LA General Contractor cheat sheet

Louisiana requires a contractor license from the State Licensing Board for Contractors (LSLBC) for projects of $50,000 or more in labor and materials; residential work uses a separate Residential Contractor classification with a $75,000 threshold for single-family/structures for one's own use, and commercial work below $50,000 still requires local permits but not a state license.

License classifications are issued by major classification and subclassification: Building Construction, Highway, Street and Bridge Construction, Heavy Construction, Municipal and Public Works Construction, and Residential Construction; specialty trades (electrical, mechanical, plumbing) are separately licensed by the LSLBC and require a qualifying party who passes the trade exam.

Each license requires a qualifying party who passes the LSLBC exam and who must be regularly employed by the firm; a qualifying party may qualify only one active contractor license at a time, and loss of the qualifying party suspends the license until a replacement is approved.

The LSLBC exam is a closed-book, computer-based multiple-choice test; the Business and Law portion tests licensing law, lien law, contracts, and employment/OSHA rules, and the trade portion is specific to the classification. Passing scores and question counts vary by classification, so confirm current LSLBC candidate bulletins before testing.

Louisiana Private Works Act liens: a claimant must record a Statement of Claim or Privilege within 60 days after the last day of the month in which the claimant last performed work or furnished materials; the owner must record a Notice of Contract before the claimant's work begins for the lien to attach to the immovable.

Public works liens in Louisiana run against the contractor's bond, not the public property; under the Public Works Act a claimant must give written notice to the contractor and the public entity within 45 days after the last day of the month in which the work was done to preserve bond claims.

Retainage on Louisiana public works contracts is typically 5% of each progress payment; the owner must release retainage within 45 days after substantial completion or acceptance, and interest accrues on wrongfully withheld amounts.

Contractor license law requires written contracts for residential work over $7,500 that include the contractor's license number, a 3-day right to cancel for certain solicitations, and specific notice language; violating home-improvement rules can trigger treble damages and license revocation.

Louisiana sales/use tax applies to materials a contractor purchases and incorporates into immovable property; contractors cannot use a resale exemption for incorporated materials, and state plus local rates must be remitted or paid to vendors.

LSLBC classification determines the scope of work a license authorizes: a Building Construction license covers commercial/industrial structures, a Residential license covers one- and two-family dwellings and related structures, and a Highway, Street and Bridge license covers roads, drainage, and paving; working outside the classification is a violation.

Concrete: design strength f'c is verified by 28-day cylinder breaks; slump, air content, and temperature are field acceptance tests, and a minimum of one set of strength specimens is taken per 150 cubic yards or per day of placement, whichever is more frequent.

Structural steel bolted connections: A325 (now F3125 Grade A325) high-strength bolts are tensioned by turn-of-nut, calibrated wrench, or direct-tension indicator methods; inspection of pretensioned joints requires verifying the specified minimum tension per the applicable RCSC specification.

Soil compaction is specified as a percentage of maximum dry density from a standard or modified Proctor test; field density is measured by nuclear gauge or sand cone, and lift thickness plus moisture content are the controlling field variables.

OSHA construction fall protection: employees at 6 feet or more above a lower level must be protected by guardrail, safety net, or personal fall-arrest system; the 6-foot trigger also applies to excavations, and ladders must extend 3 feet above the landing.

Excavation safety: trenches 5 feet or deeper require a protective system (sloping, shoring, or shielding) unless the excavation is entirely in stable rock; a competent person must inspect daily and after rain, and spoil piles must be kept at least 2 feet from the edge.

Electrical trade knowledge: conductors are sized per NEC ampacity tables with adjustment for ambient temperature and conduit fill, and overcurrent protection must not exceed the conductor ampacity; grounding and bonding requirements differ for services versus equipment.

Mechanical and plumbing trades: drain/waste/vent sizing follows fixture-unit tables, water supply sizing uses fixture units and pressure loss, and gas piping sizing uses the longest-length method with specific gravity and pressure-drop corrections.