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

BPOL Business License — Fee-Basis Contractor

A contractor operating on a 'fee contractor' basis in Henrico — the ordinance's own term for a contractor compensated by fee rather than by contract price — owes BPOL tax under Henrico Code §20-559(a)(1) only on the amount by which gross fees exceed $1,000,000 in a license year, not on the full gross-fees figure: a fee contractor with $1.5 million in gross fees owes 1.50% of the $500,000 above the threshold, not 1.50% of the full $1.5 million. No tax is due at or below $1,000,000, though an application is still required. Contractors must also show a state DPOR Board of Contractors license or certificate number, or a sworn affidavit of exemption, at application, under Henrico Code §20-569, and certify workers' compensation compliance under Henrico Code §20-567.

BPOL Business License — Contract-Basis Contractor

A contractor operating on a basis other than 'fee contractor' — the ordinance's residual category, a contractor compensated by contract price — owes BPOL tax under Henrico Code §20-559(a)(2) only on the amount by which gross receipts exceed $1,000,000 in a license year, not on the full receipts figure: a contractor with $1.5 million in gross receipts owes 0.15% of the $500,000 above the threshold, not 0.15% of the full $1.5 million. No tax is due at or below $1,000,000, though an application is still required. A non-resident contractor who has already paid a license tax to their home locality is exempt from Henrico's BPOL tax unless their Henrico business exceeds $25,000 per year, under Henrico Code §§20-563 and 20-568, in which case §20-559 applies in full.

Contractor License

The thresholds moved in 2025 and older guidance is now wrong. Class A is a single contract of $150,000 or more or a million a year; Class B is $30,000 to $150,000 or $250,000 to a million; Class C runs from just over $1,000 to $30,000. Below $1,000 no contractor license is needed at all. The fee is the small part: Class A applicants must document $45,000 of net worth and Class B $15,000, and Class A and B both need a designated employee who has passed the board's exams, which Class C does not. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC contractors must additionally hold a master tradesman license as a condition of licensure — two credentials, two fees. Value means fair market value, so under-pricing a contract does not move you down a class. The printed fees are $400, $380 and $235; the rest is a $25 recovery fund assessment and the $7.25-a-year technology charge that ends on 30 June 2030.

Tradesman License

This is the individual credential that sits under the company's contractor license, and for the mechanical trades it is compulsory to hold both. The main trades run on a three-year cycle while every other license and certification in the chapter runs on two, which is a genuine trap when budgeting renewals. Renewal is $160. Exchanging a locality-issued card for a state license costs $110, and adding a second trade designation $105. Continuing education at renewal is three hours per designation for plumbing, electrical and HVAC and one hour for gas fitters, rising to eight for elevator and accessibility mechanics, water well providers and fire sprinkler inspectors.

Shared with other businesses in Henrico County

• Short-Term Rental / Accessory Structure Conditional Use Permit — Henrico County Division of Planning / Board of Zoning Appeals, $300 per application; covers both a short-term-rental-of-a-dwelling conditional use permit and a front/side-yard accessory-structure conditional use permit, each billed separately at this rate, Per application.. Also required for retail stores; what it involves is set out on the retail stores page.