Construction License is required when you start construction business in Japan. After obtaining initial construction license in accordance with construction business act, the license shall be renewed every five years. Here is the details about Construction License in Japan.
Minister or Prefecture
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) permit for National License for those who have sales offices across prefectures.
As long as the sales offices are located within the same prefecture, you don’t require the National License and Prefectural License to be permitted by governor of the prefecture is sufficient even if you have multiple sales offices in the prefecture.
Special or Ordinary
Construction enterprises who subcontract exceeding certain amounts to other constriction operators require Special Construction License. Several additional rules are applied for Special Construction License in order to protect subcontractors.
| Special | Total subcontract amount to more than 2 subcontractor per 1 construction project is exceeding 45 million JPY. If the project is for general construction, special construction license is required if the amount of the general construction project is exceeding 70 million JPY. |
| Ordinal | For those who engage in the construction project other than Special Construction License. If the amount of each project is less than 5 million JPY, you don’t need construction license. |
29 classifications
There are classifications of work listed below, each of which represents a trade or field of the construction profession. A contractor must be licensed for each classification of work in which it intends to engage.
| Public engineering | Construction of public works based on general planning, instruction, and control (incl. repair, improvement, or demolition work) |
| Construction engineering | Construction of buildings based on general planning, instruction, and control (incl. repair, improvement, or demolition work) |
| Carpentry | Construction of works by processing or applying wooden materials or application of wooden structures to work |
| Scaffold/construction/concrete work a) | Assembly of scaffolding, transport and placement of heavy objects, such as mechanical apparatuses and construction materials, assembly of steel frames, and demolition |
| Scaffold/construction/concrete work b) | Driving in or pulling out piles and in-place-casting of piles |
| Scaffold/construction/concrete work c) | Excavation, piling up, or compression of earth or sand |
| Scaffold/construction/concrete work d) | Construction work using concrete |
| Scaffold/construction/concrete work e) | Other basic or preliminary work |
| Stone work | Processing of stone materials (including quasi-stones such as concrete block and imitation stone) and production of stone works using masonry or by attaching stone to work |
| Roof work | Roof-cladding with tiles, slate, or metal sheet |
| Electrical work | Installation of power generation, transformer, power distribution, and interior electrical facilities |
| Piping work | Work for installation of coolers, air conditioners, water supplies, hygiene facilities, and facilities for transport of water, oil, gas, and steam using metal pipes |
| Tile/brick/block work | Constructions with bricks or concrete blocks or work to apply or attach bricks, concrete blocks, or tiles to structures |
| Steel construction work | Processing steel forms or sheets or assembly of derived items from them |
| Steel reinforcement work | Processing, connecting, and assembly of steel bars and other steel materials |
| Paving work | Paving streets and other flat surfaces with asphalt, concrete, sand, gravel, or rubble |
| Dredging work | Dredging the bottoms of rivers and bays |
| Sheet metal work | Attaching metal sheet to structures or attaching metal sheet fixtures to structures |
| Glass work | Installation of glass in structures |
| Coating work | Spraying, coating, or attaching coating materials to structures |
| Waterproofing work | Waterproofing with asphalt, mortar, or sealing materials |
| Interior finishing | Interior finishing using wood, plaster board, sound absorbing board, wallpaper, tatami mat, vinyl floor tiles, carpeting, or fusuma sliding doors |
| Machinery installation | Building of structures through assembly of machinery or attaching machinery to structures |
| Thermal insulation work | Thermally insulating structures or their facilities |
| Telecommunications work | Installation of wired telecommunication facilities, wireless telecommunication facilities, broadcasting machinery facilities, or data communication facilities |
| Landscape gardening | Land forming, tree planting, and construction of gardens, parks, and green areas by placement landscape stones |
| Well drilling work | Hole and well drilling using well drilling machinery and subsequent water pumping facilities work |
| Fittings work | Attachment of wooden or metal fittings to structures |
| Water facilities work | Construction of facilities for water intake, water purification, or water distribution for public water supplies or factories or installation of public sewage or basin sewage handling facilities |
| Firefighting facilities work | Installation of disaster warning facilities, fire extinguishing facilities, evacuation facilities, or facilities for firefighting or installation of such facilities in structures |
| Waste facilities work | Installation of human waste management or garbage management facilities |