Michigan Landscaping License: What Applies and What Does Not

Does a landscaping business need a license in Michigan?

Michigan issues no license of its own for landscapers. Its contractor licensing reaches this work through the Residential Builder License and the Residential Maintenance and Alteration Contractor License on work valued above $600.

Michigan issues no landscaping license. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs licenses residential builders and residential maintenance and alteration contractors, and the crafts and trades a maintenance and alteration license covers are carpentry, concrete, swimming pool installation, basement waterproofing, excavation, insulation, masonry, roofing, siding and gutters, screen or storm sash installation, tile and marble, and house wrecking, so concrete, masonry and excavation work on residential property is inside the license while planting and mowing are not. State law exempts one undertaking whose aggregate contract price for labor, material and other items is less than $600, and a separate section requires a corporation or limited liability company to hold the license through a designated qualifying officer.

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

This records what Michigan 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 Michigan it is made with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations 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 Michigan covers the filing itself, step by step.

Insurance Michigan 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We do not publish Michigan premium figures for this trade, so nothing here is a quote.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.