The North Carolina professional LLC
What creates it in North Carolina
N.C.G.S. § 57D-2-02 (professional limited liability companies), which applies Chapter 55B (Professional Corporation Act) to LLCs; formed on Articles of Organization (Professional Limited Liability Company), Form PLLC-02
What the name must contain
N.C.G.S. § 57D-2-02(a)(10): the name shall comply with Article 3 of Chapter 55D and, in addition, shall contain the word "Professional" or the abbreviation "P.L.L.C." or "PLLC." The Secretary of State's manual states it as: the name must end with Professional Limited Liability Company or an abbreviation thereof such as P.L.L.C.
Does a licensing board have to approve the filing?
Yes. § 55B-4(4) requires the articles to be accompanied by a certification from the appropriate licensing board that ownership complies with §§ 55B-4(2) and 55B-6; § 57D-2-02 carries this over to PLLCs, and Form PLLC-02 item 8 requires the board's certification (an original unless the board permits electronic certification) to be attached. The Secretary of State's page: 'Licensing Boards provide a certification which is required with the Articles to the Secretary of State's Office.' For attorneys the licensing board is the Council of the North Carolina State Bar (§ 55B-2(4)).
Which occupations North Carolina says must use it
An enumerated list of licensing statutes. § 55B-2(6): a professional service is one that requires a licence from a licensing board under Chapter 83A (architects), 84 (attorneys), 93 (public accountants), and in Chapter 90 Articles 1 (medicine), 2 (dentistry), 6 (optometry), 7 (osteopathy), 8 (chiropractic), 9A (nursing, registered nurses), 11 (veterinarians), 12A (podiatrists), 18A (psychologists), 18C (marriage and family therapy), 18D (occupational therapy), 22 (speech and language pathologists and audiologists), 24 (licensed clinical mental health counselors); Chapter 89C (engineering and land surveying), 89A (landscape architects), 90B (licensed clinical social workers), 89E (geologists), 89B (foresters) and 89F (soil scientists). § 55B-14 limits an entity to one type of professional service, with listed permitted combinations (the design professions together; physician–psychologist; nurse combinations; physician–PA; and others).
North Carolina also offers a corporation under a professional statute
A practice choosing between the two forms is choosing between these rules and the ones above.
What creates it in North Carolina
N.C.G.S. Chapter 55B (Professional Corporation Act), formed under Chapter 55 with the limits in § 55B-4
What the name must contain
N.C.G.S. § 55B-5: the name is governed by Chapter 55D, except that professional corporations may use "Professional Association, P.A.," "Professional Corporation," or "P.C." in lieu of the Chapter 55D corporate designations; licensing boards may by regulation impose further name requirements for their professions.
Does the agent requirement differ from an ordinary North Carolina LLC’s?
No. North Carolina sets no separate agent requirement for a professional entity — it is the same requirement an ordinary North Carolina LLC files under.
What else North Carolina requires
North Carolina has no separate PLLC statute of its own; § 57D-2-02 makes Chapter 55B read as if it said 'LLC', 'articles of organization', 'interest owner' and 'company official' in place of the corporate terms. At least one organiser or member must be a licensee of the applicable board, and the articles must designate the specific professional service to be rendered. Form PLLC-02 states the registered-agent rule in the same terms as an ordinary LLC: an individual resident in North Carolina, or a domestic or authorised foreign corporation, nonprofit corporation or LLC, with a North Carolina street address for the registered office. Licensing boards issue their certificates in different ways and the Secretary of State keeps a listing of how each board provides it; some boards (for example the Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors and the Social Work Certification and Licensure Board) run their own licensure or certificate-of-registration step first and require a copy of the filed articles afterwards.
Verified against the North Carolina Secretary of State, Business Registration Division (sosnc.gov/manual/launching_a_business/professional_entities_requirements) · Statute text: www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_57D/GS_57D-2-02.html · Last updated September 2026. North Carolina only — the rules in this cluster differ by jurisdiction, and this page speaks for no other.