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Idaho

Idaho · home improvement

Your rights in Idaho

Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026

3 business days to cancel

If they solicited it and you signed away from their office

Cancel in writing by 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 5 exceptions, in the rule's words
  • You first negotiated the deal on a visit to the seller's permanent retail store.
  • You contacted the seller for a bona fide immediate personal emergency and gave the seller a separate dated, signed statement in your own handwriting that describes the emergency and waives the three-day right.
  • The deal was made entirely by mail or phone, with no other contact with the seller before delivery or performance.
  • You asked the seller to come to your home to repair or maintain your personal property. Extra goods or services sold during that visit, beyond the replacement parts needed for the repair, are still covered.
  • Sales or rentals of real property, sales of insurance, and securities or commodities sold by a broker registered with the Idaho Department of Finance.
Read the full rule

When it applies

A sale of goods or services of $25 or more for personal, family or household use, where the seller personally solicits the sale (even if you invited them) and you agree or sign somewhere other than the seller's place of business, such as your home. Saturdays, Sundays and the legal holidays listed in the rule (such as Thanksgiving and Christmas) are not business days.

If a seller solicits a sale of $25 or more and you sign away from the seller's place of business (for example at home), you can cancel in writing until midnight of the third business day after the transaction. Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays do not count. The seller must give you two copies of a Notice of Cancellation and refund your payments within 10 business days of getting your notice.

Idaho AG Consumer Protection Manual · read on ag.idaho.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

Registration number

On the contract, permits and ads

Idaho contractors must register with the Idaho Contractors Board unless the whole job is under $2,000. Registration is not a license.

Read the full rule

An Idaho contractor must be registered with the Idaho Contractors Board (DOPL) unless the whole job is under $2,000 or another exemption applies, and must show the registration number on your contract. Registration is not a license and has no exam. Electricians, plumbers and HVAC contractors hold a separate state license or certificate instead and do not register for work within it. Check the registration at dopl.idaho.gov before you sign.

Who needs one: Anyone who undertakes, offers, bids on or performs construction (building, altering, repairing, improving, excavating or demolishing a building or other improvement to real property). A single job whose total price for labor and materials is under $2,000 is exempt, unless it is part of a larger project or was split up to avoid registering.

Who doesn't

  • Holders of another Idaho license working within it, including licensed electrical contractors, plumbers, HVAC contractors, architects, engineers and surveyors, public works contractors and public works construction managers
  • A single job whose total price for labor and materials is under $2,000, unless it is part of a larger project or split into smaller contracts to avoid registering
  • Employees paid wages or a salary by a contractor (subcontractors and other independent contractors are not exempt)
  • Suppliers who only furnish materials or equipment and do not install them
  • Owners working on their own residential property, with limits for owners who build in order to sell quickly

Where the number must appear

  • the contract
  • advertising
  • building permits
  • business letterhead
  • purchase orders and subcontracts
  • the contractor's place of business
  • the job site

Issued by: Idaho Contractors Board, Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL)

Idaho AG Consumer Protection Manual · read on ag.idaho.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

The contract must include

Source: ID law

An estimate isn't the contract. Ask for all 5 in writing before you sign.

  • Registration #: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Show the contractor's Idaho contractor registration number. Registered contractors must display it on contracts, advertising, permits and business letterhead. A contractor exempt from registration (for example a licensed electrician, plumber or HVAC contractor working within that license) will not have one.

  • Disclosure statementJobs over $2,000, before you sign: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For work over $2,000 on a home with one to four units, the general contractor must give you a disclosure statement before you sign the contract. You sign an acknowledgment that you received it, and you get a copy. This is not required when you contacted the contractor for a bona fide emergency repair or for necessary repairs to your electrical, plumbing or water system.

  • Lien, insurance & bond optionsPart of that disclosure: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    That disclosure must tell you that you can: require lien waivers from subcontractors (at your reasonable expense); get proof of the contractor's general liability insurance (including completed operations) and workers' compensation; buy an extended title insurance policy covering certain unfiled or unrecorded liens; and require a surety bond (at your expense) of up to the value of the project.

  • List of subs before final payGiven before your final payment: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Before you make final payment, the general contractor must give you a signed list of the business names, addresses and phone numbers of the subcontractors, material suppliers and equipment rental companies it hired directly that supplied more than $500 of work or materials. The same emergency and electrical, plumbing or water-system repair exception applies.

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

    In the rule's words

    If the seller solicited the sale and you signed away from the seller's place of business (for $25 or more), the seller must give you a completed copy of the contract or receipt in the language used in the sales pitch. It must show the date and the seller's name and street address, with a notice of your three-business-day right to cancel near your signature, and come with two copies of a Notice of Cancellation form. The seller must also tell you about the right out loud.

On signing day

  • Keep a signed copy
  • Find the cancel notice
Sources30 official pages · checked Oct 4, 2026

Notes from our check

  • Deposit: no Idaho statute or rule limiting a deposit or down payment on a home improvement contract was found in the Contractor Registration Act (Idaho Code 54-5201 et seq.), the contractor disclosure statute (45-525), the Attorney General's consumer protection rules (IDAPA 04.02.01) or the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Manual. The manual only advises: "Don't agree to a large down payment" and suggests paying as the work progresses. depositCap is null. The app must not state an Idaho cap or infer one from another state.
  • Retainage is not a deposit rule. Idaho Code 29-115 caps the amount an owner withholds from payments at 5 percent, but the statute says that 5 percent cap does not apply to homes of one to four units occupied (or to be occupied) by the owner. So the 5 percent cap does not limit the AG manual's suggestion to withhold a sum such as 10 percent until the work is done on such a home.
  • Cancellation: Idaho's own right comes from the Attorney General's rule under the Idaho Consumer Protection Act (IDAPA 04.02.01, Rule 170, with the 'door-to-door sale' definition at Rule 020.22 and 'business day' at Rule 020.09, which excludes Saturdays, Sundays and ten listed legal holidays). The refund deadline is 10 business days after the seller receives the notice. Rule text was read from the current rules PDF on adminrules.idaho.gov (sections stamped 3-31-22).
  • A second, narrower right is in the Idaho Credit Code (Idaho Code 28-43-401 to 28-43-405). It covers home solicitation sales made on credit, where the seller solicits the sale and the buyer agrees at their residence. The buyer can cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, and the seller must return payments within 10 days. The AG manual says this applies whatever the price.
  • Wording differences in the AG manual: its home-improvement tips say a contract signed at home 'for more than $25' can be cancelled within three days, while its door-to-door section and Rule 020.22 say '$25 or more'. The manual also says the refund comes 'within ten days', while Rule 170.07 says 10 business days. The rule's wording is used here.
  • Registration threshold: the statute (54-5205(2)(f)) exempts a single job whose total price is less than $2,000, so a $2,000 job needs a registered contractor. DOPL's FAQ instead describes jobs 'exceeding $2000.00'. The app should say 'about $2,000' or 'unless the whole job is under $2,000', not 'over $2,000'.
  • Registration is not licensure (DOPL FAQ: 'The Act requires registration, not licensure'). The qualifications in 54-5210 and the board's rule (IDAPA 24.21.01.100, which adds a no-felony requirement with an exemption review) include no exam. The application needs proof of at least $300,000 in general liability insurance (including products and completed operations) and either proof of workers' compensation or a statement of why it is not required (54-5210). A contractor who should be registered but is not loses the right to file a lien on the property (54-5208). DOPL's contractor page says the board began moving to two-year (biennial) registration on October 14, 2025; its FAQ still describes annual renewal.
  • Where the number must appear: 54-5214(2) requires the number on the place of business, advertising, contracts, permits, letterheads, purchase orders and subcontracts within 60 days of registration. 54-5209 requires building permits to show it and to be posted at the job site, and DOPL's FAQ says to display it at the jobsite. Licensees exempt under 54-5205(1) may not hold themselves out as registered contractors, so their contracts will not carry a registration number.
  • The 45-525 disclosures apply to a 'general contractor', meaning a contractor with a direct contract of more than $2,000 with the homeowner. 45-525(6) says the whole section (both the pre-contract disclosure and the final-payment subcontractor list) does not apply when the homeowner starts the contact for bona fide emergency repairs or necessary electrical, plumbing or water-system repairs. Missing disclosures count as an unfair and deceptive practice under the Idaho Consumer Protection Act (45-525(4)). DOPL's FAQ cites the completion disclosure as 'Section 54-525(3)', a typo for 45-525(3).
  • No Idaho statute was found that requires a home improvement contract to be in writing or lists its required contents, beyond the items in contractMust. The AG manual recommends (but does not require) a written contract with: the date; the contractor's full name, street address and phone; names of subcontractors; a full description of the work; grade and quality of materials; start and completion dates; total cost; a payment schedule; copies of warranties; and financing documents. These are advice, so they are not listed in contractMust.
  • The AG's consumer rules also bar understating an estimate, require advance approval for unforeseen work that would unreasonably raise an estimate, require one itemized bill on request (unless the contract is lump-sum), and require returning or showing old parts on request (IDAPA 04.02.01 Rules 120-122 and 130-132). Rule 120 is worded for 'repairs or improvements to goods' and 'any rendering of services', so it is not stated here as a home improvement contract requirement.
  • 2026 bill H0768 ('Contractor Registration Act - revise compliance provisions') was only introduced and referred to the House Business Committee, according to its legislature page. It is not law. The statutes cited are as published on legislature.idaho.gov, which updates them July 1 after each session.
  • Trade notes: the HVAC contractor definition (54-5003(3)) lists installing 'decorative gas and solid fuel-burning appliances', so that work falls under the HVAC certificate of competency (54-5008); the HVAC exceptions in 54-5002 do not exempt contractors working for a homeowner. Whether chimney sweeping or masonry chimney work needs any state credential was not determined, so chimney-fireplace is not listed. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC licensees are exempt from contractor registration when working within their license (54-5205(1)); they are listed as statewide-credentialed trades and deliberately left out of notCoveredTrades so the app never suggests they need no credential. Solar, roofing, windows, siding and the other building trades are covered by the general registration; no trade-specific statewide credential for them was verified.
  • Verification (2026-10-04): home-inspection was removed from notCoveredTrades. Inspecting a home is not 'construction' under 54-5203, but no official page was found confirming that Idaho has no separate home inspector credential, and the app shows a notCoveredTrades slug as 'not licensed statewide'. Leave it unlisted until an official source settles it.
  • Every page listed in sources loaded on 2026-10-04. The AG Consumer Protection Manual PDF has no edition date. It carries Attorney General Raul Labrador's letter and is linked from the AG's consumer manuals page as the current manual.

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

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