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Your rights

Arizona

Arizona · home improvement

Your rights in Arizona

Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026

3 business days to cancel

If they came to your home uninvited and you agreed there

Cancel in writing by midnight of the third business day (Saturday counts). Money back within 10 days, with two cancel forms.

Emergency work you ask for is excepted once begun. If you invited them, the federal 3-day rule may apply.

The 2 exceptions, in the rule's words
  • Emergency: you cannot cancel if you asked for the goods or services without delay because of an emergency, the seller in good faith made a substantial start before your notice, and the goods cannot be returned in substantially as good condition.
  • Not a home solicitation sale: a sale under an existing account with a seller whose main business is at a fixed location, or a sale made after earlier negotiations at the seller's fixed place of business.
Longer in some cases

4 instead of 3, for contracts to repair or replace storm damage to your own home (such as a roof) after a catastrophic storm in an area your insurer has designated, even if you invited the contractor; you may also cancel within 72 hours after your insurer tells you the claim is denied.

Read the full rule

When it applies

The seller came to your home to make the sale without a prior invitation, appointment or your consent, and you agreed to buy there (a 'home solicitation sale'). Saturday counts as a business day; Sundays and the listed federal holidays do not.

If a seller came to your home uninvited and you agreed to buy there, you can cancel in writing until midnight of the third business day after you sign (Saturday counts; Sunday and federal holidays do not). The seller must return your payments within 10 days. The contract must come with two copies of a cancellation form. If you invited the contractor, the federal 3-day rule may still apply.

Arizona AG: Door-to-door sales · read on azag.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

License number

On the contract, bids and ads

Contractors doing this kind of work must hold a current Registrar of Contractors (ROC) license in the right classification.

Read the full rule

An Arizona contractor doing this kind of work must hold a current Registrar of Contractors (ROC) license in the right trade classification, and the ROC number must be on your bid and your contract. Check the license with the ROC before you sign.

Who needs one: Anyone who, for pay, builds, alters, repairs, improves, moves or demolishes a home or anything on residential property, or bids or offers to, including subcontractors, floor covering and hardscape contractors and consultants who manage the project for you. Casual or minor jobs under $1,000 in total (labor and materials) that need no building permit are exempt.

Who doesn't

  • Casual or minor work on a project whose total price is under $1,000 including labor and materials, unless a building permit is required, the job is part of a larger project or split up to stay under $1,000, or the person advertises without the words 'not a licensed contractor'. This exemption never covers gas-connection or fire-safety work.
  • Owners working on their own property (themselves, with their own employees or with licensed contractors) when it is for their own occupancy and not for sale or rent.
  • Gardeners doing lawn, garden, shrub and tree maintenance.
  • Pest management businesses and applicators licensed or certified under the Arizona Department of Agriculture's pest management law, for pest management work.
  • Retailers or manufacturers selling finished products who install them when the whole transaction, including installation, is $1,000 or less (not gas or fire-safety work).
  • Alarm agents.
  • Cable, satellite and telecommunications providers and their contractors installing only low-voltage cable, phone, internet and data service (this exemption appears in only one of the two published versions of the statute, Laws 2019, ch. 140).

Where the number must appear

  • the contract (contracts over $1,000)
  • written bids and estimates
  • a conspicuous place at the job site
  • advertising, letterheads and other documents sent to customers (broadcast, internet and billboard ads may instead link to a website that shows the number)

Issued by: Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC)

A.R.S. § 32-1158 · read on azleg.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

The contract must include

Source: AZ law

An estimate isn't the contract. Ask for all 11 in writing before you sign.

  • Signed by both of youContracts over $1,000; a copy for you: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Be in writing for any contract over $1,000, signed by you and the contractor (or the contractor's representative), with a legible copy of everything you sign given to you.

  • Name, address & ROC license #: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Show the contractor's name, business address and ROC license number.

  • Your name & the job addressGoes on the signed contract: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Show your name and mailing address and the job site address (or legal description).

  • Contract & completion datesWhen the work should be done: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Show the date the contract was made and the estimated completion date for all the work.

  • Work describedWhat work and materials are included: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Describe the work to be performed.

  • Total price, with taxes: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    State the total price, including all applicable taxes.

  • Deposit amount in dollarsAny advance deposit, in dollars: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    State the dollar amount of any advance deposit paid or scheduled to be paid.

  • Each payment & its stageWhen each payment is due: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    State the dollar amount of each progress payment and the stage of construction at which it is due.

  • ROC complaint noticeIn bold, with the ROC's phone and website: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Tell you, in at least 10-point bold type, that you may file a written complaint with the Registrar of Contractors, with the ROC's phone number and website and the time limit for complaints (generally two years after the project is completed).

  • Receipts for cashA signed receipt for any cash you pay: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Give you a written, signed receipt for any cash you pay.

  • Notice to Buyer & cancel formsIf they came to your home uninvited: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For a sale made at your home without your invitation: be dated and signed by you, carry the 'Notice to Buyer', and come with two copies of the Notice of Cancellation form, in the same language as the sales pitch.

On signing day

  • Keep a signed copy
  • Find the cancel notice
Sources37 official pages · checked Oct 4, 2026

Notes from our check

  • The statutes were read directly on azleg.gov. The live ROC License Classifications page (roc.az.gov/license-classifications) and the Board of Technical Registration's home-inspection page (btr.az.gov) refuse automated fetches. On 2026-10-04 both were read in a regular browser, and the site check passed without any interaction. The classification scopes and the handyman FAQ cited below match the live ROC page. The Arizona Administrative Code PDF on apps.azsos.gov opened, but its text could not be extracted, so it was not used.
  • No general deposit cap: A.R.S. 32-1158(A)(7) only requires the contract to state the dollar amount of any advance deposit. depositCap is null, and the app must not state an Arizona cap or borrow one from another state.
  • Pools only (not a general cap): under A.R.S. 32-1158.01, a contract for a residential in-ground pool or spa with an owner who lives or will live in the home must limit the down payment at signing to 15 percent of the original price. After that it allows no more than 25 percent (of the original price plus approved change orders) after excavation, 25 percent after steel, plumbing and shotcrete (or the prefab install), and 25 percent after decking, with the balance due before the interior finish. The parties may change this schedule if the buyer requires a payment and performance bond. The contract must also tell the buyer about their home solicitation rights (title 44, chapter 15).
  • Storm repairs only (not a general cap): under A.R.S. 32-1158.02(E), the down payment on a contract to repair damage from a catastrophic storm in an area designated by an insurer may not be more than 50 percent of the total. The contractor may not pay or promise to pay the insurance deductible, and may not start work until the insurer approves or denies the claim, except to prevent further loss (32-1158.02(J)).
  • Cancellation scope: Arizona's own 3-business-day right (A.R.S. 44-5001 to 44-5007) covers only home sales the buyer did not invite. The Attorney General's door-to-door page says the same. The federal FTC Cooling-Off Rule (16 CFR 429.0) also covers sales made at the buyer's home after the buyer's invitation when the price is $25 or more ($130 or more at other temporary locations). Its exclusions include a visit the buyer asked for to repair or maintain the buyer's personal property (other goods or services sold during the visit are still covered) and a bona fide emergency with a handwritten waiver from the buyer. The app must not tell an Arizona homeowner who invited the contractor that no cancellation right exists. eCFR redirects automated clients, so the rule text was read through the eCFR API (version dated 2026-09-30).
  • Refund timing differs between two parts of the statute: 44-5006(A) says payments must be returned 'within ten days' after cancellation, but the required cancellation form in 44-5004(C) says 'ten business days' (the federal form also says 10 business days). The app should say 'within 10 days' or leave the number out.
  • Under A.R.S. 44-5007(C), if the seller already performed services before you cancel a home solicitation sale, the seller may keep a cancellation fee of 5 percent of the cash price, $15, or the cash down payment, whichever is least, and must restore any property it altered. But 16 CFR 429.2(b) lists state laws that 'permit the imposition of any fee or penalty on the buyer' for cancelling among those directly inconsistent with the federal rule. Whether the Arizona fee survives for a given sale was not resolved, so the app should not tell a homeowner that a seller may keep a cancellation fee.
  • The 4-business-day storm-repair right (extendedDays) comes from A.R.S. 32-1158.02(B)-(D). It applies to such contracts with a licensed contractor whether or not you invited them, and it also lets you cancel within 72 hours after the insurer denies the claim. Money must be returned within 10 days, except reasonable pay for itemized emergency services. That section does not define 'business day'.
  • Solar: under A.R.S. 44-1763(A)(3), an agreement to buy or lease a solar or other distributed energy generation system must give a separately acknowledged right to rescind for at least 3 business days after signing and before installation. Under 44-1763(G), this does not apply when the system is sold as part of the sale of the house itself.
  • License threshold wording: A.R.S. 32-1121(A)(14) exempts casual or minor projects priced 'less than $1,000', while the ROC FAQ says a license is required if labor and materials 'exceed $1,000' or a permit is required. The app should say 'about $1,000' and that any work needing a building permit needs a license. azleg.gov publishes two versions of 32-1121, Laws 2019, ch. 140 (01121.htm) and ch. 145 (01121.01.htm). They differ in three places: the plug-in appliance carve-out; the cable, satellite and telecom low-voltage exemption, (A)(18), which is in ch. 140 only; and the joint-venture rule, (E), which is in ch. 145 only. Both versions keep the under-$1,000, no-permit and casual-or-minor limits, the owner-builder, gardener, alarm-agent and pest management exemptions, and the rule that gas-connection and fire-safety work always needs a license (32-1121(D)).
  • Per the live ROC page, the B General Residential license must subcontract electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, boilers, pools, spas and water wells, and the B-3 General Remodeling and Repair license must subcontract electrical, plumbing, mechanical, boilers, pools, spas and water wells, each to an appropriately licensed contractor. Knowingly contracting beyond the scope of a license is grounds for discipline (A.R.S. 32-1154(A)(16)).
  • Homeowners who live (or will live) in the home and are hurt by a licensed residential contractor's violation may claim up to $30,000 from the ROC's Residential Contractors' Recovery Fund. If a deposit was paid and no work was done or materials delivered, the award is the deposit plus 10 percent yearly interest, still capped at $30,000 (A.R.S. 32-1132, 32-1132.01). The fund covers licensed contractors only.
  • The contract items in A.R.S. 32-1158 apply to contracts over $1,000. Under 32-1158(C), missing items do not void the contract and are not a defense in a dispute. The complaint-notice item (32-1158(A)(9)) does not apply to a seller who follows A.R.S. 12-1365, the separate complaint notice for sales of newly built homes. The 2-year complaint window is in 32-1162(A); for a new home it runs from the earlier of close of escrow or move-in.
  • Appliance repair is left out of both trade lists. The live ROC classification page (2026-10-04) shows no appliance classification. An earlier claim that the 2023 Administrative Code lists an R-63 Appliances classification was removed because it could not be checked on an official page. Gas-connection work always needs a license (32-1121(D)(2)).

General information from official Arizona sources. For your situation, ask the state's consumer protection office or a lawyer.

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