How to check a contractor license in South Dakota

No state board in South Dakota licenses general contractors. Every contractor needs a contractor's excise tax license from the Department of Revenue, but that is a tax license. Electricians are licensed by the State Electrical Commission, which takes license questions by phone, and plumbers by the State Plumbing Commission, which publishes lists of licensed plumbers online.

How do I check a contractor license in South Dakota?

Start with the trade. For a plumber, search the State Plumbing Commission's list of licensed plumbers, and for an electrician, call or email the State Electrical Commission, which checks licenses that way. For anyone else, ask for the contractor's excise tax license number and ask your city about local rules.

Ask the contractor who will do the electrical and plumbing work on the job, and get their names.
For a plumber, open the Plumbing Commission's consumer information page and open the South Dakota Licensed Plumbers list, which is a PDF. Search it for the plumber's name.
Look at the date on the list. On the day we checked, the plumber list was dated July 31, 2026. Specialty licensees and small onsite wastewater installers have their own lists on the same page.
For an electrician, call the Electrical Commission at 605-773-3573 or email electrical@state.sd.us. Its complaints page says to contact it that way to check a license.
For a general contractor or remodeler, ask for the contractor's excise tax license number. It shows the business registered with the Department of Revenue, not that anyone tested its skill.
Call your city's building office and ask whether it requires local registration or a permit for the job.

We last checked this lookup on 2026-10-19. If a plumber's name isn't on the list, call the Plumbing Commission at 605-773-3429 before you rule the plumber out. A list posted on a date can miss anyone licensed after it.

Does South Dakota require a general contractor license?

No. South Dakota has no state license that tests general contractors. The Department of Revenue does require a contractor's excise tax license of anyone who contracts for construction services or builds, installs or repairs a fixture to real property, but that is a tax license.

The excise tax is 2% of the gross receipts on a construction project. A tax license tells you the business has registered to pay that tax, and it tells you nothing else. Cities can set their own rules, so ask the local building office what it requires for the job you're planning.

Who licenses electricians and plumbers in South Dakota?

The State Electrical Commission licenses all electricians in South Dakota, and the State Plumbing Commission licenses plumbers. Both are part of the Department of Labor and Regulation in Pierre.

The Electrical Commission's license types are apprentice electrician, journeyman electrician, Class B electrician and electrical contractor. A journeyman has finished an apprenticeship and passed an exam. The Plumbing Commission takes complaints if you have concerns about a plumber's work. The Electrical Commission takes written complaints about anyone wiring without a license or permit.

What does a South Dakota check not tell you?

A license check tells you the person holds a license, and that's all. The plumber lists are PDFs posted on a date, so a new or lapsed license may not show up yet. A phone call to the Electrical Commission tells you about the license, not about how good the electrician's work is.

An excise tax license says nothing about skill or insurance. Ask any contractor for a current certificate of insurance and for references from recent jobs like yours. If the contractor also works across a state line, the state-by-state guide has the lookup for each state.

A job near a state line can involve a contractor based next door, so check that state's records too. The lookups for North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana are on their own pages.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so confirm details with the Electrical Commission, the Plumbing Commission or your city.

Sources

Agents can keep these contractors in Proferral

Proferral is a free app real estate agents use to keep a go-to list of the providers they trust and to remember every referral they send. Its license checks cover Oregon and Washington only, so for South Dakota you still run the lookup above by hand. Here's how Proferral's license checks work.

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