Garage door rules in Kanawha County, West Virginia

West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board (administered by the WV Division of Labor, Licensing Section) — official site

A state licence is required: "No person may engage in this state in any activity as a contractor or submit a bid to perform work as a contractor ... unless that person holds a license" (W. Va. Code 30-42-6). Exemptions in 30-42-6 include government employees, work personally performed by the owner or occupant, material suppliers who do not install, public utilities, agricultural owners, and "the sale or installation of a finished product, material or article ... which is not actually fabricated into and does not become a permanent fixed part" of the structure. Application requires a written application to the board, a licence fee not to exceed $150, and an examination (W. Va. Code 30-42-7).

W. Va. Code 30-42-3(d) defines a contractor as someone who undertakes or bids listed construction work where "the cost of the undertaking is $5,000 or more for residential work or $25,000 or more for commercial work." (Note: the widely-repeated $2,500 figure on commercial licensing sites is the OLD pre-2021 threshold and is no longer what the statute says.)

W. Va. Code 30-42-10 ties the licence to the permit: an applicant must, "before issuance of the permit, either furnish satisfactory proof to the inspector or authority that the person is duly licensed under the provisions of this article" or file a written statement that they are not subject to licensing; the permitting authority may not issue a permit to a person who needs a licence but lacks one. The same section requires a licensed contractor to give the property owner a written contract for work of $10,000 or more (materials plus labour). Separately, the WV State Building Code (87 CSR 4, State Fire Commission) adopts the 2018 International Building Code and the 2018 International Residential Code, and each local jurisdiction adopts and enforces it by ordinance (see https://firemarshal.wv.gov/media/39311/download?inline=).

54039 (US Census)