Licensed and Insured: Why We Say It Out Loud

"Licensed and insured" appears on nearly every contractor's website in North Carolina. Most
homeowners skim past it. We would like to slow down on it for a moment, because the phrase
carries more weight than it gets credit for.
In North Carolina, anyone taking on a construction project valued at $40,000 or more is required
by law to hold a general contractor license issued by the North Carolina Licensing Board for
General Contractors. Earning that license is not a formality. An applicant must be of good
moral character, must pass a Board examination covering building code, law, and project
management, and must demonstrate financial responsibility through audited working capital or a
surety bond. The Board issues licenses at three limitation levels, and those levels are tied
directly to the dollar value of the projects a builder is permitted to undertake. A builder cannot
simply decide to take on a larger home. The state has to agree that the builder is financially
sound enough to do it.

The license also has to be renewed every year, and it belongs to a specific legal entity. It cannot
be lent, borrowed, or shared.
That system exists for one reason: to protect homeowners. Building a custom home means
handing a large sum of money to a company and trusting it to still be standing at the end of a
process that can run well past a year. Licensing is the state's way of confirming that a builder
has the financial footing to finish what it starts, and insurance is the mechanism that protects
you if something goes wrong along the way.
So when we say we are licensed and insured, we are not reciting a slogan. We are telling you
that a state board has examined our credentials and our balance sheet, and that we carry the
coverage to stand behind our work. Before you sign with any builder, verify that license. The

Board maintains a public search at nclbgc.org. It takes about a minute, and it is the single
easiest piece of diligence a homeowner can do.

We have kept ours in good standing for thirty-eight years. We would like you to check.