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Your rights

North Carolina

North Carolina · home improvement

Your rights in North Carolina

Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026

3 business days to cancel

If you agree away from their office ($25+)

Cancel in writing by midnight of the third business day (Saturday counts). Money back within 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 contacted the contractor and asked them to come to your home to repair or maintain your property. Anything extra they sell you on that visit, other than replacement parts needed for the repair, can still be canceled.
  • You contacted the contractor about a real, immediate personal emergency and gave them a separate statement, dated, signed and in your own handwriting, that describes the emergency and gives up the right to cancel.
  • The sale followed earlier negotiations during your visit to the seller's permanent retail location, where the goods or services are offered for sale.
  • The sale was handled entirely by mail or telephone, with no other contact before delivery or performance.
  • The transaction already carries the federal Truth in Lending right to cancel (15 U.S.C. 1635), for example some loans secured by your home. That right has its own rules.
Read the full rule

When it applies

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, for a price of $25 or more. Saturday counts as a business day. Sundays and the holidays listed in the statute do not.

If you agree to buy at your home or anywhere other than the contractor's place of business and the price is $25 or more, you can cancel in writing until midnight of the third business day after the transaction date. Saturday counts; Sunday does not. The contractor must refund your payments within 10 business days of getting your notice. Since October 1, 2024, a residential roof replacement or repair contract sold this way also gets a 5-business-day cancellation period after your insurance claim for the work is denied. During that period the roofer may not start work or collect payment, except for emergency work you agreed in writing was needed to prevent more damage. The law's definition of residential roofing services leaves out work done by a licensed general contractor or under one's supervision, and retailers of roofing materials who also offer installation.

N.C. DOJ: Right to cancel · read on ncdoj.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

License number

On the contract and bid

A general contractor needs a state license for projects of $40,000 or more. Smaller jobs need no state general contractor license.

Read the full rule

In North Carolina, a general contractor needs a license from the Licensing Board for General Contractors for any project costing $40,000 or more, and the license number must be on the contract and the bid. Smaller jobs need no state general contractor license. Electrical, plumbing and heating and cooling contractors need their own state license whatever the job size, apart from narrow exceptions such as drain cleaning and minor repairs or part replacements on an existing plumbing, heating or air conditioning system.

Who needs one: Anyone who bids on, builds, or superintends or manages the construction of any building or improvement, including work on a home, when the cost of the project is $40,000 or more.

Who doesn't

  • An owner building or altering a building on their own land only for themselves and their family to live in. The owner must sign a permit affidavit and personally manage the work. If the owner does not live in the building for 12 months after completion, the law presumes they did not qualify.
  • A farmer building or altering a farm building on their own land for their own use.
  • Furnishing or erecting industrial equipment, power plant equipment, radial brick chimneys and monuments.
  • A licensed landscape contractor doing landscape work valued above $40,000.

Where the number must appear

  • the contract
  • bids

Issued by: North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors (NCLBGC)

N.C.G.S. § 14-401.13 · read on ncleg.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

The contract must include

Source: NC law

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

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

    In the rule's words

    If you sign anywhere other than the contractor's place of business and the price is $25 or more, you must get a completed copy of the contract (or a receipt) when you sign. It must be in the same language as the sales pitch and show the transaction date and the contractor's name and address.

  • 3-day cancel statementIf you sign 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 transaction date.

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

    In the rule's words

    Two copies of an easily detachable 'Notice of Cancellation' form, filled in with the contractor's name and business address, the transaction date and the last day you can cancel. The contractor must also tell you about the right to cancel when you sign.

  • General contractor license #Projects of $40,000 or more: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    If the contractor holds a North Carolina general contractor license (required for projects of $40,000 or more), the license number must be on the contract and on the bid.

  • Plumbing or HVAC license #On the proposal or contract: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    If a plumbing or heating and cooling contractor does the work, their state license number must appear on the proposal or contract.

On signing day

  • Keep a signed copy
  • Find the cancel notice
Sources39 official pages · checked Oct 4, 2026

Notes from our check

  • Independently verified on 2026-10-04 by reading the statute text on ncleg.gov: G.S. 14-401.13; 25A-38 to 25A-42; 87-1, 87-10, 87-13, 87-14, 87-15.5, 87-21, 87-43, 87-43.1, 87-43.3, 87-98.2, 87-98.4; 89D-12 and 89D-13; 90A-71 and 90A-72; 106-65.24 and 106-65.25; 143-151.46, 143-151.50 and 143-151.62; 74F-3 and 74F-4; and Session Law 2024-11. The Attorney General's consumer pages on ncdoj.gov, NCLBGC's home and consumer FAQ pages and its 2026 Laws and Regulations book PDF, and NCBEEC's licensing page were also read. NCLBGC's disaster page blocks direct downloads with a bot check, so it was read through a fetch tool; it states 'Don't let the payments get ahead of the work.'
  • Deposit: no North Carolina statute limiting deposits or down payments on residential home improvement contracts was found. NCLBGC's 2026 Laws and Regulations book (general contractor statutes and rules) has no deposit or down-payment rule. Chapters 14, 25A, 44A, 66, 75, 87 and 143 of the General Statutes were also searched in full for 'deposit' and 'down payment'; the only deposit rules found cover manufactured-home dealers (G.S. 143-143.21A, 143-143.21B and 143-143.50 and following) and unrelated businesses, not home improvement. The Attorney General's pages give advice only: 'Don't pay large fees in advance' and 'a reasonable down payment may be required'. G.S. 14-401.13(b1) bars a roofer from collecting any payment during the 5 business days after an insurance claim denial. That is a timing rule for roofing only, not a cap. depositCap is null, so the app must not state a North Carolina deposit limit or borrow one from another state.
  • Cancellation: North Carolina has its own right, so the federal FTC Cooling-Off Rule was not used as the basis. G.S. 14-401.13 is written as a criminal statute. A seller who willfully fails to give the cancellation statement and the two notice forms, fails to tell the buyer about the right orally, misrepresents it, or refuses to honor a valid cancellation and refund within 10 business days commits a Class 3 misdemeanor. If the seller gave no Notice of Cancellation form, an oral cancellation is enough (G.S. 14-401.13(b)). The Attorney General's Right to Cancel page describes the same 3-day off-premises right, the $25 floor and the main exclusions.
  • Business day under G.S. 14-401.13(c)(6) means any calendar day except Sunday and New Year's Day, Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Good Friday. The refund deadline is 10 business days, not calendar days; refundWithinDays holds the number 10.
  • The exceptions list covers the statutory exclusions that matter for home improvement. G.S. 14-401.13(c)(1) also excludes real estate sales and rentals, insurance, securities and commodities sold by registered broker-dealers, auctions and certain motor vehicle sales. A nonprofit organization is not a 'seller' under the statute.
  • Roof rule: S.L. 2024-11 added G.S. 14-401.13(b1), which applies to contracts entered into on or after October 1, 2024. A violation is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The 5 business days run from an insurance claim denial for the work, not from signing, so extendedDays and extendedFor are left null to avoid presenting it as a longer version of the 3-day window. Two points of scope were not settled. (1) The definition in (c)(7) excludes work by or under a licensed general contractor and retailers of roofing materials who offer installation, but (b1) itself says 'contracts for residential roof replacement or repair'. (2) (b1) sits in the off-premises sales statute, so whether it reaches a roofing contract signed at the roofer's office was not determined. The Attorney General's Roofers page still mentions only the general three-day right.
  • Credit sales: G.S. 25A-38 to 25A-42 give a parallel right for 'home-solicitation sales' made on credit at the buyer's home. The buyer may cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, the seller must return payments within 10 business days, and the seller gets no pay for services performed before cancellation. If delivery is more than 30 days late through the seller's fault, the buyer may rescind and get a full refund. Under G.S. 25A-39(e) the buyer may not cancel when the buyer asked in a separate writing for goods or services without delay because of an urgency or emergency, the seller in good faith made a substantial beginning of performance before the cancellation, and any goods cannot be returned in substantially as good condition.
  • Contract contents: North Carolina has no general statute listing what a home improvement contract must contain. contractMust therefore lists only the off-premises sale requirements in G.S. 14-401.13(a), NCLBGC rule 21 NCAC 12A .0501(a) ('License numbers shall be included on all contracts and bids.') and G.S. 87-21(e), which requires a plumbing or heating contractor's license number on all proposals or contracts. Rule .0501 was read in NCLBGC's 2026 Laws and Regulations book PDF; the OAH administrative code URL for the rule returned 404 on 2026-10-04. A licensed landscape contractor must also show its license number on contracts (G.S. 89D-12(e)). The Attorney General recommends, but the law does not require, a written contract that states the work, quality of materials, total price for labor and materials, warranties, start and finish dates, and who handles cleanup.
  • Registration: the $40,000 figure comes from the current text of G.S. 87-1 and G.S. 87-14 (a permit for a $40,000-or-more project requires proof of a license or exemption) and matches NCLBGC's pages ('If a project is valued at $40,000 or more, your general contractor must have a license issued by the state'). Unlicensed contracting at that level is a Class 2 misdemeanor (G.S. 87-13). NCLBGC runs a Homeowners Recovery Fund as a last resort for owners of single-family dwellings who lose money to dishonest or incompetent licensed general contractors (G.S. 87-15.5). Recovery is slow, and attorney fees are not recoverable.
  • Trade coverage, general credential: generalCredential is 'licensed' because the NCLBGC license reaches every building trade, but only for projects of $40,000 or more. Under 21 NCAC 12A .0202, NCLBGC's Residential and Building classifications and its specialty classifications cover roofing, swimming pools, insulation, masonry, concrete and interior construction at that threshold. Those trades were left out of statewideCredentialedTrades on purpose, so no one reads them as licensed for small jobs. general_contractor is listed with the threshold in its evidence line.
  • Trade coverage, left out: outdoor_landscaping is left out of both lists on purpose. The Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board licenses landscape contractors (G.S. 89D-12), but no license is needed when all contracts for one job site total less than $30,000 in any 12 months (G.S. 89D-13(5)), and lawn mowing, lawn care, tree work and grading are exempt. solar, smart-home, environmental-testing, appliance-repair, chimney-fireplace and garage-doors were not determined. 21 NCAC 12A .0202 places solar panel installation inside the Building and Residential general contractor classifications (so at $40,000 or more), but no official page read says whether solar wiring needs the electrical license. NCBEEC's licensing page lists a fire alarm/low-voltage special restricted license and others but says nothing about solar.
  • Sources not on a .gov/.us/legislature domain were cited alongside the official ones: https://www.nclbgc.org/; https://www.nclbgc.org/faq-consumers/; https://www.nclbgc.org/protecting-yourself-after-a-disaster/

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

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