Renewal, reciprocity and working in other jurisdictions

A license is not a one-time achievement. It must be renewed, and because Indiana licenses locally, its value depends on where else it is accepted. This lesson covers renewal of Indianapolis licenses on their two-year cycle, renewal in Lafayette and other places that renew annually, how a license holder keeps current, what changes when a holder changes employers, how reciprocity works between Indiana authorities, and what to check before working across a state line. Fall Creek's licenses in Indianapolis, Lafayette and Brookfield Grove are the running example.

Renewing Indianapolis licenses

All Indianapolis contractor licenses, both business licenses and license holder licenses, expire on December 31 of odd-numbered years and are renewed every two years. Under the BNS packet revised in September 2025, renewal costs 247 dollars for a business license and 247 dollars for each license holder license, plus 63 dollars for each authorized agent beyond five. The renewal must include current insurance certificates and, for businesses, a bond for the new cycle, because the bond in the current packet runs to December 31, 2027. Renewing is not just paying a fee; it is resubmitting the evidence that the business still qualifies.

Because every license in the city expires on the same day, BNS's workload peaks at the end of each odd-numbered year. Teresa starts Fall Creek's renewal in October, asks the agent for new certificates and the surety for the new bond, and submits well before December. A license that lapses on December 31 cannot be used to permit work on January 2, and a busy office in late December is not the place to discover a missing signature.

Lafayette and other annual renewals

Lafayette's licenses renew every year. The city's page requires at least 250,000 dollars of general liability insurance to renew and lists a 25 dollar late fee. Other authorities renew annually, on their own dates or by calendar year. Registering towns often tie the registration to the calendar year or to the anniversary of the first registration. A contractor working in several places therefore has several cycles running at once.

The program below shows the kind of check Teresa runs each month: it lists every license, registration and certificate due within the next ninety days, so that nothing lapses unnoticed.

from datetime import date

today = date(2027, 10, 1)
items = [
    ("Indianapolis business license", date(2027, 12, 31)),
    ("Ron's license holder license", date(2027, 12, 31)),
    ("Aaliyah's license holder license", date(2027, 12, 31)),
    ("Indianapolis bond", date(2027, 12, 31)),
    ("Lafayette C/I contractor license", date(2028, 3, 31)),     # invented date for the example
    ("Brookfield Grove registration", date(2027, 12, 31)),       # invented town
    ("Liability certificate (policy renewal)", date(2028, 4, 1)),
]
for name, due in sorted(items, key=lambda x: x[1]):
    days = (due - today).days
    if days <= 90:
        print(f"Due in {days} days: {name} ({due})")

Keeping current

Many states require license holders to complete continuing education before each renewal, often a set number of hours on code changes, law and safety. The Indianapolis materials checked for this course did not state a continuing education requirement for renewal, and this course does not invent one; check the current renewal instructions and the Board's policies before each cycle. Whatever the rule, the code changes every three years and Indiana's adopted edition may change too, as Lesson 5 explained, so a license holder who stops learning falls behind quickly.

Aaliyah's plan is to set her own requirement: at least eight hours a year on code changes and safety, drawn from trade association seminars, manufacturer training, the state's notices about the electrical code and the core courses in this series. She keeps a simple log of what she studied and when. If a renewal ever asks for proof, she has it; if it does not, the habit still pays off on the job.

When you change employers

A license holder license belongs to the person, but in Indianapolis it is connected to a business. If Aaliyah ever leaves Fall Creek, her personal license goes with her, but the connection to Fall Creek ends, and she must be connected to a new business before she can qualify its work. Fall Creek, in turn, must have at least one other connected license holder or find one, as Lesson 7 explained. Both sides should notify BNS following the city's current procedure.

An approval or a pass that was never turned into a license has its own clock. Lesson 3 explained that a passing exam is valid for two years to schedule orientation, and that after that the Board requires an oral interview and twelve months of recent work. A candidate who passes and then changes jobs or moves away should finish the process before the two years run out.

Reciprocity within Indiana

Without a state license, reciprocity in Indiana happens between local authorities. Indianapolis's application packet provides for reciprocation: an applicant licensed by another city or state on an equivalent exam submits an original letter, signed by that jurisdiction's building official and sent directly to the Board, verifying the exam, the score, the passing grade, the license status and the reciprocity arrangement. The Board still reviews the application and interviews the applicant. Lafayette's municipal code has its own reciprocity provision, which the city's page cites. Many towns, like Brookfield Grove, simply register contractors whose license holder passed an exam elsewhere.

The practical effect is that the most portable Indiana licenses are those earned by a respected exam, such as the ICC exam the Indianapolis Board uses. Other authorities that rely on exam-based licenses tend to accept them. But each authority decides for itself, and an Indianapolis license is not automatically valid anywhere else.

Working in neighboring states

Indiana borders Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky license electrical contractors or electricians at the state level, each with its own exam, insurance and renewal rules, while Illinois, like Indiana, licenses mostly through local authorities. A contractor based in Indianapolis that takes a job in Cincinnati, Louisville or Chicago must meet that state's or city's rules before starting. Some states have reciprocity agreements with others; Indiana, having no state license, generally is not a party to them. Ron's answer to out-of-state calls has been to refer the work to contractors licensed there.

If a license lapses

Sometimes a renewal is missed. A lapsed license is not a valid license, and a business whose license or whose only license holder's license has lapsed should stop obtaining permits at once and call BNS to ask how to restore it. The Indianapolis materials checked for this course did not set out late fees or reinstatement rules for a license that expired, so this course does not state them. Expect the process to be slower and more expensive than an on-time renewal, and expect questions about any work done while the license was lapsed.

Work already under permit raises its own questions. A permit issued while the license was valid may still be open, but the authority may hold inspections until the license is restored. Customers waiting for a final inspection, and general contractors waiting for a closed permit before they can be paid, will not be patient. The cheapest fix is the one in the checklist below: start early and keep proof.

Entering a new Indiana market

Fall Creek's growth will probably come from the suburbs around Indianapolis and from cities such as Lafayette, where it already works. Each new market needs the same research before the first bid: which authority has the addresses, whether it licenses or registers contractors, what license it accepts for the license holder, what insurance limits and wording it wants, whether it requires a bond, what it charges, when it renews and how permits and inspections work. The answers go into Teresa's job reference with the date and the name of the person who gave them.

Watching for change

Three things are likely to change during Aaliyah's career. The NEC changes every three years, and the Board has said it will move its exam to the newest edition within 90 days of availability. Indiana's adopted electrical code may move from the 2009 edition to the proposed 2026 edition, as Lesson 5 explained. And the legislature could one day create a statewide license, as many states have, which would change how licensing works across Indiana. None of these can be predicted with confidence. A license holder who reads the Board's notices, the state's code notices and trade association updates will hear about each change before it arrives.

A renewal checklist

Aaliyah's renewal checklist is short. Three months before each expiration, confirm the date and the current instructions. Ask the agent for new certificates naming each authority and the surety for the new bond. Check that the company's legal name, address and license holders are correct on every form. Submit early and keep proof of submission. After renewal, file the new license documents and update the calendar. It takes an afternoon every two years in Indianapolis and an hour a year elsewhere, and it prevents the most avoidable problem in licensing: a lapsed license.