535www.sos.mo.gov/business
• Missouri Division of Professional RegistrationIssues 1 permit on this page: General Contractor Licence (local, not state)3605 Missouri Boulevard, PO Box 1335, Jefferson City, MO 65102pr.mo.gov/boards.asp
• Missouri Department of RevenueIssues 1 permit on this page: General Business Licence (local, not state)dor.mo.gov/business
• Missouri Office of Statewide Electrical Contractors, Division of Professional RegistrationIssues 1 permit on this page: Statewide Electrical Contractor Licence (optional)3605 Missouri Boulevard, PO Box 1335, Jefferson City, MO 65102 · (573) 522-3280pr.mo.gov/electricalcontractors.asp

The codified Chapter 26.96 states the original certificate itself carries no charge, with only a $0.50 copy fee — this conflicts with the Building Division's own current administrative page, which charges $80/$160. The live administrative figure is used here as more likely to reflect current practice; not fully reconciled.

No separate 'tenant buildout' fee schedule exists — alterations use this same general schedule.

Contractors must provide proof of workers' compensation coverage (or a signed exemption affidavit) and furnish a list of subcontractors on any job. Multiple surety-bond marketing sites claim a $25,000 bond for electrical and plumbing contractors — this could not be confirmed against any city or Municode source and is not asserted here.

Priced by how much capital the corporation authorises rather than a flat figure — $58 covers up to $30,000, and every further $10,000 authorised adds $5, with no discount for filing online the way an LLC gets. A nonprofit corporation skips that formula at a flat $25. Unlike an LLC, a corporation then owes a recurring annual registration report — see that record for the fee and the biennial alternative.

No fee, because Missouri licenses no general contractor, no plumber and no HVAC contractor at state level — the professional registration division's own complete list of every board it administers has no entry for any of the three. Plumbing licensing is confined by statute to cities of 15,000 people or more and to first-class counties, each running its own board of examiners and its own local code, and HVAC work is regulated only where a city chooses to license it. A contractor working across several Missouri municipalities may need a separate local licence in each one for these trades. Electrical work is the exception — see the statewide electrical contractor record.

No fee, because Missouri issues no general business licence — the revenue department's own guidance treats a city or county occupation licence as the normal thing a retailer needs, with a state licence appearing only as a residual, activity-specific possibility. What the state does require of a retailer is a statement of no tax due, which functions as a prerequisite to getting or renewing that local licence in the first place, rather than as a licence in its own right.

Filing online is genuinely cheaper here, at $50 against $105 on paper — the reverse of how some states price the two channels. What matters more than the discount is what happens afterward: a Missouri LLC files nothing recurring with the state at all. That is not merely an absence in this record's own research — the LLC statute contains no annual report section anywhere in it, and the Secretary of State's own fee schedule lists an annual filing for corporations and for nonprofits but has no such line for an LLC. A corporation is a different story; see the annual report record.

This obligation belongs to corporations, not to LLCs — a Missouri LLC files nothing of the kind. A for-profit corporation's report is due every year in the month it was originally incorporated, at $20 online or $45 on paper, unless it elects a two-year cycle instead, which costs $40 online or $90 on paper for the pair of years — a real discount for filing electronically either way. A nonprofit corporation's version is cheaper again, $10 online or $15 on paper annually, or $20 and $30 biennially.

This licence exists to solve one specific problem and nothing more: a contractor working across several Missouri jurisdictions no longer needs a separate local electrical licence in each one, because state law obliges every city and county to recognise this statewide credential in place of its own. It does not abolish local licensing — a city may keep issuing its own electrical contractor licence to everyone else, keep requiring a business licence, keep issuing permits and inspecting work, and keep licensing individual electricians on its own examination, all in parallel with this statewide option. The state gives that recognition rule real teeth: a political subdivision that refuses to honour a statewide licence risks having its own share of state sales tax withheld until it complies. Two hundred dollars to obtain it and $100 to renew, on a shared three-year cycle rather than one tied to the individual holder.