Corrections & verification log

The Statutes & Rules exam fee was listed at $54. Arizona moved the exam to Gmetrix and the fee is $61. Every Arizona trade page carried the stale figure, and the licence-cost article's exam total was $7 low.

Now reads: $61 for the Statutes & Rules exam (Arizona exam total $127, was $120)

Source: Arizona Registrar of Contractors official fee schedule

Both states require two exams, and our cost model counted only one. Arizona split the trade exam into a separate line the total ignored; Mississippi counted one $120 section instead of two.

Now reads: Arizona general contractor $974 (was $908); Mississippi general contractor $640 (was $520)

Source: State board exam schedules, re-audited across all two-exam states

The MHIC application fee was rounded to $281 and a $22.50 processing fee was omitted entirely. We also counted the $100 guaranty fund contribution as recurring when it is initial-only.

Now reads: Application $281.25 plus $22.50 processing — Maryland general contractor and roofing total $466.75

Source: Maryland Home Improvement Commission fee schedule

Our Georgia general contractor fees were estimates, not sourced figures, and they overstated the real cost by roughly six times — $200 application and $280 licence against an actual $10 processing fee and $25 pocket-card fee. Georgia was wrongly listed among the five most expensive states.

Now reads: $245 total (was $690) — Georgia is no longer in the priciest five

Source: Georgia Board of Residential and General Contractors (GOALS) fee schedule

The site said it covered all 50 states while Massachusetts was missing from the dataset entirely — 49 states plus DC. Every "all 50 states" claim on the site was false, and anyone searching for Massachusetts found no page at all.

Now reads: Massachusetts published with all five trades, so the site genuinely covers 50 states and DC

Source: mass.gov primary sources (CSL, HIC registration, PSI-examined boards)

We showed a $149 application, $295 exam and $267 certification as three separate charges. Florida bills a single combined $335 application-and-examination fee plus $200 initial certification. Two blog sentences also quoted the retired $295 exam figure.

Now reads: $335 combined application and examination, plus $200 initial certification

Source: Fla. Admin. Code 61G4-12.009

The application and renewal fee was stale at $141.10.

Now reads: $150.20

Source: lni.wa.gov current fee page and form F625-001-000

We ranked Wisconsin the cheapest state at $45 without saying what the $45 buys. Wisconsin issues no statewide general contractor licence; $45 is the residential Dwelling Contractor Qualifier credential. The number was right and the comparison was misleading.

Now reads: Still ranked cheapest, now with the caveat stated in the licence-cost lead

Source: Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services

City licence fees carried over from a pilot batch had not been checked against the issuing authority. Kansas City's fee was wrong and both cities carried unverified bond and insurance claims.

Now reads: Kansas City $181 with no bond required; Chicago class A–D fees and per-class insurance corrected

Source: Kansas City Information Bulletin 118; Chicago general contractor licence detail page

Re-audited every Arizona fee against the Registrar of Contractors schedule, not just the one we suspected.

Result: Structure reconciled exactly — B-1 General Commercial $200 + $580, Specialty Commercial $100 + $480. Only the exam fee was stale, and it is corrected above.

Re-derived the cost superlatives after the two-exam fix changed two states' totals.

Result: Unchanged — Wisconsin $45 cheapest, Nevada $1,040 most expensive, a 23× spread.

Re-checked the fee figures behind the licence-cost analysis against board sources as part of a citation upgrade.

Result: Georgia was overstated and is corrected above. The rest held, and each now carries its citation on the page.

Verified city-level fees, bonds, insurance and class limits against each permit authority's own pages — Chicago, Kansas City, Washington DC, San Antonio, Colorado Springs and Columbus.

Result: Kansas City and Chicago are corrected above. Washington DC's conflicting fee resolved to $99 with classes A–E. Colorado Springs could not be confirmed from published pages and is flagged as unverified rather than published as fact.