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DC requires a licensed salesperson, and the metro requires three sets of credentials

The District has the most demanding home improvement contractor application of any market on this site, and one requirement that appears nowhere else: a home improvement contractor must designate and maintain a Basic Business License for at least one Home Improvement Salesperson. The person selling the work needs their own license.

The rest of the application is correspondingly heavy. A police criminal history report from your jurisdiction, a $25,000 surety bond, a certificate of liability insurance naming the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection as certificate holder, and three sample contracts. Anyone doing business in the District needs a license matched to the activity, and applications are submitted online through the District's business portal.

Then there is the geography. DC is a small jurisdiction bordered by Maryland and Virginia, and a contractor serving this metro routinely works in all three — each with its own regime. Maryland prescribes the MHIC number format down to the prefix; Virginia licenses in classes by project value; the District requires the salesperson license and the bond. One metro, three unrelated compliance pictures.

Say which jurisdictions you are licensed in, because the customer cannot guess

A customer in Bethesda, one in Arlington and one in Capitol Hill are all in this metro and all subject to different licensing regimes. None of them can tell from your website which of the three you are cleared to work in, and "licensed and insured" answers the question for none of them. Listing the jurisdictions and the credential you hold in each is the single most useful thing a DC-area contractor can put on a service page.

Build separately for each jurisdiction you hold. A DC page carrying the District license details, a Maryland page carrying the MHIC number in the required format, a Virginia page carrying the class — that structure follows both the compliance reality and the way searches divide, since a search in Silver Spring and one in Alexandria return different businesses.

The salesperson license is worth mentioning explicitly if you hold one. It is unusual enough that most competitors will not reference it, and it tells a customer that the person quoting the work is licensed rather than just the company behind them.

The other two jurisdictions

Both neighbors have their own licensing regimes, covered on their own pages.

Sources: DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection — home improvement contractor; DC DLCP — contractor and construction services. Regulatory detail is provided for orientation and is not legal advice.