Net worth
Each class must affirm a minimum net worth.
- General Contractor (unlimited): $150,000, under Rules 553-4-.01(3)(d) and 553-4-.02.
- General Contractor Limited Tier: $25,000, under Rules 553-4-.05 and .06.
- Residential classes: $25,000.
The common error is applying the $150,000 unlimited figure to the Limited Tier. Also keep net worth apart from the insurance and contract figures below: $500,000 and $300,000 are liability minimums, and $1,000,000 is a contract cap.
General liability insurance
Minimum general liability per occurrence:
- Residential-Basic: $300,000.
- Residential-Light Commercial: $500,000, under Rules 553-3-.02(4) and 553-3-.04(4).
- General Contractor and Limited Tier: $500,000.
Giving Light Commercial the $300,000 Basic figure is the common error. $150,000 is the General Contractor net worth, not an insurance minimum.
Workers' compensation
The rules require workers' compensation insurance "as required by the laws of this state". O.C.G.A. 34-9-2 applies the Workers' Compensation Act to employers with 3 or more regular employees.
- A contractor with 2 regular employees is not required to carry it.
- Treating it as required for every licensee regardless of employee count is the listed common error.
- The trigger is not 1 employee.
- The requirement is not limited to General Contractors; it applies to all applicants whenever state law requires it.
The Limited Tier contract cap
Rules 553-4-.05(8) and (10) limit a Limited Tier licensee to contracts of no more than $1,000,000, and change orders may not push a contract past that maximum.
Example: a $950,000 contract with a requested change order of $100,000. 950,000 + 100,000 = 1,050,000, which is over the cap, so the licensee may not accept it.
- The cap is not just on the original contract amount; change orders count.
- It is a per-contract limit, not an annual volume limit. Reading it as annual volume is the listed common error.
- Nothing in the rule restricts it to public projects.