What changed on May 7, 2025
Before the change, the exemption in Utah Code 58-55-305 let an unlicensed person take a repair or alteration job up to $3,000. The 2025 amendment raised that ceiling to $7,000, measured on the whole project: labor, materials, and any change orders added along the way. It also split the range into two tiers. Below $3,000 nothing extra is required beyond staying inside the exemption. Between $3,000 and $7,000 the person has to file an affirmation with the Utah Division of Professional Licensing and carry public liability insurance for the work. The plain effect is that a larger share of small interior jobs, patches, trim, interior doors, closet work, can be done by someone without a contractor license, provided the paperwork above $3,000 is real. What did not change is the ceiling on the licensed side: an R101 contractor like us takes non-structural projects up to $50,000, and a general contractor takes the rest.
The two tiers, in one table
Under $3,000, the exemption applies with no filing. From $3,000 up to $7,000, the exemption still applies but only with a DOPL affirmation on file and public liability insurance in force. At $7,000 or more, the job needs a licensed contractor, full stop. The dollar figure is the contract value of the project, not the labor alone, so a $2,400 labor quote plus $1,100 of materials is a $3,500 job and sits in the middle tier. If the scope grows past the ceiling after work starts, the job is over the exemption and the right answer is a licensed contractor, not a second invoice. When someone quotes you a small job, ask which tier it sits in and, if it is the middle one, ask to see the affirmation and the insurance certificate.
What the exemption never covers
The exemption is about small alteration and repair. It has never covered plumbing systems or electrical systems, which stay with licensed plumbers and electricians at any dollar amount, and it does not turn structural or load-bearing work into something an unlicensed person can do. Moving a drain, adding a circuit, cutting a new opening in a bearing wall, touching a gas line, or doing HVAC work is licensed-trade work whether the invoice is $900 or $9,000. This is the part that gets homeowners in trouble: a handyman quotes a bathroom refresh, the tile is fine, but the valve he moved was plumbing and the outlet he added was electrical, and neither was inspected. If a job description includes those words, the exemption is the wrong frame for it.
How to check the person at your door
Three checks take five minutes. First, the license: DOPL's public lookup at secure.utah.gov/llv/search shows whether a person or company holds a contractor license and what classification it is. An R101 is residential and small-commercial non-structural remodeling and repair. Second, insurance: ask for a certificate naming the contractor, not a screenshot of a quote. Third, the scope: ask for a written list of what is included and what is referred to another trade. A quote with no details is the most common warning sign in the reviews homeowners leave about bad experiences on the Wasatch Front. If the answer to any of the three is a shrug, the price is not the point anymore.
Why we do not use the exemption
Wasatch Finish could take small jobs under the $7,000 rule. We do not. Every job, a $600 patch-and-paint or a $40,000 basement, is written as licensed R101 work with insurance on the crew, a written scope, and the same referrals to licensed electricians and plumbers. The reason is simple: the exemption exists for people who do not hold a license, and we do. Working under it would mean stepping out of the license for the smallest jobs, which is backwards. The practical benefit to you is that the punch list gets the same paperwork as the big project, the license number is on the quote, and there is nothing to check twice.
Bottom line
The exemption is $7,000, not $3,000; the middle tier needs paperwork; plumbing, electrical, and structural work are never inside it. Check the license, the insurance, and the written scope, and the rest takes care of itself.
Questions
Is the Utah handyman limit $3,000 or $7,000?
It is $7,000 per project including labor and materials, since May 7, 2025, under Utah Code 58-55-305(1)(h). Between $3,000 and $7,000 the unlicensed person must file a DOPL affirmation and carry public liability insurance. Pages that still say $3,000 are quoting the rule before the amendment.
Can a handyman do plumbing or electrical under the exemption?
No. Plumbing systems and electrical systems are licensed-trade work at any dollar amount and were never inside the exemption. Fixture swaps at an existing rough-in are a gray area many cities treat as finish work; ask the city building department for your address before assuming.
Does the $7,000 include materials?
Yes. The ceiling is the value of the whole project: labor, materials, and change orders. A job that starts under it and grows past it is over the exemption.
