Construction companies in Hawaii: 2,924 contractors by island, the license rules and who pulls the permits

This report is for homeowners, developers and businesses hiring a contractor in Hawaii, mainland firms looking for local partners, job seekers, and B2B sellers covering the islands. It covers the Census count by island, the state's license rules, Honolulu's permit data, how to vet a firm and a prospecting plan.

Hawaii construction in numbers

US Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), State of Hawaii:

Hawaii ranks 47th by count but its contractors are bigger than average, and construction pay is about $9,000 above the national figure of $76,580.

By island

Oahu has 59% of the state's construction establishments and 73% of its construction jobs, and its firms average twice the size of those on the neighbor islands. One more establishment isn't assigned to a county.

That's 2,606 establishments (89.1%) with 1 to 19 employees, 275 with 20 to 99 and 43 with 100 or more. The two largest classes aren't published; by subtraction, 2 establishments have 500 or more.

Trades and builders

Commercial and institutional builders average 24.8 employees and employ 15.8% of the state's construction workforce. Single-family general contractors (264) outnumber for-sale homebuilders (21) by more than 12 to 1.

What CBP counts: establishments (locations) with paid employees, not companies; a contractor with offices on Oahu and Maui counts twice. Contractors who work alone without payroll aren't counted, and employment is measured in the pay period including March 12, 2023. Mainland contractors working in Hawaii without a local establishment aren't counted here.

Hawaii's license rules

The Contractors License Board, in the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA), licenses contractors. According to the board:

• Who needs a license: generally anyone who offers, holds themselves out as able, or contracts to perform residential, commercial or public works construction, alterations or improvements. A license is required to bid, and to bid installation work even if it will be subcontracted.
• The handyman exemption: no license is needed if the aggregate contract price, including labor, materials and taxes, is $1,000 or less and the work needs no building permit. The exemption doesn't cover electrical or plumbing work requiring a permit.
• Classifications: "A" general engineering (fixed works such as highways, bridges, harbors, drainage and water systems), "B" general building (structures involving more than two unrelated trades) and "C" specialty contractors.
• No reciprocity: every applicant meets the same requirements, including four years of supervisory experience in the classification and an exam, and a company's principal responsible managing employee must reside in Hawaii while the license is in effect or a project is under construction.

Licenses renew by 30 September of every even-numbered year; the current period runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2028.

What Honolulu's permits show

The City and County of Honolulu publishes a snapshot of its building permits with the contractor's name and state license number. From 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 it issued 14,556 building permits worth an estimated $4.77 billion; 870 were for new buildings and 6,104 (41.9%) involved solar. The contractor named on the most permits was Sunrun Installation Services, with 2,359, followed by RevoluSun (719 across two records), Alternate Energy (581) and Hawaii Energy Connection (462); 2,851 permits named no contractor. Sunrun Inc., the listed company of the same name, is headquartered in San Francisco.

Across the state, the Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey counted 3,708 new housing units authorized in 2025 (3,879 in 2024): 1,446 in Honolulu County, 1,230 in Hawaii County, 902 in Maui County and 130 in Kauai County. Hawaii County was the only county where units rose.

How to vet a Hawaii contractor

1. Search the contractor in DCCA's Business Check, which brings together the license, complaint history and business registration.
2. Match the classification to the job: a "C" specialty contractor shouldn't run a multi-trade remodel; that's a "B" job.
3. Confirm insurance: the board requires proof of liability insurance, and workers' compensation if the firm has employees.
4. Check permits with the county building department for recent jobs like yours.
5. For a mainland firm, confirm it holds a Hawaii license in its own name; a license from another state doesn't transfer.

Public companies

SEC records list no construction company with a Hawaii business address, so island contractors don't publish revenue you can rank them by; the Honolulu permit counts above are a better gauge of activity.

Selling to Hawaii construction companies

Island logistics shape buying: local stock and service matter, and a supplier with a presence on Oahu but not the neighbor islands reaches 59% of the state's contractors. For building a target list one account at a time, see how to build a prospect list.

Illustrative example. The company and its assumptions are invented; the counts are from CBP 2023.

Leeward Equipment Rental (leewardrental.example) rents lifts and excavators on Oahu. Its targets are Honolulu County's commercial builders, site preparation, highway and roofing contractors. Statewide those four groups number 452 establishments; assuming Oahu holds the same 59% share as all contractors, that's about 267 on the island. If 35% rent at least twice a year, at an average of $14,000 a year, winning 20% of those 93 renters (19 accounts) is $266,000 in annual rental revenue. Which firms just won bids in HDOT's bid results is the timing signal; Bebop researches each account in a list like this and writes the first email.

Where to find names

Next step: use the construction companies industry guide to build the list.