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Your rights

Iowa

Iowa · home improvement

Your rights in Iowa

Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026

3 business days to cancel

If you buy at home or away from their office ($25+)

Cancel for any reason before midnight of the third business day (weekends don't count). Two cancel forms; money back in 10 business days.

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

The 6 exceptions, in the rule's words
  • You negotiated the deal earlier during a visit to the seller's permanent retail location where the goods or services are offered.
  • You contacted the seller about a real, immediate personal emergency and gave the seller a separate dated and signed statement in your own handwriting that describes the emergency and gives up the three-day right to cancel.
  • The deal was made entirely by mail or telephone, with no other contact before the goods were delivered or the work was done.
  • You asked the seller to come to your home to repair or maintain your personal property. Anything extra the seller sells you on that visit, beyond replacement parts used in the repair, is still covered.
  • You already have a federal right to cancel under the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1635), which covers consumer credit where the lender takes a security interest in the home you live in.
  • Sales or rentals of real property, sales of insurance and prepaid health service plans, and sales of securities or commodities by a broker-dealer registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Read the full rule

When it applies

A purchase of goods or services for personal, family or household use with a total price of $25 or more, where the seller personally solicits the sale (even if you invited them) and you agree to buy somewhere other than the seller's place of business, such as your home. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays do not count as business days.

If you agree to buy goods or services for your home costing $25 or more at your home, or anywhere other than the seller's place of business, you can cancel for any reason before midnight of the third business day after the sale. Saturdays, Sundays and holidays do not count. The seller must give you two copies of a Notice of Cancellation form and refund your payments within 10 business days of getting your notice.

Iowa Code ch. 555A · read on legis.iowa.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

Registration number

Check it before you sign

Contractors who earn $2,000 or more a year from construction must register with DIAL. Registration is not a quality check.

Read the full rule

An Iowa contractor who earns $2,000 or more a year from construction work must register with the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) before doing the work. Registration is not a quality check. Plumbing and HVAC contractors also need a state license, and electricians need a state electrical license or, for work inside one city only, an equivalent license from that city.

Who needs one: Anyone in the business of construction in Iowa who earns $2,000 or more a year from it. Construction covers new work, additions, alterations, repairs and similar work, including home improvement general contractors and special trades such as roofing, siding, painting, carpentry, flooring, masonry, concrete, insulation and fencing. Plumbing and HVAC contractors register as part of their state license application.

Who doesn't

  • People who earn less than $2,000 a year from construction work
  • People who do work, or have work done, on their own property
  • The state, its agencies and its political subdivisions

Issued by: Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), Contractor Registration

Iowa Code ch. 555A · read on legis.iowa.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

The contract must include

Source: IA law

An estimate isn't the contract. Ask for all 7 in writing before you sign.

  • A copy in the pitch's languageIf sold away from their office: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    If you agree to buy at your home or anywhere other than the seller's place of business ($25 or more): a completed copy of the contract, or a receipt, given to you when you sign. It must be in the same language used in the sales pitch and show the date and the seller's name and address.

  • 3-day cancel statementIf sold away from their office: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Next to your signature, in bold type of at least 10 point: a statement that you may cancel at any time before midnight of the third business day after the date of the sale.

  • Two cancel forms attachedIf sold away from their office: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Two completed copies of a 'Notice of Cancellation' form, attached and easy to detach, showing the seller's name and address, the date of the sale and the last day you can cancel. The seller must also tell you out loud about your right to cancel.

  • No waiver of cancel rightsNo confession of judgment either: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    No confession of judgment and no waiver of your right to cancel.

  • Catastrophe repair noticeRoofing or storm-damage repair: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    From a roofing contractor, or a contractor doing exterior repair after a natural catastrophe (such as a fire, earthquake, tornado, windstorm, flood or hail storm) on a home for one to four families, when the contract is to repair catastrophe damage: a 'Notice of Contract Obligations and Rights' in at least 10-point bold type, which you sign before or when you sign the contract. Without it the contract is void.

  • No deductible rebatesRoofing or storm-damage repair: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    A roofing contractor, or a contractor doing exterior repair after a natural catastrophe, on a home for one to four families, may not advertise or promise to rebate any part of your insurance deductible, and may not represent you or negotiate for you on your insurance claim, or offer or advertise to do so. A contract with a contractor who does either is void.

  • Lien notice & registryIf they hire subs or suppliers: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    If a general contractor will hire subcontractors or suppliers for work on your home: a written owner notice in at least 10-point bold type. It must explain that unpaid subcontractors and suppliers can put a lien on your property, and give the web address and toll-free number of the state mechanics' notice and lien registry. A general contractor who leaves out this notice loses its own lien rights.

On signing day

  • Keep a signed copy
  • Find the cancel notice
Sources32 official pages · checked Oct 4, 2026

Notes from our check

  • Deposit: no Iowa statute limiting the deposit or down payment on a residential home improvement contract was found in Iowa Code chapters 91C, 103A, 555A or 572 or in section 714.16 (a text search of each found no deposit or down-payment limit). The Attorney General's home improvement page gives no limit either. It only advises not paying the full amount before the work is done and treats large upfront payments as a red flag. depositCap is null, so the app must not state an Iowa cap or borrow one from another state.
  • Cancellation comes from Iowa's own door-to-door sales law (Iowa Code ch. 555A), not the federal FTC Cooling-Off Rule. Iowa's 'business day' leaves out Saturdays as well as Sundays and public holidays (555A.1(1)). The refund deadline is 10 BUSINESS days (555A.4(5)), so refundWithinDays = 10 means business days, not calendar days. The app should say 'business days'. Iowa Code 537.3501 (Consumer Credit Code) only adds remedies for credit sales on top of ch. 555A; it does not set a different period.
  • The Attorney General's right-to-cancel page says that if the seller does not give proper written notice, the cancellation period runs until three business days after you receive it. That extension does not appear in the ch. 555A text as read, so extendedDays is null and the app should not state it as a statutory figure. The same page says the right also covers sales at temporary locations (hotels, fairgrounds) and by people who approach you in public places, which fits the statute's 'place other than the place of business of the seller'.
  • Iowa Code 555A.5: cancelling under ch. 555A, or the seller's failure to give you a copy of the contract as the chapter requires, voids any contract, note or other evidence of debt signed in connection with the sale and is a complete defense if the seller sues on it (a successor who relied on the buyer's statement after the seventh business day is treated differently). The app may describe this effect but should not present it as a longer cancellation period.
  • The repair-visit exception uses the statute's words 'the buyer's personal property' (555A.1(3)(a)(5)). Whether a particular home repair falls under it was not determined, so the app should quote the wording rather than apply it to a specific job.
  • Registration (Iowa Code ch. 91C; 481 IAC ch. 465): neither the statute nor the rules require the registration number on contracts, bids or advertising, so numberMustAppearOn is an empty list because no such rule was found. Numbers are 'C' plus six digits (481 IAC 465.7) and are public records (91C.5). Separately, Iowa Code 105.25 requires written advertisements of plumbing, HVAC, refrigeration, sheet metal and hydronic businesses to list the contractor license number.
  • Registration is not a competence license. It confirms workers' compensation and unemployment-insurance compliance (91C.2). The $25,000 out-of-state contractor bond secures taxes owed to the state (91C.7), not homeowner claims; DIAL's contractor registration page says only the State of Iowa and its agencies may collect on it. The app should not present it as consumer protection.
  • Plumbing and mechanical (HVAC) contractor licensees are different: DIAL's Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board contractor-license page requires at least $500,000 of public liability insurance and a surety bond of at least $5,000 that must name the contractor's customers, plus a licensed master of record for each discipline.
  • Agency history: ch. 91C now names DIAL (amendments by 2023 Acts ch. 19), and the rules moved from Labor Services Division [875] ch. 150 to 481 IAC ch. 465 (editorial change 7/9/25). Older idol.iowa.gov pages did not respond on 2026-10-04 and were not used.
  • contractMust: Iowa has no general statute listing required home improvement contract terms. Each item applies only in the situation it names: door-to-door sales (555A.2-555A.4), roofing contractors and exterior catastrophe-repair contractors on one-to-four-family homes (103A.71), and general contractors using subcontractors on single-family or two-family residential construction (572.1(10), 572.13). The Attorney General advises, but the law does not require, getting in writing the work, materials, price, start and completion dates, cleanup, permits, inspections and change-order process, and asking about lien waivers before the final payment.
  • Trade-license caveats: an electrician holding a substantially equivalent city license may work within that city without a state license (103.22(4)). Owners may do their own electrical, plumbing and HVAC work on an existing single-family principal residence that qualifies for the homestead tax credit or exemption (103.22(7) and 105.11(3); the words 'or exemption' were added by 2026 SF 2472 sections 124-125, effective 2026-07-01, so the Code 2026 PDF still shows the older wording).
  • Slugs left out on purpose. smart-home: alarm-system contractors and installers need a DIAL certificate under ch. 100C, but the slug is broader than alarm systems. septic-well: well contractors must be DNR-certified under 455B.190A, but septic installers were not checked. environmental-testing: radon testers and mitigators must be certified or credentialed by Iowa HHS under 136B.1, but mold and other testing are not covered. chimney-fireplace: gas and solid-fuel hearth appliance work needs a PMSB mechanical license or a hearth systems specialty license (481 IAC 431.7(2)), but masonry chimney work and sweeping are not under that license. water-treatment: the 105.2 plumbing definition includes potable water treating equipment, but no specific ruling was checked. outdoor_landscaping and cleaning: 871 IAC 23.82 counts some of this work as construction (lawn sprinkler installation, artificial turf, fences, exterior building cleaning) but not lawn care or janitorial work.
  • The statutes were read from the Iowa Code 2026 PDFs on legis.iowa.gov. The legislature's 2026 Code-sections-amended report shows no 2026 changes to ch. 91C, ch. 555A, 103A.71 or 572.13. Related 2026 changes checked in the enrolled bills: the homestead wording in 103.22(7) and 105.11(3) (SF 2472), an apprentice-ratio rule in 105.18(5) (SF 2168), and electrical code edition changes in 103.1, 103.1B and 103.1C (HF 2800). Other 2026 changes found and judged unrelated: two new 714.16(2)(t) paragraphs (SF 2296 on digital financial kiosks; HF 2756 on service contracts, effective 2027-01-01) and new 103A.8E (HF 2297, passive radon mitigation in new one- and two-family homes). None of them changes this entry.

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

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