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Your rights

North Dakota

North Dakota · home improvement

Your rights in North Dakota

Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026

3 business days to cancel

If they solicited it and you agreed away from their office

Cancel by written notice (delivered, mailed or emailed) by midnight of the third business day. Money back within 10 days.

Some sales are excepted, such as sales under $25.

The 3 exceptions, in the rule's words
  • You contacted the contractor, asked it to start without delay, it made a substantial beginning in good faith before you cancelled, and the goods cannot be returned in substantially as good condition.
  • Purchases under $25.
  • Sales where the seller tells you, orally and in writing, that you get a full refund if you ask within 15 days of receiving the goods or services, paid within 30 days (or a proportional refund for services not yet performed).
Longer in some cases

15 instead of 3, for buyers 65 or older, for a product priced over $50 (the statute does not say whether services count), unless the contract instead promises a full refund if you ask within at least 30 days.

Read the full rule

When it applies

The contractor solicited the sale in person or by phone and you agreed or signed somewhere other than its place of business (for example, at your home). It does not apply when the deal follows earlier negotiations at the contractor's fixed business location.

If a contractor sold you the job in person or by phone and you agreed at your home or anywhere other than its place of business, you can cancel by written notice (delivered, mailed or emailed) until midnight of the third business day after you sign. If you are 65 or older, the law gives 15 business days on a product priced over $50 (it does not say whether services count), unless the contract instead promises a full refund if you ask within at least 30 days. The contractor must return your payments within 10 days. For work paid from a property insurance claim (such as a roof), a separate law lets you cancel until midnight of the fifth business day after you sign or after your insurer tells you in writing that all or part of the claim is not covered, whichever is later.

N.D.C.C. ch. 51-18 · read on ndlegis.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

License number

On the building permit

Contractors need a Secretary of State license for any job over $4,000, in a license class that covers the job's value.

Read the full rule

A North Dakota contractor must hold a Secretary of State contractor license for any job costing more than $4,000, and the license class must cover the job's value (Class D up to $100,000, Class C up to $300,000, Class B up to $500,000, Class A no limit). Check the license on the Secretary of State's FirstStop contractor search before you sign.

Who needs one: Anyone in the business of building, repairing, altering, dismantling or demolishing buildings and other structures or improvements, including subcontractors and nonresident contractors, when the cost, value or price per job is more than $4,000.

Who doesn't

  • Authorized representatives of the United States, the State of North Dakota, or a county, municipality, irrigation district, reclamation district or other political corporation.
  • A person who supplies a finished product, material or merchandise that the person does not install or attach to the real property.

Where the number must appear

  • the building permit

Issued by: North Dakota Secretary of State (contractor licensing)

N.D.C.C. ch. 51-18 · read on ndlegis.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

The contract must include

Source: ND law

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

  • Written, dated & signedIf sold away from their office: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    If the contractor sold you the job in person or by phone and you agreed away from its place of business: the contract must be in writing, dated and signed by you, and you are entitled to a copy when you sign.

  • Notice to Buyer & cancel formsIf sold away from their office: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    That contract must carry a conspicuous Notice to Buyer (do not sign with blank spaces; you may cancel before midnight of the third business day) and have two completed copies of a Notice of Cancellation form attached, giving the seller's name, business address, email address for notices and the last day to cancel.

  • Told out loud you can cancelIf sold away from their office: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    The contractor must also tell you out loud about your right to cancel; the cancellation form includes a line where you acknowledge that spoken notice.

  • Seller, price & description: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    It must show the seller's name, address and telephone number, the price including any delivery or other charges, a detailed description of the goods or services, and the statement "YOU ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO PAY ANY MONEY UNLESS YOU SIGN THIS CONTRACT AND RETURN IT TO THE SELLER." in at least 12-point type just above your signature.

  • 65+ cancel or refund termsIf you're 65+ and it's over $50: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    If you are 65 or older and the product's price is over $50, it must state either your 15-business-day right to cancel or a promise of a full refund if you ask within at least 30 days.

  • Insurance-claim terms5-day cancel; no deductible rebates: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    If the work is to be paid from a property insurance claim (roof or other exterior work, or cleanup): the contract must state your five-business-day right to cancel, and the contract, estimate or work order must carry the state's warning against rebating your insurance deductible, in capital 14-point type, for you to sign.

  • Itemized description firstFor insurance-paid work: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For insurance-paid work, before work starts the contractor must give you and your insurer an itemized description of the work, materials, labor and fees, and the total amount.

On signing day

  • No blank spaces
  • Keep a signed copy
  • Find the cancel notice
Sources17 official pages · checked Oct 4, 2026

Notes from our check

  • Every figure was read on 2026-10-04 directly from the official North Dakota Century Code chapter PDFs on ndlegis.gov (51-18, 43-07, 26.1-39.2, 51-04, 43-09, 43-18, 43-18.1, 43-54, 43-35, 4.1-33), the Secretary of State contractor, complaint and home-inspector pages, and the Attorney General's consumer-rights page, hiring-a-contractor page and Choosing a Contractor tip sheet. Web search was not available, so other chapters were found through the official Title 43 index and other title indexes on ndlegis.gov.
  • Independent verification (2026-10-04): a second check downloaded again every statute PDF and agency page in sources and compared each figure, duty and trade slug against the text. Corrections made: the 65-or-older rule is limited to 'a product' in the statute, and the wording now says so; the 43-07-08(1) government exemption now uses the statute's list (county, municipality, irrigation or reclamation district, other political corporation); the Secretary of State's list of other licenses is a list of examples, not a complete list; hvac and solar were added under the general license on the same statutory basis as roofing and flooring.
  • Deposit: none of the chapters or agency pages read limits the size of a deposit or down payment, so depositCap is null and the app must not state a North Dakota cap. Related rules that are NOT caps: in a home or phone solicitation sale the seller may not charge your card or take any advance payment until it has your signed original of a compliant contract (NDCC 51-18-04.2); on cancelling an insurance-paid contract, payments and deposits must be returned within 10 days, less the reasonable value of goods or services you agreed in writing were needed to prevent damage to the home (NDCC 26.1-39.2-02(4)). The AG's hiring-a-contractor page advises that you may have to pay 'a small percentage up front for materials' but not full payment until the work is done; that is advice, not a legal limit.
  • Cancellation wording: the statute (NDCC 51-18-02) gives 15 business days to a buyer '65 years of age or older' for 'a product' priced over $50; the AG consumer-rights page says 'over 65' and 'fifteen days' for 'a transaction over $50', and the statutory Notice of Cancellation form mentions the 15 business days without the product or price limits. The statute does not say whether the 15-day rule reaches services such as home improvement; the app should say 'up to 15 business days if you are 65 or older' with that caveat and point to the Attorney General rather than promise it for every job. The statute does not define 'business day'.
  • Refund timing: NDCC 51-18-06 says the seller must return payments within ten days after cancellation; the statutory Notice of Cancellation form says 'ten business days'. refundWithinDays uses 10; the app should say 'within 10 days' without 'calendar' or 'business'. If the contractor's work already altered your property before you cancelled, the seller must restore it to substantially as good condition (51-18-07(3)).
  • Insurance-paid work (NDCC 26.1-39.2): applies to 'residential contractors' who repair or replace roofs or do other exterior work, or interior or exterior cleanup, on homes of one to four units, or who arrange, manage or process that work, when payment comes from a property and casualty insurance policy. The cancel window runs to midnight of the fifth business day after the later of signing or receiving the insurer's written notice that all or part of the claim is not covered; the cancellation notice must include a copy of the insurer's notice when that applies, and a mailed notice is effective when mailed. Contractors may not promise to rebate any part of the deductible, and a contract is void if the contractor violates the chapter.
  • License threshold wording: NDCC 43-07-02, the Secretary of State page and the AG tip sheet say a license is required when the job 'exceeds' $4,000; the AG's hiring-a-contractor web page says 'valued at $4,000 or more'. The entry uses 'more than $4,000'.
  • License number: the statute requires the contractor to give its license number when applying for a building permit, and the official enters it on the permit (NDCC 43-07-24). The AG's pages say the license number 'should' appear on the contract; that is advice, not a statutory requirement, so 'the contract' is not listed in numberMustAppearOn. Plumbing advertisements must carry the license number (NDCC 43-18-11.3).
  • contractMust: no North Dakota statute found sets contents for home improvement contracts in general. The items listed apply only to home or phone solicitation sales (NDCC 51-18-02, 51-18-04, 51-18-04.1; the 51-18-04.1 heading mentions telepromoters but its text also covers any 'seller', defined as a person making a personal solicitation sale) and to insurance-paid work (NDCC 26.1-39.2-02, -05, -06). The AG recommends, but the law does not require, that a contract show the contractor's name, business location and phone, start date and duration, the work, the type, grade, quality and cost of materials, the down payment for materials, any subcontractors and how they are paid, warranties, and who gets permits.
  • Transient merchants: a contractor or service provider not originally from the local area also needs a Transient Merchant License from the Attorney General (AG hiring-a-contractor page); NDCC 51-04-01 includes 'painting or repairing buildings or structures', pest or rodent control, and tree spraying, trimming or pruning, and the license carries a surety bond of $1,000 to $50,000 (51-04-03).
  • Other homeowner protections in NDCC 43-07: a contractor without the required license may not maintain a court claim related to its contracting (43-07-02(1)); abandonment is presumed if work does not substantially start within 60 days of a written start date (90 days from the contract date if none) or is not finished within 90 days of a written completion date (180 days from the contract date if none) (43-07-14); the Secretary of State takes complaints on abandonment, diversion of funds, fraud over $3,000, missing trade licenses and refusal to refund an advance payment, but not on workmanship, and may order restitution of up to $5,000 (43-07-15). For warranty claims on an improvement over $2,000 to a dwelling, the owner must give the contractor written notice by mail within six months of learning of the defect, and the contractor must explain this rule in writing at completion (43-07-26).
  • tradeCoverage: the building-trade slugs (including hvac and solar) mean the general Secretary of State contractor license, which applies only above $4,000 per job; of the listed slugs only electrical, plumbing, water-treatment, pest-control and home-inspection have their own statewide credential on the pages read. No HVAC or mechanical licensing chapter appears in the Title 43 index, and the Secretary of State's page gives only examples of other licenses (State Electrical Board, State Plumbing Board, asbestos abatement from the Department of Environmental Quality, transient merchant); city or county mechanical licensing was not checked. septic-well is left out: the water well contractors chapter (NDCC 43-35) is repealed by S.L. 2025, ch. 479, and its successor was not located.

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

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