Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 635: State Licensing Board for Residential and Commercial General Contractors; revise provisions
Last action July 1, 2025 · Effective Date
House Bill 635 revises how Georgia's licensing board for residential and commercial general contractors is structured, how applicants qualify and are examined, and what conduct can trigger license discipline.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia licenses residential and commercial general contractors through a 15-member State Licensing Board under the Secretary of State. This bill changes several details of how that board operates and how people become licensed. It removes the two-term limit on board members, changes how many division members must be present to act on delegated matters (from a fixed number of four to a simple majority), and tweaks qualifications for the public building official board seats to require experience rather than current employment in that role. The bill also rewrites the experience and education requirements for residential-basic, residential-light commercial, and commercial general contractor licenses, requiring that work experience be verified through a sworn affidavit rather than just described as 'proven.' It removes some existing requirements, like having completed specific past projects, and changes examination retake rules by dropping the one-year waiting period and reexamination fee for repeat test-takers. Finally, it adds a new ground for discipline: knowingly letting an unlicensed person or unauthorized business use a contractor's license.
What the bill does
- Removes the existing two-term limit on appointments to the State Licensing Board for Residential and Commercial General Contractors.
- Changes the quorum needed for a board division to act on matters delegated to it, from a fixed four members to a simple majority of that division's members.
- Requires work experience for licensure applicants to be verified through a sworn affidavit from an employer or knowledgeable person, rather than simply described as 'proven.'
- Removes requirements that applicants show completion of specific past projects (for example, two residential-basic projects in the prior two years) to qualify for licensure.
- Eliminates the one-year waiting period and reexamination fee previously required for applicants retaking a licensing exam a fourth or later time.
- Adds a new disciplinary ground allowing the board to revoke or refuse a license if a licensee knowingly lets an unlicensed person or unauthorized business use their contractor's license.
Who it affects
The bill affects members appointed to the State Licensing Board for Residential and Commercial General Contractors, current and prospective residential-basic, residential-light commercial, and commercial general contractors in Georgia, business organizations that rely on a licensed 'qualifying agent,' and Georgians who hire contractors for construction projects.
Why it matters
Contractors seeking licensure would face revised experience-verification rules and an easier path to retake failed exams, while board members could serve longer without term limits. Homeowners and businesses that hire contractors gain an added protection: contractors can now be disciplined specifically for letting unlicensed people or businesses use their license.
Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 43-41-3 to remove the two-term limit on board appointments and adjust building-official member qualifications to 'experience as' rather than current service.
- Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 43-41-4 so a division needs only a majority, rather than at least four, of its members present to act on delegated matters.
- Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 43-41-6 to require sworn affidavits verifying applicants' work experience and to remove past-project completion requirements for residential-basic and residential-light commercial licensure.
- Section 3 also removes the one-year wait and reexamination fee for applicants retaking the licensing exam a fourth or later time.
- Section 4 amends O.C.G.A. § 43-41-16 to add a new disciplinary ground for knowingly letting an unlicensed individual or unauthorized business use a contractor's license.
- Section 5 repeals conflicting laws.
From the bill
“Knowingly entering into a contractual arrangement, whether oral or written, for or otherwise permitting the use of his or her license issued under this chapter by an individual who is not licensed in accordance with this chapter or by a business entity that has not been authorized under the provisions of this chapter to lawfully engage in contracting or perform the functions of a contractor.”
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 91
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
- Senate Tabled (Senate)
Show full history (17 actions)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Marcus Wiedower (R, HD-121)
- Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
- Matt Reeves (R, HD-99)
- Holt Persinger (R, HD-119)
- Lehman Franklin (R, HD-160)
- Rob Clifton (R, HD-131)
- Larry Walker, III (R, SD-20)
Votes
- House voteMarch 6, 2025
171 yea, 2 nay (3 not voting, 4 excused)
- Senate voteApril 2, 2025
53 yea, 1 nay (1 not voting, 1 excused)
Topics
- contractor licensing
- construction industry
- professional licensing boards
- home builders
- business regulation