Conn. Gen. Stat. » Title 20 — · Chapter 393 — Electricians, Plumbers, Solar, Heating, Piping and Cooling Contractors and Journeymen, Elevator and Fire Protection Sprinkler Craftsmen, Irrigation Contractors and Journeymen, Gas Hearth Installer Contractors and Journeymen and Residential Stair Lift Technicians
Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-340 (2026)

Exemptions from licensing requirements

✓ current as of May 2026
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The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to: (1) Persons employed by any federal, state or municipal agency; (2) employees of any public service company regulated by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority or of any corporate affiliate of any such company when the work performed by such affiliate is on behalf of a public service company, but in either case only if the work performed is in connection with the rendition of public utility service, including the installation or maintenance of wire for community antenna television service, or is in connection with the installation or maintenance of wire or telephone sets for single-line telephone service located inside the premises of a consumer; (3) employees of any municipal corporation specially chartered by this state; (4) employees of any contractor while such contractor is performing electrical-line or emergency work for any public service company; (5) persons engaged in the installation, maintenance, repair and service of electrical or other appliances of a size customarily used for domestic use where such installation commences at an outlet receptacle or connection previously installed by persons licensed to do the same and maintenance, repair and service is confined to the appliance itself and its internal operation; (6) employees of industrial firms whose main duties concern the maintenance of the electrical work, plumbing and piping work, solar thermal work, heating, piping, cooling work, sheet metal work, elevator installation, repair and maintenance work, automotive glass work or flat glass work of such firm on its own premises or on premises leased by it for its own use; (7) employees of industrial firms when such employees' main duties concern the fabrication of glass products or electrical, plumbing and piping, fire protection sprinkler systems, solar, heating, piping, cooling, chemical piping, sheet metal or elevator installation, repair and maintenance equipment used in the production of goods sold by industrial firms, except for products, electrical, plumbing and piping systems and repair and maintenance equipment used directly in the production of a product for human consumption; (8) persons performing work necessary to the manufacture or repair of any apparatus, appliances, fixtures, equipment or devices produced by it for sale or lease; (9) employees of stage and theatrical companies performing the operation, installation and maintenance of electrical equipment if such installation commences at an outlet receptacle or connection previously installed by persons licensed to make such installation; (10) employees of carnivals, circuses or similar transient amusement shows who install electrical work, provided such installation shall be subject to the approval of the State Fire Marshal prior to use as otherwise provided by law and shall comply with applicable municipal ordinances and regulations; (11) persons engaged in the installation, maintenance, repair and service of glass or electrical, plumbing, fire protection sprinkler systems, solar, heating, piping, cooling and sheet metal equipment in and about single-family residences owned and occupied or to be occupied by such persons; provided any such installation, maintenance and repair shall be subject to inspection and approval by the building official of the municipality in which such residence is located and shall conform to the requirements of the State Building Code; (12) persons who install, maintain or repair glass in a motor vehicle owned or leased by such persons; (13) persons or entities holding themselves out to be retail sellers of glass products, but not such persons or entities that also engage in automotive glass work or flat glass work; (14) persons who install preglazed or preassembled windows or doors in residential or commercial buildings; (15) persons registered under chapter 400 who install safety-backed mirror products or repair or replace flat glass in sizes not greater than thirty square feet in residential buildings; (16) sheet metal work performed in residential buildings consisting of six units or less by new home construction contractors registered pursuant to chapter 399a, by home improvement contractors registered pursuant to chapter 400 or by persons licensed pursuant to this chapter, when such work is limited to exhaust systems installed for hoods and fans in kitchens and baths, clothes dryer exhaust systems, radon vent systems, fireplaces, fireplace flues, masonry chimneys or prefabricated metal chimneys rated by Underwriters Laboratories or installation of stand-alone appliances including wood, pellet or other stand-alone stoves that are installed in residential buildings by such contractors or persons; (17) employees of or any contractor employed by and under the direction of a properly licensed solar contractor, performing work limited to the hoisting, placement and anchoring of solar collectors, photovoltaic panels, towers or turbines; (18) persons performing swimming pool maintenance and repair work authorized pursuant to section 20-417aa; and (19) any employee of the Connecticut Airport Authority covered by a state collective bargaining agreement.

(February, 1965, P.A. 493, S. 9; 1967, P.A. 199, S. 1; 789, S. 12; 1972, P.A. 7; P.A. 75-464; 75-486, S. 1, 52, 69; P.A. 77-614, S. 162, 610; P.A. 80-482, S. 176, 348; P.A. 82-439, S. 5, 7; P.A. 83-426, S. 5; P.A. 87-588, S. 6, 8; P.A. 88-178, S. 1, 3; P.A. 96-21, S. 1, 3; P.A. 98-3, S. 34; P.A. 99-170, S. 5; 99-253, S. 6; P.A. 03-59, S. 1; 03-83, S. 3; 03-261, S. 2; P.A. 05-88, S. 2; 05-211, S. 4; P.A. 07-242, S. 48; P.A. 08-44, S. 2; P.A. 11-80, S. 1; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-2, S. 62; P.A. 14-199, S. 10.)

History: 1967 acts updated statute to conform with Sec. 20-330, substituted title public service company for public utilities, added as exemption corporate affiliates of public service companies and added exemptions for employees of municipal corporations, employees of contractors performing work subject to government inspection, persons performing electrical work in connection with domestic use, persons manufacturing or repairing mechanisms produced for sale or lease, employees of stage and theatrical companies doing electrical work and employees of carnivals, circuses, etc. doing electrical work; 1972 act provided exemption for persons doing electrical work in single-family residences; P.A. 75-464 amended Subdiv. (4) to specify “electrical-line or emergency” work and to delete reference to work “subject to inspection by any federal, state or municipal agency or corporation other than a municipal building department”; P.A. 75-486 replaced public utilities commission with public utilities control authority; P.A. 77-614 replaced public utilities control authority with division of public utility control within the department of business regulation, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 80-482 made division of public utility control an independent department and deleted reference to abolished department of business regulation; P.A. 82-439 applied exemptions under Subdivs. (6), (7) and (11) to solar work, effective April 1, 1984; P.A. 83-426 changed effective date of P.A. 82-439 with respect to this section from April 1, 1984, to July 1, 1984; P.A. 87-588 amended Subdivs. (7) and (11) by extending the provisions of said Subdivs. to fire protection sprinkler systems, effective July 1, 1988; P.A. 88-178 amended Subdiv. (2) to expand the exemption to include the installation and maintenance of single-line telephone equipment; P.A. 96-21 added reference to installation or maintenance of wire for community antenna television service in Subdiv. (2), effective April 29, 1996; P.A. 98-3 made technical changes; P.A. 99-170 amended Subdiv. (6) to exempt employees of industrial firms primarily involved in maintaining automotive glass work or flat glass work, amended Subdiv. (7) to exempt the fabrication of glass products, amended Subdiv. (11) to exempt persons engaged in installing, maintaining, repairing and servicing glass equipment in and about single-family residences and added new Subdivs. (12) to (15) to exempt automotive glass workers who perform such work on vehicles owned or leased by such persons, retail sellers of glass products, installers of preglazed or preassembled windows or doors for residential or commercial buildings and registered home improvement contractors who install safety-backed mirror products or repair or replace flat glass of less than 30 square feet in size in residential buildings; P.A. 99-253 amended Subdivs. (6), (7) and (11) to replace references to heating, piping and cooling with references to heating, piping, cooling and sheet metal; P.A. 03-59 added Subdiv. (16) re exemptions for sheet metal work performed in residential buildings of six units or less by new home construction contractors, home improvement contractors and new home construction contractors, subject to certain limitations; P.A. 03-83 amended Subdiv. (7) to specify that fabrication of products, electrical, plumbing and piping systems and repair and maintenance equipment used directly in the production of a product for human consumption are not exempt from the provisions of Ch. 393; P.A. 03-261 amended Subdiv. (7) to specify that provisions thereof apply to employees of industrial firms when such employees' main duties are concerned with specified activities; P.A. 05-88 amended Subdiv. (7) to include chemical piping; P.A. 05-211 amended Subdiv. (6) to change “solar work” to “solar thermal work”; P.A. 07-242 added Subdiv. (17) re solar contractors, effective June 4, 2007; P.A. 08-44 added Subdiv. (18) re exemption for persons performing swimming pool maintenance and repair work, effective May 7, 2008; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Department of Public Utility Control” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Public Utilities Regulatory Authority” in Subdiv. (2), effective July 1, 2011; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-2 made a technical change in Subdiv. (16); P.A. 14-199 added Subdiv. (19) re any employee of the Connecticut Airport Authority covered by a state collective bargaining agreement, effective June 12, 2014.

Hospital not “industrial firm” within meaning of Subdiv. (6); such broad application of exemption would be contrary to remedial purpose of licensing statutes. 243 C. 709.

Subdiv. (1): Does not provide exemption for independent contractors. 12 CA 251. Subdiv. (2): Gas companies' service employees are not exempt from licensing requirements of chapter; “public utility service” used in statutory sense does not include repair and maintenance of gas appliances. 43 CA 196.

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases, 1987–2016 · leading case: Hartford Hosp. v. Dep't of Consum. Prot., 707 A.2d 713 (Conn. 1998).
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Hartford Hosp. v. Dep't of Consum. Prot., 707 A.2d 713 (Conn. 1998). · cites it 52× “General Statutes § 20-340 provides: “Exemptions from licensing requirements.”
Connecticut Nat. Gas Corp. v. Dep't of Consum. Prot., 682 A.2d 547 (Conn. App. Ct. 1996). · cites it 25× “3 The boards (1) ruled that employ *198 ees of the gas companies who do repair and maintenance work on the consumer side of the gas meter require a license because the work is not a public utility service and because that work is not regulated by the department of public…”
Felician Sisters of St. Francis of Connecticut, Inc. v. Historic Dist. Comm'n, 937 A.2d 39 (Conn. 2008). · cites it 2× “2d 713 (1998) (hospital employees performing plumbing work not subject to “industrial firm” licensure exemption under General Statutes § 20-340 [6] because that “term .”
White Oak Corp. v. Dep't of Consum. Prot., 530 A.2d 641 (Conn. App. Ct. 1987). · cites it 21× “As in the proceedings before the board, the plaintiff argued that its activities fell within the scope of General Statutes § 20-340 (l), 6 and it was therefore exempt from the licensing provision of chapter 393 of the General Statutes.”
Vermont Mut. Ins. Co. v. Fern, 140 A.3d 278 (Conn. App. Ct. 2016). · cites it 4× “Other subsections provide civil consequences by authorizing the appropriate board or the Commissioner of Consumer Protection to impose penalties on unlicensed individuals engaging in work that requires a license under chapter 393; see General Statutes § 20-341(b) ; and by making…”
Meyer v. Town of Nantucket, 937 N.E.2d 990 (Mass. App. Ct. 2010). “own property or residence”); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-340 (11) (2009) (exempting single-family homeowners); Del.”
— Conn. Gen. Stat. § 20-340(11) — 1 case
Vermont Mut. Ins. Co. v. Fern, 140 A.3d 278 (Conn. App. Ct. 2016). “Other subsections provide civil consequences by authorizing the appropriate board or the Commissioner of Consumer Protection to impose penalties on unlicensed individuals engaging in work that requires a license under chapter 393; see General Statutes § 20-341(b) ; and by making…”
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