Maryland Home Builder Registration Renewal

At a glance

Who needs it

Anyone who builds new homes in Maryland, or who contracts with consumers to sell or provide a new home, before entering into those contracts. The Act's definition includes custom home builders and the installers and retailers of mobile homes and industrialized buildings meant for homes. Where a builder uses one company to build a home and a separate one to sell it, both must register

Not required

The Act's definition of a home builder leaves out an employee of a registrant who doesn't hold themselves out for hire in home building except as that employee; subcontractors and vendors hired by a registrant who don't otherwise meet the Act's requirements; manufacturers of industrialized buildings or mobile homes that don't install them; a developer that doesn't build homes or contract with consumers to provide or build them; financial institutions lending for homes; a buyer's agent representing a prospective buyer of a new home; and, except as the Act provides, a builder who builds new homes solely in Montgomery County, which licenses builders itself

Renews every

2 years: unless renewed, a registration expires on the second anniversary of its effective date. A registrant that meets the renewal requirements and renews before then gets an additional 2-year term

Renewal notice

At least 60 days before your registration expires, the Unit mails a renewal application form to your last known address, with a notice of the expiration date and of the date by which the Unit must receive your renewal to issue and mail it before the registration expires

Renewal fee

Nonrefundable, based on the number of building permits for new homes issued to you in the preceding calendar year: $400 for 10 or fewer, $800 for 11 to 74, and $1,200 for 75 or more. The initial 2-year registration fee is $800

To renew

Send the renewal application on the Unit's form, still qualify for an initial registration, pay the renewal fee, and be otherwise entitled to be registered. The Unit's page sends current registrants to its online registration portal to access their file

If it expires

Once expired, a registration may not be renewed (Md. Code, Business Regulation § 4.5-305(a)(3)). Ask the Home Builder Registration Unit how to register again

Insurance

Each person that builds new homes for sale to the public must maintain general liability insurance of at least $100,000

Continuing education

None listed: the Unit's home builder registration page names no continuing education requirement

Building permits

A county building and permits department may not issue a permit for home building unless it includes a registrant's home builder registration number and the Guaranty Fund fee is paid, except for work a landowner does solely for their own use

Guaranty Fund fee

Paid with each application for a permit to build a new home, per home or unit, as set by the Consumer Protection Division at no more than $50 per unit; you may collect it from the consumer. If you fail to pay it, your registration is suspended until it is paid

Working unregistered

Acting as or holding yourself out as a registrant without being one is a misdemeanor: a fine of up to $1,000 on a first conviction and up to $5,000 after that. After a hearing, the Division may also order you to stop and impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each day of unlawful practice. Using an expired registration number can lead the Unit to deny, suspend or revoke a registration or impose a civil penalty

Changes

Send the Unit written notice of any change to the information in your application within 10 working days after it takes effect, and keep doing so for 1 year after you stop being registered

Display and advertising

Display your registration number conspicuously on every property where you're doing work that needs registration (one central spot is enough for several homes in one project or subdivision). Advertisements show it as "Maryland Home Builder Registration No." or "MHBR No.", except promotional items such as magnets, pens and key chains

Sales representatives

Individuals employed by a home builder as its representative to consumers about buying a new home need their own registration certificate, with exceptions the Act sets (such as staff of mobile home and industrialized building installers and retailers, and some nonprofit affordable-housing sales). It runs on the same 2-year term, can't be renewed once expired either, and renews for a nonrefundable $300

Questions

Home Builder Registration Unit, Consumer Protection Division, 200 St. Paul Place, Baltimore, MD 21202: 410-576-6573, or toll-free in Maryland 877-259-4525

Missing the date is costly: the Act doesn't let an expired registration be renewed.

The renewal fee depends on last calendar year's permits for new homes, so it can change from one renewal to the next.

Building only in Montgomery County? The county licenses those builders; registering under the Act lets you build elsewhere in Maryland too.

How to renew

1. Find your registration's expiration date: the second anniversary of its effective date.
2. Watch for the Unit's renewal form, mailed at least 60 days before, and note the date by which the Unit must receive your renewal to issue it before your registration expires.
3. Count the building permits for new homes issued to you in the previous calendar year: that sets the fee ($400 for 10 or fewer, $800 for 11 to 74, $1,200 for 75 or more).
4. If you build new homes for sale to the public, check your general liability insurance (at least $100,000) is in force; either way, check that the information the Unit holds on you and your principals is current.
5. Renew before the expiration date: once a Maryland home builder registration has expired, it may not be renewed.

Deadline checklist

• 90 days outCheck the expiration date (the second anniversary of the registration's effective date) and, if you build new homes for sale to the public, your general liability policy (at least $100,000).
• 60 days outLook for the Unit's mailed renewal form and its receive-by date. Count last calendar year's permits for new homes to know your fee.
• 30 days outSend the renewal and the $400, $800 or $1,200 fee so the Unit has it by its receive-by date. Make sure your sales representatives renew their certificates ($300 each) on their own dates.
• Before it expiresMake sure the registration shows as renewed: once it has expired, it may not be renewed.

Put this renewal in your calendar

Know your expiration date? Download a free calendar file with reminders before it, no sign-up needed. It's made in your browser: nothing you type is sent to us (your browser keeps it only if you follow the sign-up link, for your new ledger). A Google Calendar button sends just that one event to Google.

The file covers one date: once you renew, make a new one. How to add it to your calendar

Frequently asked questions