Maryland Marine Contractor Licensing
In Maryland, you must be a licensed marine contractor to perform construction, demolition, or repair work located in, on, or under State or private tidal wetlands. This requirement applies to almost all waterfront projects, including dredging, building docks and piers, and installing shoreline erosion controls like bulkheads, revetments, or stone sills.
Understanding License Categories
Category 1: Heavy Marine Construction
- Scope: Large-scale marine services.
- Examples: Bridges and highways, large-scale commercial development, commercial dredging, cargo and naval wharves, beach nourishment, and heavy salvage.
- Permissions: Automatically authorizes you to perform all services listed under Categories 2, 3, and 4.
Category 2: Residential and Commercial Marine Construction
- Scope: Medium to small-scale marine contractor services.
- Examples: Piers, docks, wharves, marinas, boathouses, pile driving, moorings, boat lifts, floating docks, riprap revetments, bulkheads, weirs, seawalls, boat ramps, living shorelines, beach nourishment, dunes, dredging, and salvage.
- Permissions: Automatically authorizes you to perform all services listed under Categories 3 and 4.
Category 3: Limited Marine Construction
- Scope: A limited, specific subset of the services listed in Category 2.
- Permissions: You are strictly authorized to perform only the exact services explicitly identified and printed on your license by the Board.
Category 4: Incidental Marine Contractor Services
- Scope: Specialized, related, or incidental marine services.
- Examples: Directional boring, aquaculture, and planting submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) or wetland grasses.
Note: All license categories also include authorization for "any other related services as approved by the Board."
Questions?
The Board updates these lists regularly. For inquiries regarding the licensing process, please contact the Board at 410-537-3249 or by email at
[email protected]. Toll-Free: 1-800-633-6101, then dial extension 3249.
