Pennsylvania's Home Improvement Contractor Registration

Pennsylvania regulates home improvement work through the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (HICPA), 73 P.S. §517.1 and following, adopted as Act 132 of 2008. It works through registration with the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, not an exam, and the Attorney General says registration is not an endorsement or approval of a contractor’s competency or skill. What the law does instead is set rules: who registers, what insurance they carry, what every contract says, how big a deposit can be and when a homeowner can cancel. Philadelphia adds a layer of its own. Here is each piece.

What counts as home improvement

Section 517.2 covers work on a private residence, or the land next to it, when the total cash price of all the work agreed is more than $500. It names repair, replacement, remodeling, demolition, renovation, installation and similar work, and in particular driveways, pools, porches, garages, roofs, siding, insulation, solar energy systems, security systems, flooring, patios, fences, sheds, painting, doors, windows and waterproofing, plus central heating, air conditioning, storm windows and awnings whether or not they are attached.

A private residence is a single-family home, a building of no more than two units, or a single unit inside a larger building, including condominium and cooperative units. The law leaves out new home construction, selling materials without arranging the installation, easily removable appliances, emergency work under section 7 of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, and converting commercial buildings to residential use. Landscapers certified under the Plant Pest Act are out too, except for listed work such as retaining walls, drainage systems, patios, driveways and concrete walkways. Commercial property is not covered, the Attorney General’s FAQ says.

Who must register

Under §517.3, no one may hold themselves out as a contractor or perform a home improvement without registering first. The FAQ spells out who that includes: sole proprietors; subcontractors who never deal with homeowners directly; electricians, plumbers, locksmiths and alarm companies when they do home improvement work; charities and nonprofits; and contractors based outside Pennsylvania. Two groups are exempt: a person whose home improvements totaled less than $5,000 in cash value in the previous taxable year, and retailers with a net worth over $50 million. There is no grandfather clause for long-established businesses.

Registering: the fee, the insurance, the number

• The fee. The statute still says $50 (§517.5), but the Attorney General says a change in the Fiscal Code, 72 P.S. §1603-U, raised it to $100 every two years, for new and renewal applications alike. It is non-refundable; updating your details costs nothing.
• The insurance. At least $50,000 of personal injury liability coverage and $50,000 for property damage caused by your work (§517.4). The FAQ notes this is not related to the quality of your work.
• The application. Identity and contact details for the business and each owner, partner or officer, prior home improvement businesses, and background disclosures: convictions related to home improvement, fraud, theft or deception; bankruptcy filings; home improvement civil judgments in the last ten years; and licenses revoked or suspended elsewhere.
• Keeping it current. Report any change within 30 days (§517.4(c)) and renew every two years.

The Attorney General’s online system was restored on April 24, 2026 after an outage, and registration, renewal and updates are done there. Once registered, your number goes in all advertisements and on all contracts, estimates and proposals (§517.6), written as “PA” plus the number, for example PA123456. A truck carrying your advertising counts as an ad; a plain truck needs no number, and you do not have to display the certificate itself.

What the contract must say

Section 517.7 makes a home improvement contract unenforceable against the owner unless it:

• is written, legible, carries your registration number, and is signed by the owner and by you or your salesperson;
• holds the entire agreement, the date, and your name, address (a post office box alone does not count) and telephone number;
• gives approximate start and completion dates, and describes the work, the materials and a set of specifications that cannot change without a written change order signed by both sides;
• states the total price, and lists separately the down payment and any amount for special-order materials;
• names the subcontractors known at signing, with their addresses and telephone numbers;
• agrees to keep the required insurance and states the coverage you carry at signing;
• includes the Bureau’s toll-free number and a notice of the homeowner’s right to rescind.

Time-and-materials work is allowed with conditions: a written initial cost estimate before work begins, and a contract stating that the cost may not exceed that estimate by more than 10%, with the total potential cost in dollars. Some clauses make the contract voidable by the owner, among them a hold-harmless clause, a waiver of building code requirements, a confession of judgment, a jury-trial waiver, a clause awarding the contractor attorney fees, and any waiver of rights under the act. An arbitration clause must be in capital letters, in 12-point bold type, on its own page, with a line for each side to sign and date. The homeowner gets a completed copy at signing, free. The checklist for any state is in What a Home Improvement Contract Must Say.

Deposits, cancellation and refunds

• No money before signing. You may not demand or take any payment before the contract is signed (§517.9(9)).
• The deposit cap. On a contract over $5,000, one-third of the price, plus any special-order materials designated in the contract (§517.9(10)). What counts as special order, with a worked example, is in How Big a Deposit Can You Legally Ask For? The FAQ adds that the law says nothing about how the balance is paid; that is for you and the owner to agree.
• Three business days to rescind. The owner may rescind without penalty within three business days of signing, wherever the contract was signed (§517.7(b)). The FAQ warns that the notice must be given exactly as written in the law, or the whole contract may be voidable even after the three days; section 201-7 of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law contains a sample notice.
• Refunds on stalled jobs. If more than 45 days have passed since the contract’s start date and no substantial portion of the work is done, you must refund the amount paid within ten days of the owner’s written request by certified mail (§517.9(2)).

The federal cooling-off rule that can apply alongside the state’s three days is in The 3-Day Right to Cancel.

What breaking the rules costs

Any violation of HICPA is also a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (§517.10), and the Attorney General says unregistered contractors face legal action, including civil penalties of $1,000 or more. Section 517.9 also bars abandoning a job without justification (an owner’s nonpayment counts as justification) and departing from the plans or specifications without a dated change order, signed by both sides, that shows the price of each change. Home improvement fraud under §517.8 requires intent to defraud or injure, or knowingly helping someone else do so; one form is taking an advance payment, not doing the work by the contract date and not returning the money. It is a third-degree felony when more than $2,000 is kept and a first-degree misdemeanor at $2,000 or less, one grade higher when the victim is 60 or older.

Philadelphia and other local rules

HICPA stops local governments from requiring their own registration, license or fee from home improvement contractors (§517.12); the FAQ says municipalities cannot separately license or register them after July 1, 2009. Towns still issue building permits and enforce the building code, and the act leaves in place the licensing standards already in effect for electricians, plumbers and other trades licensed by testing or training certificates, plus local insurance standards adopted before January 1, 2006.

Philadelphia shows how that works. Its Department of Licenses and Inspections requires a Contractor License of businesses doing construction, demolition or repair, but not of a business that only works on existing one- and two-family homes and does no work needing a special trade license; that business submits its state registration to the city as a Home Improvement Contractor to get permits. Electrical, plumbing, fire suppression and complete demolition work need their own specialized licenses. Either route requires a Business Income and Receipts Tax account, a Commercial Activity License, being current on city taxes, and a certificate of insurance showing:

• general liability of $500,000 per occurrence;
• automobile liability of $300,000;
• workers’ compensation of $100,000 per accident, $100,000 per employee and a $500,000 policy limit.

The Contractor License costs $126 a year and requires a named supervisor with an OSHA 30 course taken within five years; the city charges no added fee to apply for permits as a Home Improvement Contractor. Home improvement contractors also need an Excavation Contractor License for excavation under permits submitted on or after January 1, 2023. The city’s $500,000 liability minimum is far above the state’s $50,000 figures, so check your certificate before you take a Philadelphia job. For finding the rules in any other state, see Do I Need a Contractor License?

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and vary by state; check with the agency named above or a professional for your situation.