NJ Considering Requiring All General Contractors to be Licensed

New Jersey is considering assembly bill A571 which would create a new board of general contractors and require all general contractors in New Jersey to be licensed by the State.  Currently, only certain licensed trades and residential home improvement contractors are required to be licensed.  However, this would change under the pending legislation which would require all general contractors to be licensed by a brand new board of general contractors, even for commercial construction projects.   The board would be charged with enacting the standards to be met in order to become a general contractor in New Jersey and they would also administer an exam which would have to be passed in order to become licensed.  The licenses would be subject to renewal every two years and the contractors would also have mandatory continuing education requirements.  As of now, the bill is not law and has only been introduced and referred to Assembly Regulated Professions Committee.