South Carolina's SCDOT-prequalified contractors: 126 in-state primes, and a short list of certified DBEs

Only contractors holding an SCDOT prequalification certificate may bid on the South Carolina Department of Transportation's lettings. SCDOT publishes that list, and it is the starting roster for our South Carolina GC Finder.

What the list shows

After filtering to firms with South Carolina addresses, the prequalified contractor list contains 126 primes. We added 20 construction firms certified as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises through the SC Unified Certification Program, for 146 starting listings. By county:

• Lexington, 21;
• Charleston, 18;
• Spartanburg, 14;
• Horry, 11;
• Richland and Greenville, 8 each.

By region, the Lowcountry (35) and Midlands (34) lead.

Why the list is short, and what's missing

SCDOT doesn't require subcontractors to prequalify, so the SCDOT list is mostly primes. South Carolina's full contractor universe is licensed by the Contractor's Licensing Board (commercial general and mechanical contractors) and the Residential Builders Commission. LLR offers a license lookup but not a free statewide bulk export, so those rosters are not loaded yet. Many out-of-state primes that bid SCDOT work are also left out of the county hubs because they have no South Carolina address.

Licensed contractors and subs can add a free listing with their license number and group. Every listing can be claimed and completed by its owner.

Use it

Subs who want to quote SCDOT's Nov. 10 letting can find primes in the GC Finder by county. They can also use the free Construction Extranet's discussion board, which SCDOT encourages primes and subs to use for quotes. Primes looking for DBE participation can search the Sub Finder. All 46 county hubs show SCDOT lettings and local news.

What the firms do

Mapping the work types on the lists to our trade categories, the most common are site work and excavation (55 firms), underground utilities (51), concrete (45), landscaping and irrigation (38) and paving and asphalt (36). They are followed by traffic control and signals (29) and demolition and bridge and highway work (15 each). Many firms appear in more than one category.

Twenty-seven listings carry DBE certification, and two carry DWBE. That count is higher than the 20 UCP firms we added because some prequalified primes are also DBE-certified.

The biggest gap: licensed contractors

South Carolina requires a Contractor's Licensing Board license for general or mechanical work over $10,000, so commercial contractors working above that threshold need one. LLR sells board rosters by mail rather than publishing a free bulk file. We are not loading paid rosters. Instead, licensed firms can add their license number and group when they claim or create a listing.

Thirteen of the 46 counties have no firm in the starting list. Those county hubs still show SCDOT lettings and local construction news, and every hub has a free listing form.

Why out-of-state primes are missing

SCDOT's prequalified list includes firms from other states that bid South Carolina work. Our county hubs are built around where a firm is based, so we load only firms with South Carolina addresses into county pages. Out-of-state primes can still add a listing that names the counties they work in.

Performance scores

Prequalification is not the only test. SCDOT's letting notice says certain projects require a minimum quarterly Contractor Performance Score, and those projects are marked with the minimum score and the quarter it was issued. Contractors can check their score with SCDOT Construction Data Support. A prime that is on the prequalified list may still be ineligible for a particular call.

Contractors can verify their score by calling SCDOT Construction Data Support at (803) 737-2031. On the Nov. 10 letting, all 26 calls are open only to SCDOT-prequalified primes.

Subcontractors do not need SCDOT prequalification.