From the Manchester and Nashua corridor north through Concord and Derry and out to Dover, Rochester and the Portsmouth waterfront, New Hampshire leaves the general contractor question to town hall and hands the stormwater question to a federal permit writer — so the obligations that genuinely travel with your machines are the ones attached to each machine.
Because the rules that reach a machine differ by machine, we give each one its own New Hampshire page rather than pretending a single state page could cover all five honestly. Choose the machine you run and the page will take the New Hampshire specifics from there.
Choose your machine
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Skid Steer insurance in New Hampshire
Untitled iron, and where the lien actually gets recorded
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Excavator insurance in New Hampshire
RSA 374:51 — seventy-two hours, and holidays do not count
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Backhoe insurance in New Hampshire
Special mobile equipment rather than an ordinary registration
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Forklift insurance in New Hampshire
No state plan at all: the federal standard applied directly
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Dozer insurance in New Hampshire
A non-delegated state, so the permit writer is EPA Region 1
Running something else? We also write trenchers, motor graders, articulated haulers, track loaders, compactors, pile drivers and directional drills — see all equipment we cover.
Who licenses New Hampshire equipment contractors
No statewide general contractor license; only specific trades (plumbers, electricians, asbestos/lead abatement) are licensed at the state level.
With the credential question settled town by town, the only obligations that follow you everywhere inside the state are the machine-level ones — and those are exactly what the five pages above are built on.
How coverage is placed
Every machine above sits on the same core lines, and only the first is a condition of writing you: the equipment floater for the machines you own, rented and leased equipment for the ones you do not, general liability for damage the work does to others, commercial auto for the trucks and trailers, and workers compensation for the crews. We place them monoline — no package required.
Primary sources
We do not link a New Hampshire licensing document here. The pages beneath this one carry the statute, permit and safety-authority sources for the rules that actually reach each machine.
The statute, permit and safety-authority sources behind each machine sit on that machine’s New Hampshire page above, where the rule actually applies.
New Hampshire equipment insurance FAQs
Do you cover equipment contractors across New Hampshire?
Yes — Equipment Guard Insurance places heavy equipment and contractors equipment coverage statewide, through Manchester, Nashua, Concord and Derry and out to Dover, Rochester and Portsmouth. Equipment is written monoline here, which means the schedule stands by itself rather than riding along on a package.
What equipment goes on a New Hampshire schedule?
Skid steers, mini and full-size excavators, backhoes, rough-terrain forklifts and telehandlers, and dozers, alongside trenchers, motor graders, articulated haulers, track loaders, compactors, pile drivers and directional drills. The five graded machines each get a New Hampshire page, because one state page cannot answer to five different regulators at once.
Is there a New Hampshire contractor license for general work?
No. The state licenses specific trades — plumbers, electricians, and asbestos and lead abatement work — through the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, and leaves general contractor requirements to individual municipalities. So the credential question is a local one, while the rules reaching your machines are statewide or federal.
How much notice does RSA 374:51 require before excavation?
At least seventy-two hours, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, and no more than thirty days ahead of the work. The notice goes to Dig Safe System, Inc. The excavator page carries the statute, the clock and what happens when a ticket goes stale before the crew arrives.
Who issues the construction stormwater permit for New Hampshire sites?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does. New Hampshire is a non-delegated NPDES state, so Region 1 writes the 2022 Construction General Permit that attaches at one acre or more of land disturbance, rather than a state agency doing it. The dozer page explains what that changes on the ground.
Can I keep my current liability insurer and still schedule equipment here?
Yes. We write equipment-only, so nothing else has to move. If your general liability or business owner’s policy is working, leave it alone and let us handle the machines on their own paper.