Beacon Impact

Reforming the Home Improvement Contractors License

In a time with 40-year high inflation and 20-year high mortgage rates, many people and families cannot afford to buy a new home. Here in Tennessee the problem is even worse as Tennessee had the 4th highest increase in home prices in the nation.


As a result, some may look to renovate or remodel a kitchen or other portion of their current home to better fit their needs until they can afford a new home. But finding someone to do the remodel is becoming more difficult due to arbitrary government restrictions.

Tennessee has two licenses for these types of projects: the general contractor and the home improvement contractor. The home improvement contractor is limited to projects up to $24,999, while the general contractor, who generally focus on building new homes and other larger projects can do projects from $25,000 and up.


With the increased price of construction materials and costs associated with home renovation, the size of a project that a home improvement contractor can assist with has become substantially smaller. Homeowners are forced to bring in general contractors who are in short supply to do work that a home improvement contractor could have done. This arbitrary government restriction should at least be adjusted for today’s prices and indexed as inflation continues to soar.

Want more information? Contact us anytime

JORDAN LONG

Director of Government Relations Jordan.Long@BeaconImpact.org
(731) 819-1853

RON SHULTIS

Director of Policy and Research Ron@BeaconImpact.org
(770) 880-3231

STEPHANIE WHITT

Executive Vice President Stephanie@BeaconImpact.org
(615) 556-7192