Construction companies in Virginia: 21,118 contractors, what Class A, B and C mean, and where the work is

This report is for Virginians choosing a contractor, contractors and suppliers looking for partners or subcontractors, job seekers and B2B sellers planning a Virginia territory. It draws on Census counts, Virginia's contractor licensing law, VDOT, federal contract data and company filings.

Virginia construction in numbers

County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, construction sector (NAICS 23), Commonwealth of Virginia:

That's 18,958 establishments (89.8%) with 1 to 19 employees, 1,903 with 20 to 99 and 257 with 100 or more.

What CBP counts. Establishments (locations) with paid employees in the pay period including March 12, 2023, not companies; Virginia counts independent cities such as Virginia Beach and Richmond separately from counties. Self-employed contractors without payroll aren't included.

Where Virginia's contractors are

The single biggest jurisdictions are Fairfax County (2,479 establishments, 32,864 employees), Prince William County (1,441), Virginia Beach (1,270), Chesterfield County (1,067) and Loudoun County (949). Northern Virginia's contractors average 11.5 employees, against 9.3 in Hampton Roads. For the whole Washington region, including Maryland and the District, see the Washington, DC report.

Class A, B and C: what the license tells you

Virginia law (Code of Virginia 54.1-1100) sets three license classes by the size of the work:

A firm crossing either threshold needs the higher class. For Class C electrical, plumbing and HVAC contractors, the Board for Contractors requires a master tradesman license, and Class A and B applicants must verify their net worth or equity with a financial statement or surety bond. The license also carries specialty designations, which set the type of work allowed, so check both the class and the specialty on the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) license lookup.

For a $400,000 addition, that means a Class A license with a building specialty; a Class C firm can't legally take it, however good its references.

What they build

Heavy and civil contractors are 5.6% of establishments, above the US share of 4.7%, and employ 13.9% of the state's construction workers.

Who is buying: VDOT, federal agencies and homebuyers

State highways. VDOT keeps a Prequalified Contractor List; a contractor "must meet standards of safety, experience, and quality to be on the list." It advertises highway construction contracts, with plan holders lists, on its Construction Advertisement Bulletin Board. Other state agencies buy through eVA, Virginia's eProcurement marketplace.

Federal work. USAspending.gov shows $1.95 billion in federal contract obligations for construction (NAICS 23) performed in Virginia in fiscal 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), to 711 recipients:

Commercial and institutional building was $996.9 million and industrial building $288.6 million. The largest recipients named in the data were Bechtel National ($272.6 million), RQ Construction ($143.0 million) and Sauer Construction ($82.0 million). Obligations are commitments in the year, not revenue.

Housing. The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey counts 33,094 housing units authorized in Virginia in 2025, against 34,059 in 2024. Single-family units fell from 22,796 to 20,458, while units in buildings of five or more rose from 10,735 to 12,042.

Public companies headquartered in Virginia

NVR, of Reston, builds homes under the Ryan Homes, NVHomes and Heartland Homes names and reported $10.32 billion in consolidated revenue for 2025, with about 6,300 full-time employees; its Mid Atlantic homebuilding segment alone had $4.37 billion in revenue. Argan, of Arlington, is an engineering and construction firm with power, industrial and telecom segments that reported $944.6 million in revenue for the year to 31 January 2026 and 1,409 employees. Both figures are from each company's latest 10-K.

Choosing a Virginia contractor

1. Match the class to the contract value. Under $30,000, Class C is enough; $30,000 to $150,000 needs Class B; $150,000 or more needs Class A.
2. Check the specialty on the DPOR license lookup: a residential building specialty for a house, a trade specialty for electrical, plumbing or HVAC work.
3. Confirm the license is active and in the name on the contract.
4. Ask for the local permit before work begins, and for permits from similar recent jobs.
5. Get insurance certificates and a payment schedule tied to completed work.

Prospecting Virginia contractors

The license class is a free size filter: a Class A firm does at least $150,000 jobs or $1 million a year, and a Class C firm stays under $250,000 a year.

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

Blue Ridge Surety (blueridgesurety.example) places performance and payment bonds for contractors bidding public work. It targets the 2,160 establishments with 20 or more employees, assuming firms that size are the likeliest to hold a Class A license and bid VDOT or local government jobs. If 30% bid bonded work and it wins 10% of those at $15,000 in annual commissions, that's 65 clients and $975,000 a year. The useful research is which firms are newly prequalified or bidding larger jobs; Bebop researches each account in a list like this and drafts the first email.

Sources for names

Next step: compare the market across the Potomac in the Maryland construction companies report, or build the list with the construction companies industry guide.