Many local government procurement officials are familiar with the requirements for the licensure of general contractors in North Carolina. An individual or entity is a “general contractor” when they bid upon, construct, or superintend the construction of any building, highway, public utilities, grading or any improvement or structure and the cost of the undertaking is forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or more.

However, there are several lesser-known licensure requirements that are relevant to services for which local governments contract. This is the first blog in a two-part series that explains the licensing of landscape contractors and how these requirements may affect local government procurement and contracting. The second blog post will focus on the licensing of alarm systems contractors in North Carolina.

Chapter 89D of the General Statutes (hereinafter “G.S.”) requires landscape contractors to obtain a license issued by the North Carolina Landscape Contractors’ Licensing Board (NCLCLB).

What is a landscape contractor?

State law defines a landscape contractor as an individual or business, who for a fee, “engages in business requiring the art, experience, ability, knowledge, science, and skill to prepare contracts and bid for the performance of landscape services.” The term landscape services, in turn, encompasses a broad range of activities related to the improvement of outdoor spaces. State law specifies that landscape services include installing, planting, repairing, and managing gardens, lawns, shrubs, vines, trees, or other decorative vegetation, including the finish grading and preparation of plots and areas of land for decorative utilitarian treatment and arrangement. State law also defines landscape contracting to include horticulture consultation and planting design; constructing, installing, or maintaining landscape drainage systems and cisterns[1]; designing, installing, or maintaining low-voltage landscape lighting systems[2]; and constructing garden pools, retaining walls,[3] walks, patios, and landscape features.

Are there exemptions to licensure?

There are numerous exemptions to the requirement for a landscape contractor license.  Most notably, a license is not required where the price of all contracts for a “given job site” is less than $30,000 in any consecutive 12-month period.[4] This means that local governments do not need to require a license for landscaping contractors if the total contract cost for a site is less than $30,000 across 12 consecutive months. However, local governments often contract with companies for landscaping services across multiple sites, such as parks facilities. How should a local government treat these contracts under this exemption? “Job site” is not defined in Chapter 89D or the applicable provisions of the North Carolina Administrative Code, 21 NCAC 28B .0101, et seq. However, according to the Board, separate sites under one contract will be treated as independent “job sites” if they are invoiced and paid for separately. This means that a contractor for multiple, separate sites under a single contract could be exempt from licensure so long as the sites are invoiced and paid for separately and the costs for each site do not exceed $30,000 in a 12-month period. On the other hand, if the multiple, separate sites under a single contract are invoiced and paid for together, those sites will be grouped for the purposes of applying the exemption.

Contract cost is not the only exemption to licensure. Local governments are exempt from landscape contractor licensure when performing landscaping on public property.[5] Although the statute does not state explicitly that this exemption requires the use of the local government’s own employees, local governments would be wise to exercise this exemption only when using their own staff. Otherwise, the local government is necessarily entering into a contractual relationship for the landscaping and the services could fall within the purview of the statute depending on the cost, as discussed above. There is no monetary limit on a local government’s use of this exemption, so a local government performing landscaping work on public property is not required to have a landscape contractor license even if the cost of the landscaping work exceeds $30,000.

Moreover, the exemptions for landscape contracting recognize other professional licensures. General contractors, professional engineers, and landscape architects who are already licensed by those professions’ boards are not required to obtain a landscape contractor license.[6] Chapter 89D also makes it clear that a licensed landscape contractor is not required to be licensed as a general contractor if the licensed landscape contractor is performing landscape construction or contracting work of $40,000 or more.[7]

Finally, certain activities are entirely exempt from licensure under Chapter 89D, including lawn mowing, turf edging, turf management (e.g., fertilization, aeration, weed control), and debris removal services.[8] Thus, if a contractor is only providing lawn maintenance services—sometimes referred to as “mow and blow”—a license is not required. Be aware that Section 89D-13 of the General Statutes includes more exemptions than are discussed here, and you should review the statute to determine if a license is required.

Who is required to hold the license?

A common question with any state licensure is who is required to be licensed? For landscape contractors, the Board grants individual and corporate licenses.[9] Any individual performing landscaping services under the purview of Chapter 89D is required to have an individual license. To illustrate the licensing structure, let’s use Lenny Laurel as an example. If Lenny Laurel is providing landscape contracting services and performing that work as himself, Lenny only needs an individual license. However, if Lenny Laurel, as a sole proprietor, is operating under the assumed or designated trade name Laurel Landscaping, he must also have a corporate license in that name unless Lenny has (1) registered with his county Register of Deeds as a DBA (Doing Business As) and (2) notified the Board that he is doing business under a different name.

If Lenny Laurel operates his business, Laurel Landscaping, as a corporation, LLC, or partnership, he is required to have a corporate license for Laurel Landscaping.[10] In order to obtain the corporate license, at least one individually licensed landscape contractor must act as the licensee for and be employed by Laurel Landscaping. In most instances, local governments will likely be contracting with an entity that holds a corporate license, and only licensed individuals are authorized to execute contracts for corporate licensees.[11] Ultimately, the key takeaway for local governments is that they need to know with whom they are contracting and, thus, who is authorized to execute the contract—is it Lenny Laurel as an individual or a sole proprietor? Or is the local government contracting with Laurel Landscaping, owned and managed by Lenny Laurel, who is individually licensed and acts as the licensee for Laurel Landscaping? You can look up landscape contractor licensees here to confirm the corporate license and the license qualifier, meaning the individual who is licensed within the company.

How are landscape contractors different than landscape architects?

You may be wondering about the overlap between landscape contractors and landscape architects. Both professions can provide planting design services, so how do you know which professional is needed for a project? State law limits the scope of landscape contractors. Specifically, G.S. 89A-2(b), and the administrative rules promulgated by the NCLCLB, 21 NCAC 28B .0505, allow a landscape contractor to provide design and consultation services and supervision of projects for three types of sites: (1) a single family residential site, regardless of size; (2) residential, institutional, or commercial projects under one acre; or (3) any project over one acre in total area only if the project involves planting and mulching. If a proposed project involves more extensive work, then a landscape architect is likely needed.

Does my local government need to hire a licensed landscape contractor?

With all of this in mind, when do local governments need to ensure that a person or business it hires is a licensed landscape contractor? The answer, of course, is that it depends. Local governments must carefully consider the scope of services to determine if a license is needed. As an example, a City of Charlotte Request for Proposals (RFP) required  a landscape contractor license when contracting for grounds maintenance services for seven city-owned properties, which work included—but was not limited to—grounds maintenance, turf maintenance, shrub maintenance, groundcover maintenance, perennial maintenance, trash and debris removal, storm debris pickup and limited tree maintenance. Certain activities identified in Charlotte’s scope are exempt from licensure, such as debris removal and turf maintenance. However, planting and managing shrubs, decorative vegetation, and trees are activities that require licensure if the contract cost for a job site exceeds $30,000 in a 12-month period—which explains why the City of Charlotte required a landscape contractor license for its solicitation.

Can landscape contractors install irrigation systems?

No, unless they also hold a license issued by the North Carolina Irrigation Contractors’ Licensing Board. Irrigation contracting is another occupation required to be licensed in North Carolina. Pursuant G.S. Chapter 89G, the North Carolina Irrigation Contractors’ Licensing Board oversees the licensing of irrigation contractors in North Carolina. An irrigation contractor is any person who, for compensation or other consideration, constructs, installs, expands, services, or repairs irrigation systems.[12] Any person performing irrigation contracting work must be licensed if the price of all contracts for labor, material, and other items for a given job site is more than $2,500.

There are several exemptions to irrigation contractor licensure, too. First, a local government is not required to be licensed when performing irrigation construction or contracting work on public property and using its own employees.[13] Additionally, for jurisdictions with publicly owned golf courses, any person performing irrigation construction or irrigation contracting work for the golf course is exempt from licensure; note that this exemption does not limit the person performing the work to employees of the local government or contracted management company. Moreover, general contractors, professional engineers, and landscape architects who are already licensed by those professions’ boards are not required to obtain an irrigation contractor license. Plumbing contractors licensed under G.S. Chapter 87 are also exempt from irrigation contractor licensure if they are only repairing an irrigation system or are installing, repairing, or maintaining water mains, taps, lines, meters, and backflow assemblies that provide water for an irrigation system. For more information about irrigation contractor licensure, visit the website for the North Carolina Irrigation Contractors’ Licensing Board.

Do you have questions about local government procurement and landscaping contractors? Feel free to send me an email at cuccaro@sog.unc.edu? Stay tuned for a blog post about alarm systems businesses! By the way, did you know that you can receive email alerts when new blog posts are published on Coates’ Canons? Sign up here.

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[1] However, landscaping contractors are prohibited from making connection to pipes, fixtures, apparatus, or appurtenances installed upon the premises, or in a building, to supply water or convey sewage or other waste.

[2] There are limitations on the low-voltage electrical work that can be performed by landscape contractors; see G.S. 89D-11(3)d.

[3] In 2023, the General Assembly modified the language in Chapter 89D to clarify that landscape contractors are allowed to construct retaining walls, regardless of cost and regardless of whether the walls are decorative or structural.

[4] G.S. 89D-13(5).

[5] G.S. 89D-13(1). Additionally, G.S. 89D-13(3) exempts a property owner performing landscape work on his or her own property. This exemption is likely applicable only to individuals, but to the extent that it applies to corporate entities, it is largely duplicative of the exemption for local governments performing work on public property.

[6] G.S. 89D-13(6), (9), and (10), respectively.

[7] G.S. 89D-12(c).

[8] G.S. 89D-13(11)(f), (g).

[9] Additionally, the licensee, whether corporate or individual, must have a $10,000 NC Landscape Contractor’s Surety Compliance Bond (or letter of credit in the same amount). The bonding requirement is managed through the Board as a requisite to licensing, but local governments are encouraged to confirm that the bond was acquired in the same name as the licensee.

[10] G.S. 89D-17

[11] Id.

[12] An irrigation system, in turn, means all piping, fittings, sprinklers, drip tubing, valves, control wiring of 30 volts or less, and associated components installed for the delivery and application of water for the purpose of irrigation that are “downstream” of a well, pond or other surface water, potable water or groundwater source, or grey water source and “downstream” of a backflow prevention assembly.  Excluded from the definition of an irrigation system are the following: surface water, potable water or groundwater sources, water taps, utility piping, water service lines, water meters, backflow prevention assemblies, and certain stormwater and sanitary drainage systems.

[13] G.S. 89G-3(1).