Hiring a contractor in Kentucky
Only specific trades are licensed. This state licenses individual trades such as electrical, plumbing and HVAC, but issues no general contractor or remodeler licence. Anyone can call themselves a general contractor here. Licensing for the rest happens at city level, if at all.
Who licenses
Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (DHBC), Public Protection Cabinet
In our directory
Not yet listed.
This state publishes no bulk licence file, so its records have to be requested rather than downloaded.
What to do before you hire in Kentucky
- There is no general contractor licence to ask for here, so the licence question moves to the specific trades. Anyone doing electrical, plumbing or HVAC work should still hold a state licence for that trade.
- Ask for proof of liability insurance and workers' compensation in writing. With no licensing board standing behind the work, insurance is most of your protection.
- Your city may register contractors even though the state does not. See below.
- Get the full scope and price in writing before any money changes hands, and never pay the full amount up front.
What the big cities in Kentucky do
Where the state does not license, the city sometimes does. We checked each of these directly.
| City | Registers contractors? | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Lexington | Yes | ANSWER: Lexington DOES register contractors itself, and there IS a working bulk CSV export, but it is NOT on the open data portal and NOT an open API. It is behind an Accela Citizen Access search form. |
| Louisville | Yes | ANSWER: Yes, Louisville registers contractors, and yes there is a real bulk file, but the bulk file is a frozen 2022 snapshot. The live system of record is a search portal, not a feed. |
Sourced from Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction (DHBC), Public Protection Cabinet and checked against the state's published information. Licensing rules change; verify with the authority before you hire.