The handyman LLC, state by state.
General repair, small remodels, drywall, painting, fencing, deck work. The entity is the same in every state. The line between handyman work and contractor work is not. Most states cap how large a job you can take without a general contractor license, and the caps sit a long way apart. Insurance and workers comp stack on top. Pick your state for the threshold.
Four things that move with the state line.
Forming the LLC takes an afternoon. Knowing which jobs you can legally take, and what has to be in place before you take them, is the part that keeps the business standing.
The project-size threshold
Most states cap the size of a single job you can take without a general contractor license. Under the cap you work. Over it, the job belongs to a licensed contractor. The caps sit a long way apart, which is why one job is routine in one state and a licensing problem in the next.
Specialty work sits apart
The project-size cap is not the only boundary. Certain trades are licensed on their own track no matter how small the job is, and being comfortably under the cap does not put you inside them. Knowing exactly where your scope stops is what keeps a quick favor from turning into unlicensed trade work.
Insurance follows the work
General liability is the baseline customers and lead platforms ask about. Tools coverage protects the things you cannot work without. Commercial auto covers the vehicle you actually work out of. None of it replaces the licensing question, and the licensing question does not replace any of it.
Your first hire changes things
Working alone and working with a crew are two different positions. Employees bring workers compensation into the stack and change what your cover has to carry. It is worth knowing what your state expects before the hire rather than after the first injury on a job site.
The LLC is the same in all fifty-one. The threshold is not.
Pick your state.
Each state page covers that state's project-size threshold, where specialty trades take over, the insurance a handyman there is expected to carry, and what changes when you take on employees. Start with the state you actually work in, not the one you formed in.
A clean handoff, in four steps.
You keep working. We form the entity, get the tax identity and the account in place, and point you at the threshold and the cover questions in the order they actually matter on a job.
File the LLC
We prepare and file the formation documents with your state, so the name on the estimate, the invoice and the contract is the business rather than you personally.
EIN and bank account
The tax identity and a business account opened in the entity's name, so business and personal never share a statement. This is the part that makes the entity mean something later.
Check the threshold
Before you take on anything large, confirm where your state draws the project-size line and which trades sit outside it. That answer shapes what you quote for and what you hand to a licensed trade.
Insure and document
General liability, tools and commercial auto in place, workers comp once you have employees, and a written record for every job: scope, photos, sign-off. The paperwork is what settles arguments later.
The entity is quick. The threshold is the part to get right.
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The questions handymen ask before the first job.
Do I need a contractor license to be a handyman?
It depends on the size of the jobs you take and where you take them. Most states allow unlicensed handyman work up to a project-size cap and require a general contractor license above it. The caps differ enormously, so the honest answer is that this is a state question rather than a trade question. Your state page gives the threshold that applies to you.
Does an LLC protect me if a job goes wrong?
An LLC separates the business from you as an individual, which matters when a claim is made against the business. It does not cover the claim, it does not replace insurance, and it does not protect you from your own workmanship. In practice the entity and the liability cover do different halves of the same job, and handymen carry both for that reason.
Do I still need insurance if I have an LLC?
Yes, and the two are not substitutes. General liability responds when work causes damage or injury. Tools coverage responds when the kit you depend on is stolen or destroyed. Commercial auto covers the vehicle you work out of. Customers and lead platforms often ask for proof of cover before they will let you near a job, regardless of how the business is structured.
What counts as specialty trade work?
Certain trades are licensed on their own track, separately from general handyman work, and the project size does not release you from that. The boundary is drawn by each state, and it is the reason a job that looks small can still sit outside what you are permitted to do. Each state page sets out where those boundaries fall so you know what to subcontract.
When do I need workers compensation?
Generally once you have employees rather than while you are working alone, but the detail is set by your state and the point at which it attaches is not the same everywhere. It is worth answering before the first hire, because the moment it applies is the moment you have exposure, and a first injury is a poor time to be reading your own state's rules.
Should I elect S-corp treatment?
It is a tax election that changes how profit from the LLC is treated, and it becomes relevant once the work is steady rather than at formation. It also has its own timing rules, which is why it is a conversation to have before the year you want it to apply rather than at the end of one. The entity comes first either way.
Keep going, in order.
Industry & niche LLCs
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