Garage door rules & licensing in Georgia

State Licensing Board for Residential and Commercial General Contractors, Georgia Secretary of State (Licensing Division) — official site

'To perform (or offer to perform) residential or commercial general contractor services for compensation in Georgia, you must be licensed... However, licenses are not required to perform work that qualifies as a specialty trade.' The Board's Traditional Specialty Contractors list includes 'Overhead Doors'; that page states: 'Traditional specialty contractors will not be required to carry a residential or general contractor license but will be required to comply with all applicable national, state, and local codes and ordinances.' O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(c) also provides that a person licensed under the chapter may work statewide and no municipality or county may impose additional licensing requirements, subject to local requirements already in effect as of 1 July 2004.

The greater of $10,000 or 25 percent - O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(f): an exempt specialty contractor may perform work that would otherwise require a licence only where the total scope of work is predominantly of its exempt specialty type, 'provided that such other work involved is incidental to and an integral part of the exempt work performed by the specialty contractor and does not exceed the greater of $10,000.00 or 25 percent of the total value at the time of contracting of the work to be performed.'

For licensees (not for exempt specialty contractors): 'Insurance is a condition of applying for and maintaining licensure.' General liability minimums are Residential Basic $300k per occurrence; Residential Light Commercial, Commercial General Contractor and Commercial General Contractor Limited Tier $500k per occurrence. Minimum net worth is $25k for Residential Basic, Residential Light Commercial and Commercial GC Limited Tier, and $150k for Commercial General Contractor. Workers' compensation insurance in Georgia is only required if you have 3 or more employees.

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs publishes the State Minimum Standard Codes. The International Residential Code for One- and Two-Family Dwellings is on the MANDATORY list, and 'The mandatory codes are applicable to all construction whether or not they are locally enforced.' Permissive codes (including the Disaster Resilient Building Code IRC Appendix and the International Existing Building Code) apply only where a local government adopts them by ordinance or resolution.

Georgia’s mandatory state minimum code is the 2024 International Residential Code with Georgia Amendments, revised January 1, 2026, published by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. The 2026 amendment packet contains no Georgia change to IRC Section R301.2.1 (wind design) or Section R301.2.1.2 (protection of openings), so the IRC’s own wind maps and windborne-debris provisions govern. Georgia separately publishes IRC Appendix U, Disaster Resilient Construction, which a local jurisdiction may adopt in whole or in part; Chapter AU4, High-Wind Resistive Construction, offers four wind speeds - Option A 100 MPH, Option B 110 MPH, Option C 120 MPH, Option D 130 MPH - and "the jurisdiction may pick only one option that is higher than the mapped wind speed shown in the International Residential Code." Where Appendix U has been adopted, Section AU407.1 Design pressure applies directly to a garage door: "Exterior windows and doors shall be designed to resist the design wind loads specified in International Residential Code Table R301.2(2) adjusted for height and exposure per International Residential Code Table R301.2(3) based on the minimum wind speed specified in this appendix by the local jurisdiction." AU407.2 Anchorage methods: "Window and door assembly anchoring systems shall be in accordance with the manufacturer’s published recommendations to achieve the design pressure specified per Section AU407.1. ... Anchorage shall not exceed the spacing for the tested rated performance." Ask the local building department whether Appendix U has been adopted and under which option.