Birmingham, Alabama: door-to-door solicitor permit

Partly read: the permit answer is sourced, but the fee or the hours could not be read from the city’s own pages. The clerk questions below cover the gap.

• The answer: Yes, in general terms. The city's business license code says "engaging in a business" includes any soliciting of orders for sale (§ 3A-1-41(c)), so a company selling door-to-door needs a city business license. The code's own Peddlers and Solicitors chapter does not set out a separate door-to-door sales permit or ID requirement for commercial reps; it does bar entering a property posted against soliciting (§ 12-14-5).
• Where it comes from: The Revenue (Tax and License) Division issues the general business license, under the General Code, Title 3A, Chapter 1, Article D.
• Fee: The general business license has a $100.00 annual minimum unless another schedule sets a different amount (§ 3A-1-42(1)). A specific schedule sets $36.00 for "each canvasser employed by installment merchant" (Appendix A, Schedule 193). No dedicated fee for a door-to-door services sales team (e.g., fiber, solar, pest, security) is published separately from the general business license.
• Hours you may knock: Not published. Chapter 14 (Peddlers and Solicitors) sets no clock-time restriction on when a commercial solicitor may knock; it only bars entering a property that has posted a no trespassing/no soliciting notice (§ 12-14-5).
• What the rep carries: Not published for commercial door-to-door reps generally. A canvasser working for an installment merchant is licensed individually in the salesman's own name (Appendix A, Schedule 193), but no badge or ID-display rule is stated.
• What takes the time: Not published: no background-check, fingerprinting or processing-time language appears in the pages read.
• Code: General Code of the City of Birmingham, Title 3A, ch. 1, §§ 3A-1-41–3A-1-42 (business license required); Appendix A, Schedule 193 (canvasser for installment merchant); Title 12, ch. 14, § 12-14-5 (no-soliciting-sign rule).
• Worth knowing: A posted no-trespassing or no-soliciting notice, or one personally communicated by the resident, makes it unlawful for a huckster, solicitor, peddler, itinerant merchant or transient vendor to enter that property, ring the bell or knock (§ 12-14-5).
• Read it yourself: Birmingham General Code, Title 12, ch. 14 - Peddlers and Solicitors · Birmingham General Code, Title 3A, ch. 1, art. D - License Regulations · Birmingham General Code, Appendix A - Schedule of Business Licenses · checked 19 September 2026

Ask the clerk, and write the answer down: What is the actual business-license fee schedule for a door-to-door service sales company (NAICS 454, nonstore/direct selling), and is it per company or per rep? Is there a separate solicitor's permit or ID card issued to individual door-to-door reps, beyond the general business license? Are there city-set knocking hours for commercial door-to-door sales, even though none appear in chapter 14? Clerk’s name ______________   Direct line ______________   Date called ______________