Tennessee General Mechanical Contractor (CMC)

License Requirements

• Effective May 24, 2007, Senate Bill 0786 and HB 2122 requires plumbers to be pre-approved by the Board, prior to taking the mechanical plumbing exam (CMC or CMC-A) by providing evidence of 3 years experience. There is a specific Exam Approval Request form that candidates need to fill out and send to the Board Office. Once submitted the proof of 3 years experience the board will send PSI confirmation to approve the SS# for testing. The process will take less than 3 business days if faxed to (615) 532-2868. ALL PLUMBERS MUST BE PRE-APPROVED TO TEST AND WILL BE REQUIRED TO LIST THREE (3) YEARS OF PROVEN EXPERIENCE.
• Tennessee Plumbing Approval Application
• Once you pass your exams, you will then submit an application to the state licensing board with documentation of your experience, financial information, and your passing test scores.
• Please note that the Tennessee Business and Law exam is also required to be passed to obtain your contractor’s license.
• Applicants must provide a letter of reference from a past client or inspector, as well as a list of relevant job descriptions with contract amounts with owner’s names/addresses. There are no specific years of experience required. However, the board does set the monetary limited based on experience when the level of experience is limited.
• The monetary limit (limit per contract) is based on 10 times the lesser of the net worth or working capital or experience. (Working capital is current assets minus current liabilities and net worth is total assets minus total liabilities). A reviewed financial statement is required for monetary requests of $3,000,000 or less. A CPA audited financial statement is required for monetary requests exceeding $3,000,000. To obtain an unlimited license, applicants must have over $300,000 in both net worth and working capital.
• All contractors with 1 or more employees are required to carry Worker’s Compensation insurance. Every applicant will be required to provide a certificate of insurance proving an adequate amount of liability insurance. The requirements are as follows: Monetary Limit Minimum Insurance Up to $500,000 -----$100,000 $501,000 to $1,500,000 -----$500,000 $1,501,000 to Unlimited -----$1,000,000