Hawaii Landscaping License: What Applies and What Does Not

Does a landscaping business need a license in Hawaii?

Hawaii issues the C-27 Landscaping Contractor License for landscapers.

Hawaii licenses landscaping as specialty contractor classification C-27, which covers tree trimming, decorative treatment and arrangement of gardens, lawns, shrubs and trees, drainage and sprinkler systems, rockscaping, ornamental walls and walks. Hawaii's contractor law exempts a project whose aggregate contract price for labor and materials is not more than $1,500, and the exemption does not apply where a building permit is required; the DCCA reprint of the contractor licensing law posted on files.hawaii.gov still prints the superseded $1,000 figure, while a 2019 Hawaii law raised it to $1,500 effective July 1, 2019. A license is issued to a contracting entity, which a state rule defines to include a limited liability company that has a responsible managing employee in its employ.

The landscaping business itself must be licensed or registered, not only the people doing the work.

This records what Hawaii publishes, not a determination about your business. Scope, thresholds and local requirements are set by the issuing body, so confirm with them before you bid or file.

Verified 2026-09-03 against the primary source listed under Sources.

What the LLC has to do first

Pesticide and herbicide application is licensed separately from landscaping itself in most states, and that license is usually the one a general landscaping business actually needs.

The entity filing is separate from anything the license requires. In Hawaii it is made with the Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division. File directly with the state here. The order matters wherever the license is issued to the company rather than to a person: the entity has to exist before an application can name it.

Forming an LLC as a landscaping business in Hawaii covers the filing itself, step by step.

Insurance Hawaii landscapers are asked to show

Landscaping work damages what it is next to: irrigation lines, fences, windows and parked cars. General liability is the cover for that, and commercial clients ask for the certificate before the first visit.

We do not publish Hawaii premium figures for this trade, so nothing here is a quote. Our business insurance guide for landscapers covers what each policy does and does not pay for.