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Does a tile installer need a license in Utah?

Last reviewed: September 15, 2026

Utah Code 58-55-305 exempts building alteration, repair, and improvement work from licensure when the agreed value, labor and materials together, is less than $7,000. Tile setting is not one of the carved-out trades, so tile work under that figure may lawfully be done unlicensed. Plumbing changes behind a shower always require a licensed trade.

Does a tile installer need a license in Utah?

It depends on what the job is worth, not on the fact that it is tile. Utah Code 58-55-305(1)(h)(i) exempts a person doing alteration, repair, remodeling, or improvement of a building when the contracted or agreed value is less than $7,000, labor and materials together. Tile setting is not one of the trades carved out of that exemption, so a tile job under that figure does not by itself require a contractor licence.

Above that line the exemption stops applying and licensure is required. That matters more in tile than in most trades, because a full shower or a main-level floor crosses the figure easily while a backsplash or a single repair often does not. The same installer can be lawfully unlicensed on one job and not on the next.

Two details in the statute do real work here. It says less than $7,000, not up to it. And it counts all changes or additions to the agreed work, so a job that starts inside the exemption and grows through change orders is measured at the whole agreed number, not at the figure on the first estimate.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Utah licensing requirements change, and this area changed recently, so confirm the current rules with the Utah Division of Professional Licensing before relying on anything here. Last reviewed September 2026 against the version of 58-55-305 effective May 7, 2025.

Is the Utah exemption still $3,000?

No. It is now less than $7,000. H.B. 483, the Construction Trade Amendments, raised the threshold and the current version of 58-55-305 took effect May 7, 2025. A great many pages still say $3,000, which was the old rule and is no longer correct.

The same bill moved a second figure. The affirmation filing line went from $1,000 to $3,000. So the two numbers a homeowner meets today are $7,000 and $3,000. The older pair, $3,000 and $1,000, belongs to a version of the statute that is no longer in force.

This matters for tile specifically because the old $3,000 line sat below the cost of most bathroom work, which made almost every tile job sound like licensed territory. The current line sits high enough that a real share of tile work falls under it. Check the date on anything you read about this, including this page.

What tile work always needs a licensed trade anyway?

Anything that touches plumbing, regardless of what the job is worth. Moving or replacing a shower drain, changing a valve, relocating a supply line, or swapping a tub are licensed plumbing work in Utah and sit outside a tile installer's scope entirely. The exemption covers the tile work; it does not convert a plumbing change into tile work.

The carve-outs in the statute are the trades that always require a licence: plumbing, electrical, HVAC, gas, alarm, fire protection, and radon work. Tile is not among them. That is the whole reason the dollar threshold is the operative question for tile rather than a blanket rule.

In practice this shows up most on shower rebuilds. The waterproofing, the pan, and the tile are one trade; the drain and the valve are another. Knowing which parts of your job are which is the difference between a clean sequence and a job that stops halfway.

• Moving or replacing a shower or tub drain
• Changing or relocating a mixing valve
• Relocating supply lines inside the wall
• Replacing the tub or the shower base itself
• Anything touching a gas line at a fireplace

The affirmation above $3,000 that most homeowners never hear about

Under 58-55-305(1)(h)(ii)(H), a person relying on the exemption for a project worth more than $3,000 must file a one-time affirmation with the division, subject to periodic reaffirmation by rule, that they carry public liability insurance in amounts and form established by division rule, and workers compensation insurance if applicable.

The statute does not print an insurance figure. It points to amounts established by division rule, so this page will not print one either. Anyone who quotes you a specific insurance minimum for the affirmation should be able to name the rule it comes from.

Note the gap between the two thresholds. The affirmation kicks in above $3,000 while the exemption ceiling is less than $7,000, so there is a band where an unlicensed person may lawfully do the work but has a filing obligation attached to it. A tile job lands in that band often.

• Ask for the certificate of insurance rather than a verbal assurance
• Read the coverage amounts and the policy dates on the certificate itself
• Ask whether workers compensation applies, which turns on whether the person has employees
• Keep a copy with the rest of your job paperwork

How to check a tile installer's license in Utah

Look it up yourself on the Division of Professional Licensing verification search rather than trusting a number printed on a truck or a website. The search returns the licence status and what it covers, which is the part that matters.

One caution about classifications. Utah has reorganised its specialty contractor classifications over the years, and pages written about tile licensing do not all reflect the current list. Rather than matching a code you read somewhere against what an installer tells you, confirm on the DOPL record what the licence actually is and ask the installer to explain how it covers your job.

If the job sits under the exemption and the person is not licensed, that can be entirely lawful. The questions worth asking then are about insurance and the affirmation rather than about a licence number that does not exist.

• Search the DOPL license verification tool by name or licence number
• Confirm the status is active and read what the licence covers
• Ask how that covers the specific work you are hiring for
• For exempt work, ask about insurance and the affirmation instead

Why a referral site is telling you this

Because you are going to contract with the installer, not with this site. Taylorsville Tile Co. does not perform tile work and does not set prices. It checks whether an independent local installer is available and hands the conversation over, which means the licensing and insurance questions are yours to ask directly.

That is a reason to give you the actual rules rather than a reassuring sentence. A homeowner who knows where the $7,000 line sits, which parts of a shower are plumbing, and how to read a DOPL record can evaluate anyone, including anyone this site refers.

Nothing here is a statement about any particular installer's licence status. It is the framework for asking.

Sources

• Utah Code 58-55-305, Exemptions from licensure
• Utah DOPL, exemption and affirmation information
• Utah DOPL license verification search

This is general information about Utah law, not legal advice, and it is not a judgment about your specific job. Utah's contractor licensing rules changed recently, and a great many pages still describe the old ones, so confirm current requirements with the Utah Division of Professional Licensing before relying on them. Taylorsville Tile Co. does not perform the work and does not set prices. Independent local tile installers do the work, and you contract directly with the installer you choose.