Contractor/Trade Licensing

Licenses

Building Inspections issues and regulates the licensing and registration of contractors and trades people in the various fields. All contractors are required to be licensed prior to working in the City of Great Bend. Licensure includes maintaining active certificates of insurance and surety bonds. The license types issued by the City of Great Bend are:

Class A General Contractor - Entitles license holder to contract for and perform any act as a building contractor for building, remodeling or repairing of any structure or addition. **Excludes all electrical, mechanical and plumbing.
Class B Building Contractor - Entitles license holder to contract for and perform any act as a building contractor limited to the erection, addition to, remodeling and wrecking of commercial buildings not exceeding three stories in height. Allows license holder to contract for and perform nonstructural remodeling to commercial buildings exceeding three stories in height. **Excludes all electrical, mechanical and plumbing.
Class C Residential Contractor - Entitles license holder to contract for and perform any act as a contractor limited to construction, remodeling, and/or repair of one- and two-family residences, and building accessories thereto. **Excludes all electrical, mechanical and plumbing.
Class D Roofing Unlimited Contractor - Entitles license holder to contract for and perform any act as a contractor limited to installation, repair and replacement of roof coverings. **Excludes all electrical, mechanical and plumbing.
Class E Roofing Limited Contractor - Entitles license holder to contract for and perform any act as a contractor limited to the installation, repair, and replacement of residential steep roof coverings. **Excludes all electrical, mechanical and plumbing.
Class F Limited Contractor (includes sign contractors) - Entitles license holder to contract for and perform any act as a contractor limited to one or more specific specialties listed on the license application. **Excludes all electrical, mechanical and plumbing.
Class G Demolition Contractor - Entitles license holder to demolish any building. **Excludes all electrical, mechanical and plumbing.
Class H House Moving Contractor - Entitles license holder to move any building. **Excludes all electrical, mechanical and plumbing.
Electrical Contractor - Entitles license holder to engage in the business of electrical wiring on his own and not in the employ of another person. Certificates required. **Excludes all mechanical and plumbing.
Mechanical Contractor - Entitles license holder to engage in the business of mechanical operations and/or mechanical systems on his own and not in the employ of another person. Certificates required. **Excludes all electrical and plumbing.
Plumbing Contractor - Entitles license holder to engage in the business of plumbing on his own and not in the employ of another person. Certificates required. **Excludes all electrical and mechanical.

The following license types require applicants to provide proof of a minimum exam score of 75%: Class A General, Class B Building, Class C Residential, Class D Roofing Unlimited, Class E Roofing Limited, Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing. Accepted exams include those from ICC, Prometric and Block & Associates. All license types also require applicants to provide documentation verifying their work and/or educational experience in their respective fields. More information relating to experience and/or educational requirements for each license type is available here.

Applicants must also provide proof of general liability insurance with minimum policy limits of $500,000.00 for each occurrence. The certificate of insurance must be on an Acord form with “City of Great Bend” named as the certificate holder. Surety bonds in the amount of $5,000.00 are also required for Class G Demolition Contractors and Class H House Moving Contractors.

**Please note that all contractors performing roofing work are required to hold a State of Kansas Roofer Registration certificate in addition to their City of Great Bend license. Please visit https://ag.ks.gov/licensing/roofing-registration for more information on Roofer Registration.

The City of Great Bend Citizen Portal allows individuals to search for licensed contractors. This Contractor Search will provide information on currently and previously licensed contractors.

Licensing Fees

City of Great Bend Building Inspection staff recently completed an extensive review of our current permit, licensing, and meeting fees. This process consisted of reviewing our current fees and analyzing those fees against the fees of other Kansas cities of similar size and evaluating these fees based upon the services provided by our department. The result of this review indicated that our fees have not been updated since 1994 and the fees being assessed do not accurately reflect the services being provided as part of our licensing and inspection processes. Several public hearings and work sessions were conducted at City Council meetings prior to the members of the City Council voting to adopt the new fees. The Great Bend City Council voted to pass Ordinance Number 4382 on March 7, 2022, to create a Master Fee Schedule where all the fees utilized by the City of Great Bend could be found in one document. The current Master Fee Schedule was adopted by the Great Bend City Council on March 21, 2022, by Resolution Number 032122-H.

What does this mean for our contractors? Contractors applying for new licenses or renewing their current licenses will notice some changes in the licensing fees themselves but also with the license terms. Currently, our contractor licenses run for a one-year term and require an annual renewal. Under our new fee schedule the licenses will run for two-year terms and will be renewed on a bi-annual basis. The license term will run from even year to even year (ex. July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024). The licensing cycles correspond with the Continued Education cycle required for our Trades Contractors.

The new licensing fees went into effect for the 2022-2024 renewal cycle due by June 20, 2022. License fee information can be found here. The complete City of Great Bend Master Fee Schedule can be found here.

Online License Applications:

New license applications and license renewals can now be submitted online through the City of Great Bend Citizen Portal. Submitted applications will be reviewed by our office and we will make contact via the provided email address if further information is needed and to process licensing fees. Our department will complete a final review of all submitted applications and documents and we will send a payment link via the provided email address. Once payment is processed we will issue the official license.

Fillable Applications

Contractor License Application
Insurance Requirements
Trade Licensing Certificate Application

If your software is not able to accommodate Fillable Applications please contact our office for PDF versions of the documents listed above.

Trade Licensing Certificates

In addition to licensure, all trades people, Masters, Journeymen, Apprentices and Helpers are required to hold a certificate prior to working in the City of Great Bend. Master and Journeymen applicants are required to provide proof of a minimum exam score of 75%.

All certificates are renewed on a bi-annual basis.

Testing Information

The International Code Council provides testing options for construction and electrical contractors. The International Association of Plumbing & Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) provides testing options for plumbing and mechanical contractors.

Individuals interested in testing will schedule and complete their exams through the appropriate agency. Once the appropriate exam has been passed the City of Great Bend will require proof of those test scores to be submitted with the license or certificate application.

More detailed testing information can be found in our Testing Requirements & Information for Contractor Licensing brochure.

Continuing Education

The City of Great Bend requires twelve (12) hours of approved continuing education for plumbing, gas, mechanical and electrical license and trades people. Six (6) hours are to be code book related and the hours shall be submitted at the time of renewal.

Please contact our office at (620) 793-4106 with any questions or for further information regarding licensing.