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Georgia

Georgia · home improvement

Your rights in Georgia

Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026

3 business days to cancel

If you agreed to the job at your home

Cancel in writing by midnight of the third business day (Saturday counts). Money back within 10 business days. This is the federal rule.

Some sales are excepted, such as emergency work you ask for in a signed waiver.

The 7 exceptions, in the rule's words
  • A bona fide immediate personal emergency: you started the contact and gave the seller a separate, dated, signed statement in your own handwriting describing the emergency and waiving the right to cancel.
  • You started the contact and asked the seller to come to your home to repair or maintain your personal property (the federal rule's wording). Extra goods or services sold during that visit (other than replacement parts used in the repair) are still covered.
  • The deal was negotiated beforehand during your visit to the seller's permanent place of business.
  • Deals that already carry a federal Truth in Lending right of rescission, such as certain credit secured by your home.
  • Sales made entirely by mail or telephone with no other contact before the goods are delivered or the work is done.
  • Sales or rentals of real property, insurance, or securities.
  • Motor vehicles sold at auctions, tent sales or other temporary locations by a seller with a permanent place of business, and arts or crafts sold at fairs.
Longer in some cases

30 instead of 3, for Door-to-door sales covered by Georgia's Door-to-Door Sales Act: the seller solicited the sale in person, you agreed to it away from the seller's place of business, and the deal has all three of these: payments of $10,000 or more; a lease, financing arrangement or other agreement with a term of more than 120 months; and eligibility for federal tax credits (or the seller's claim that it is eligible). The Georgia Attorney General says this mainly affects solar panel sales. Under that Georgia law, Saturdays, Sundays and federal holidays do not count as business days.

Read the full rule

When it applies

A seller solicited the sale in person and you agreed to it at your home (purchase price $25 or more) or at a temporary location such as a hotel room or fairground ($130 or more), not at the seller's permanent place of business. This is the federal FTC Cooling-Off Rule (16 CFR Part 429). Georgia's Attorney General says this federal rule governs sales made in your home.

If you agreed to the job at your home, you can cancel in writing until midnight of the third business day after the sale. Saturdays count; Sundays and federal holidays do not. The seller must refund your payments within 10 business days. This is the federal Cooling-Off Rule. Georgia allows 30 business days (Saturdays not counted) for door-to-door deals with payments of $10,000 or more, a lease or financing term over 120 months, and a claim of federal tax-credit eligibility, such as many solar panel sales.

Georgia Consumer Protection: Canceling a contract · read on consumer.georgia.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

License number

On building permit applications

Most home building and remodeling jobs over $2,500 need a state residential contractor license; many single trades are exempt.

Read the full rule

Georgia requires a state residential contractor license for most home building and remodeling jobs worth more than $2,500. Many single-trade specialists, such as roofers, painters and flooring installers, are exempt. Electricians, plumbers and HVAC contractors need their own state trade license. Look up the license with the Georgia Secretary of State before you sign.

Who needs one: Anyone who, for pay, offers, contracts for or does residential contractor work, including repair, alteration and remodeling (detached one- and two-family homes, one-family townhouses not over three stories, and their accessory buildings), when the value of the work or the contractor's pay, whichever is higher, is more than $2,500. Larger multifamily and light commercial work needs a residential-light commercial or commercial general contractor license.

Who doesn't

  • Specialty contractors on the board's exempt list (for example roofing, painting, flooring, siding, windows and doors, insulation, fencing, masonry, landscaping and carpentry) working within their specialty. Incidental other work is allowed up to the greater of $10,000 or 25 percent of the job.
  • Repair work that does not affect the home's structural integrity or life safety (no removing or adding load-bearing walls and no cutting structural beams), if the person tells you in writing that they are not licensed as a residential or general contractor (O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(g) and Board Rule 553-8-.01).
  • State-licensed electrical, plumbing, conditioned air (HVAC), low voltage and utility contractors doing work that is mainly within their own license. Incidental other work is allowed up to the greater of $10,000 or 25 percent of the job.
  • Owners building on their own property for their own or their family's use, not for sale or lease.
  • Building or installing manufactured homes, and agricultural buildings.
  • Jobs worth $2,500 or less.

Where the number must appear

  • building permit applications

Issued by: State Licensing Board for Residential and Commercial General Contractors (Georgia Secretary of State)

Georgia Consumer Protection: Door-to-door sales · read on consumer.georgia.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

The contract must include

Source: GA law

An estimate isn't the contract. Ask for all 6 in writing before you sign.

  • 3-day cancel notice & formsIf you agreed to it at your home: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Door-to-door sale of $25 or more (federal Cooling-Off Rule): you must get a copy of the contract or a receipt in the language used in the sales pitch. It must show the date and the seller's name and address, have a statement of your three-day right to cancel in bold type of at least 10 point near your signature, and come with two copies of a completed Notice of Cancellation form. The seller must also tell you about this right out loud.

  • 30-day cancel noticeDeals of $10,000+ with long financing: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Deal covered by Georgia's Door-to-Door Sales Act (payments of $10,000 or more, a term over 120 months, sold as eligible for federal tax credits): the contract must have a bold statement next to the signature lines saying you may cancel until midnight of the 30th business day, and come with a Notice of Cancellation form in duplicate. The seller must also tell you about this right out loud.

  • Disaster-repair cancel noticeWithin a year of a declared disaster: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Repair, replacement or mitigation contract signed within one year of a natural disaster for which the Governor declared a state of emergency: before you sign, the contractor must give you a bold statement that you may cancel until midnight of the fifth business day after your insurer tells you in writing that all or part of the claim is not covered, plus a Notice of Cancellation form in duplicate, attached to the contract but easy to detach. The contract may not assign your insurance proceeds to the contractor.

  • Roofing: insurance cancel noticeRoofing paid by your insurance: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Roofing job to be paid from your property insurance: before you sign, the roofer must give you the same five-business-day cancellation statement and detachable Notice of Cancellation form. The roofer may not require any payment until that cancellation period has ended, except for emergency work you acknowledged in writing.

  • Trade registration #On their proposals and invoices: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Electrical, plumbing, HVAC (conditioned air), low voltage or utility contractor: the company's state registration or certificate number must be printed on its proposals and invoices.

  • "Not licensed" statementUnlicensed repair work, in writing: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Unlicensed repair work under the repair exemption: the person doing it must tell you in writing that they are not licensed as a residential or general contractor.

On signing day

  • Keep a signed copy
  • Find the cancel notice
Sources25 official pages · checked Oct 4, 2026

Notes from our check

  • How the pages were read: consumer.georgia.gov, consumered.georgia.gov and agr.georgia.gov were fetched directly. The eCFR page for 16 CFR Part 429 redirected automated fetches, so the same rule text was read through the eCFR API. sos.ga.gov and rules.sos.ga.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated fetches; they were read in a browser, which loaded them normally. Georgia's official O.C.G.A. is hosted by LexisNexis and was not read. Statute text was read from the current (as-passed) version of each bill on legis.ga.gov, and each bill's status page was checked: SB 149 (Act 263, effective July 1, 2023), HB 423 (signed May 12, 2011), SB 503 (Act 583, effective July 1, 2024), SB 201 (Act 71, effective July 1, 2025) and SB 553 (Act 472, effective July 1, 2026). SB 125 (2025) was also read; its only changes to Chapter 43-41 replace 'low-voltage' with 'low voltage'. Later amendments were looked for in the Office of Legislative Counsel's annual summaries of general statutes for 2012 to 2026.
  • Deposit: no Georgia law limiting deposits or down payments on home improvement contracts in general was found on any official page read, so depositCap is null and the app must not state a Georgia cap. The Attorney General's pages give different advice, and neither is law. The Storms and Fraud page says to consider paying no more than one-third down. The Ask Ed column says typically 10 percent and no more than 25 percent.
  • Roofing paid by insurance (O.C.G.A. 10-1-393.12, enacted by HB 423 in 2011 and read as passed): you may cancel until midnight of the fifth business day after your insurer tells you in writing that all or part of the claim is not covered. The roofer may not require any payment until that period ends, except for emergency services you acknowledged in writing. Roofers may not negotiate your insurance claim unless they are licensed public adjusters. The law covers buildings for one to four families. This rule controls when payment can be taken in one trade; it is not a general deposit cap. The only later change listed in the 2012 to 2026 summaries is SB 148 (2015), which the 2015 summary describes as moving the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs' powers to the Attorney General; its text was not read.
  • Natural disasters (SB 201, Act 71, effective July 1, 2025): it added a new paragraph, numbered (36) in the bill, to O.C.G.A. 10-1-393(b). Another 2025 act (SB 213) also amended 10-1-393, so the paragraph number as codified was not confirmed. The rule applies to a contract signed within one year of a flood, tornado, hurricane, earthquake or other event for which the Governor declared a state of emergency, for repair, replacement or mitigation of the damage. It requires the five-business-day insurance cancellation right and notice. It also makes these unfair practices: assigning insurance proceeds to the contractor, not substantially starting work within one year, and substandard or below-code work. A contractor may collect for emergency services you acknowledged in writing; other fees cannot be enforced against a homeowner who cancels. A separate section of the act stops insurers from selling homeowner's policies that allow assignment of proceeds to a contractor within one year of a natural disaster (effective January 1, 2026). Neither this statute nor the roofing statute defines 'business day' for these rights, so that was not verified.
  • Cancellation: the Attorney General's Door to Door Sales page says federal law (16 C.F.R. 429) governs sales that take place in your home, and the Canceling a Contract page tells consumers to report violations of the three-day right to the FTC. That is why the federal rule is used here. eCFR shows $25 for sales at the buyer's home and $130 for other temporary locations, and a business day is any day except Sunday and federal holidays. The Canceling a Contract page says the merchant must refund 'within ten days'; the FTC rule and the Attorney General's Door to Door Sales page say ten business days.
  • Georgia Door-to-Door Sales Act (O.C.G.A. 10-1-20 through 10-1-27, SB 149, effective July 1, 2023): it covers only in-person sales agreed away from the seller's place of business that have all three of these: payments of $10,000 or more; a lease, financing arrangement or other agreement with a term of more than 120 months; and claimed or actual federal tax-credit eligibility. It excludes sales with no in-person contact before delivery, buyer-requested repair visits, and sales of real property or insurance, and it does not apply at fairs and community events or at events hosted by the state, a local government, a church or a public charity. The required cancellation notice must say payments will be returned within ten business days. The Act says buyers keep any other state or federal rights. The Attorney General's pages word the conditions as 'payments above $10,000.00' and 'a lease longer than 120 months'; this entry follows the statute.
  • Licensing: SB 503 (2024) renamed the board the State Licensing Board for Residential and Commercial General Contractors; the board's specialty-exemption pages still use the old name. SB 553 repealed and reenacted Chapter 43-14 (electrical, plumbing, conditioned air, low voltage and utility contractors) effective July 1, 2026. The reenacted chapter requires a state license for each of these trades (O.C.G.A. 43-14-8, 43-14-9, 43-14-10, 43-14-13 and 43-14-14) and requires the registration or certificate number on proposals, invoices and work vehicles, and the number or a website address where it can be found on advertising (43-14-18). A 2026 code-revision act (HB 1268) made editorial changes to 43-14-8; its text was not read.
  • Repair exemption: the statute (O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(g)) requires the person to disclose that they are not licensed and limits the work to repairs that do not affect structural integrity. Board Rule 553-8-.01 adds that the disclosure must be in writing, that the work must not affect life safety, that the person may not hand supervision to anyone other than employees, and that the person must get any permits and inspections the local authority requires.
  • Under O.C.G.A. 43-41-17(b), a contract for work that needs a residential or commercial general contractor license, made with an unlicensed contractor, cannot be enforced by that contractor, and the contractor gets no lien or bond claim. Nothing in Chapter 43-41 that was read requires the license number on the contract or in advertising. It is required on building permit applications (O.C.G.A. 43-41-14).
  • The board's specialty-contractor exemption lists are board policy statements (traditional list revised 03/06/20, limited-service list revised 01/31/12) described as 'under development and subject to change.' Specialty contractors still need any Chapter 43-14 trade license for electrical, plumbing or HVAC work. The Attorney General says most contractors are also subject to county or city licensing, which this entry does not cover.
  • No general Georgia law requiring a written home improvement contract, or listing what one must contain, was found. The Attorney General's office advises putting every guarantee, warranty and promise and the start and completion dates in writing, and tying payments to completed stages of work. That is advice, not a legal requirement. O.C.G.A. 43-41-7 requires a licensed residential contractor to offer a written warranty on each contract over $2,500 to build a single-family residence. Whether it applies to remodeling was not verified.
  • tradeCoverage omissions: these slugs were left out because the official pages did not settle them. foundation-waterproofing: the board's list names only damp proofing and waterproofing, not structural foundation work. solar, smart-home and appliance-repair: these may involve Chapter 43-14 electrical or low voltage licensing, which was not determined. septic-well: not determined from an official page. Not checked: restoration, home-inspection, locksmith, water-treatment, cleaning, junk-removal and environmental-testing.

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

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