NC landscape contractor license and NC irrigation contractor license: which board you answer to
Checked October 2026
North Carolina licenses landscape installs at $30,000 and sprinkler work at $2,500, through two separate boards. The Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board licenses landscape construction once a job site reaches $30,000 in a 12-month period, with a $10,000 bond, a three-section exam and a $100 license fee. The Irrigation Contractors' Licensing Board licenses sprinkler work from $2,500 a job site, with a $10,000 bond, a $340 exam and three years of experience. Mowing and lawn care need neither, and a landscape license does not cover irrigation.
North Carolina draws its lines at $30,000 for landscape installs and $2,500 for sprinkler work, so landscape licensing starts on large jobs and irrigation licensing on small ones. The state runs two separate boards, each with its own statute, exam, bond and renewal date, and a company that does both holds both. The boards' own sites and their statute copies were read on October 1, 2026. North Carolina's General Assembly site blocked us, so the statutes come from the copies the boards publish.
Which board covers which work
| Work | Board | When a license applies |
|---|---|---|
| Mowing, edging, debris removal | None | Exempt from the landscape license |
| Fertilizing, aeration, weed control and other turf care | None for this license | Exempt when it is lawn care only. Spraying has its own state license, see below |
| Installing plants, lawns, drainage, lighting, garden pools, retaining walls, patios | Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board | Contracts for a job site total $30,000 or more over 12 consecutive months |
| Installing, expanding, servicing or repairing irrigation systems | Irrigation Contractors' Licensing Board | Job site price of $2,500 or more |
The landscape statute, section 89D-13, exempts lawn mowing, turf edging and debris removal, and separately "turf management or lawn care services only", fertilization included. Jobs under $30,000 are exempt too, and a local government can't require a license for them. Section 89D-12 then says that a landscape contractor license does not authorize irrigation contracting. A crew that holds the landscape license and wants to run a sprinkler install needs the second one.
The landscape board is the Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board. Its home page says that it replaced the Landscape Contractors' Registration Board on August 1, 2014, so older articles use the old name.
The landscape contractor license
Past $30,000 a job site you need what the landscape board asks for: age 18, good moral character, business identification and five letters of reference, three personal and two professional. You submit the application with a $10,000 surety bond or irrevocable letter of credit. After the board approves the application you sit the exam, which must be passed within a year. Once you pass, you pay the license fee.
The exam has three sections: landscape design, general knowledge covering horticulture, construction and licensing law, and plant and pest identification. A Certified Plant Professional result from the NC Nursery and Landscape Association waives the plant identification section.
Fees are $75 for the application, $150 for each sitting of the exam, and $100 for the license, with the same $100 for renewal and $100 for a corporate license where one is required. A renewal postmarked after July 31 adds $25. The license runs August 1 to July 31.
To renew, the licensee completes seven hours of board-approved continuing education between August 1 and July 31: at least three technical, two business and two of either. A newly licensed contractor skips the requirement for the first period. The $10,000 bond has to stay in force the whole time.
The bond is not insurance. The board's FAQ says it exists so the board can pay restitution to homeowners who lose money to a licensee's dishonest or incompetent conduct. A licensee covered by a company's bond doesn't need a personal one if named on it.
Nothing on the board's licensing pages or in the statute requires liability insurance. A client contract or an HOA is where that requirement turns up, and the certificate of insurance guide shows how to answer it.
The irrigation contractor license
The irrigation board sets a lower bar for entry in dollars and a higher one in experience. Under G.S. 89G-3, the work is exempt only where the price of all contracts for the job site is under $2,500. The board's FAQ words it as work "over $2,500", so a job at exactly $2,500 is a question for the board. The statute defines an irrigation contractor as anyone who constructs, installs, expands, services or repairs irrigation systems for pay, which makes a repair visit a licensed act above that line.
Landscape architects, professional engineers and certain general contractors are exempt. So is a plumbing contractor, but only for water mains, taps, service lines, meters and backflow assemblies feeding irrigation, or for repairs to a system. A person who subcontracts to a licensed irrigation contractor, where that contractor performs the work entirely, is exempt as well.
Qualification takes age 18, good moral character, three references and three years of irrigation experience, proven by client or employer verification forms. Two years of related education count as one year of experience. Applications go to the board's quarterly meeting, and exams follow about two months after.
Fees on the board's licensing and application-instruction pages are $100 for the application, $340 for the first exam attempt, $240 for a retest, a one-time $100 study guide fee and $100 to renew. A corporate license is another $100 for any entity that isn't a sole proprietor, and a seal costs $75. After passing, the licensee files the original $10,000 surety bond or letter of credit, which must stay valid for the life of the license.
Passing the Irrigation Association's Certified Irrigation Contractor exam on or after November 20, 2009, with the certification still active, gets you in without the state exam. The board's FAQ says it accepts reciprocity from an active Texas or New Jersey license. The licensing page says either route still needs the application, ten state-law questions answered by email and a fee. The Texas side is on the Texas irrigation page.
The irrigation license expires every December 31, which is five months after the landscape license does. Renewal needs ten hours of continuing education, six on irrigation and four on business, and the board's renewal page charges a $50 late fee. Under G.S. 89G-9 a license that isn't renewed is automatically revoked, and it can be renewed within a year by paying the renewal and late fees if the board finds you haven't practiced after notice of revocation.
What an unlicensed job costs
Each board can assess a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per violation, and each can go to court for an injunction against unlicensed work. The landscape board adds a warning on its FAQ: in a general contractor case, the North Carolina Supreme Court held that homeowners did not have to pay an unlicensed contractor. The board says courts haven't applied that ruling to landscape contracting, only that they could.
Spraying is licensed somewhere else
Neither board licenses pesticide work. Applying herbicide or insecticide for pay goes through a different agency, which the North Carolina pesticide page covers. The state's landscape rules are one row on the landscaping license page, and sprinkler rules for other states are on the irrigation license hub. Adding installs changes the policy, and the landscaping insurance page lays out how.