North Carolina license renewals

Every LicenseLedger guide for North Carolina on one page: what each one covers and, where its guide gives them, when it expires or renews and the continuing education it asks for. Open a guide for its fees and how to renew.

• North Carolina Electrical Contractor License Renewal (NCBEEC)

  Last reviewed October 2026

  North Carolina electrical contractor licenses renew every year, one year from the date each license was issued, so there's no single statewide deadline. The renewal is due 30 days before the license expires, and the license's listed qualified individual has to finish their continuing education first.

  Expires

  One year after the license was issued, on the expiration date shown on your license

  Continuing education

  The listed qualified individual completes board-approved CE in the 12 months before renewal: 8 hours for Limited, Intermediate, Unlimited and SP-SFD licenses, 4 hours for the other special restricted licenses. At least half the hours must be in a classroom

• North Carolina General Contractor License Renewal (NCLBGC)

  Last reviewed October 2026

  Every North Carolina general contractor license expires on January 1 and has to be renewed each year. For Building, Residential and Unclassified licenses, at least one qualifier also has to finish 8 hours of continuing education by November 30, and no classes run in December, so the CE deadline comes a month before the license deadline.

  Expires

  January 1 following its issuance or renewal: licenses renew every year

  Continuing education

  8 hours every year for Building, Residential and Unclassified licenses: the board's 2-hour mandatory course plus 6 hours of board-approved electives, completed by at least one qualifier for the license to renew (for an Unclassified license, a qualifier who passed the Building exam). The statute also has each qualifier complete the mandatory course every year. Up to 4 elective hours can carry forward to the next year

• North Carolina Plumbing & HVAC License Renewal

  Last reviewed October 2026

  Every license from North Carolina's State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating & Fire Sprinkler Contractors expires on December 31, and there is no grace period: from January 1 you can't bid, contract, supervise or install until it's renewed. Renewal opens around October 1, there's no continuing education to finish first, and renewing late adds a $25 processing fee.

  Expires

  December 31 of every year: licenses renew annually

  Continuing education

  None: the board eliminated mandatory CE as a condition of renewal on December 31, 2012

• North Carolina Refrigeration Contractor License Renewal

  Last reviewed October 2026

  The North Carolina State Board of Refrigeration Contractors licenses, with some exemptions, anyone in the business of installing, servicing or repairing commercial, industrial or transport refrigeration. Comfort cooling is outside its license: heating and air conditioning licenses come from a different board. The license renews every year: the renewal application and the $80 fee are due on or before January 1, and the law says failing to renew forfeits your right to engage in the refrigeration business. The board may reinstate a lapsed license for the $120 reinstatement fee, but after two years without renewing you take the exam again. There's no continuing education to finish first.

  Renews every

  Every year. The renewal application and fee are due to the board on or before January 1, and the board issues a renewal certificate for the current year

  Continuing education

  None. The law allows the board to require CE before renewal, but the board's rules and pages don't set any