Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026
Deposit: $1,000 or 10%
The limit
$1,000 or 10%
whichever is less
On a completed, owner-occupied home, a deposit before work starts can't be more than $1,000 or 10% of the price, whichever is less.
Exception: Contractors with a $100,000 consumer bond, or freed from the license bond, may take more (not pools, spas or solar).
Ask: Can the deposit be $1,000 or 10% of the price, whichever is less?
Read the full rule
For work on a completed, owner-occupied single-family home, a down payment or deposit paid before work starts cannot be more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less, unless the contractor has a $100,000 consumer protection bond with the State Contractors Board or the Board has released it from its license bond (an exception that does not cover pool, spa or solar jobs).
The exceptions (2)
Contractors that have filed a $100,000 bond solely for the protection of consumers with the Nevada State Contractors Board, or that the Board has relieved of the license bond requirement (possible after 5 consecutive years licensed in Nevada, NRS 624.270(5)), are not held to this limit. This exception does not exist for residential pool, spa or solar contracts, which carry the same $1,000 or 10 percent limit in their own sections.
The general section covers work on a completed, owner-occupied single-family residence as Nevada defines it (a detached home, or a condominium, townhouse or duplex unit that is the owner's residence). It does not reach the building of a new home, mobile or manufactured homes, condominium common areas, or homes rented to people outside the owner's family.
If you sign at home or away from their office ($25+)
SignDay 0
1Business day
2Business day
3By midnight
Cancel in writing by midnight of the third business day (Saturday counts). 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 contacted the seller for a bona fide immediate personal emergency and gave the seller a separate, dated, signed statement in your own handwriting describing the emergency and waiving the 3-day right.
The deal came from earlier negotiations at the seller's fixed retail location where the goods or services are offered on a continuing basis.
You already have a federal right to rescind under the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1635).
The sale was made entirely by mail or telephone, with no other contact before delivery or the work.
You asked the seller to visit your home to repair or maintain your personal property. Extra goods or services sold during that visit, beyond replacement parts used in the repair, are still covered.
Sales or rentals of real property, insurance, securities, vehicles or mobile homes, and regulated utility services.
Read the full rule
When it applies
A sale of goods or services of $25 or more that results from a door-to-door or personal sales pitch by the seller and is made somewhere other than the seller's place of business, such as your home, even if you invited the seller. Saturday counts as a business day; Sunday and the holidays listed in the statute do not.
If you sign at home, or anywhere other than the seller's place of business, after a sales pitch, you can cancel in writing until midnight of the third business day after signing (Saturday counts; Sunday and the holidays listed in state law do not). The seller must tell you about this right, give you two copies of a Notice of Cancellation form, and refund your payments within 10 business days of getting your notice.
Contractors need an active NSCB license in the right classification. A bid or contract above its monetary limit is void.
Read the full rule
A Nevada contractor must hold an active Nevada State Contractors Board license in the classification that covers your job, and your contract must show the license number and the license's monetary limit. Under the Board's rules, a bid or contract outside the license's classification or above its monetary limit is void, so check both with the Board before you sign. Homeowners who hire unlicensed contractors cannot use the state's Residential Recovery Fund.
Who needs one: Anyone who, personally or through employees, builds, alters, repairs, improves, adds to, moves, wrecks or demolishes any building or other structure or improvement in Nevada, or bids on such a job. There is no general dollar threshold. The only small-job exemption covers repair or maintenance worth less than $1,000 in labor and materials, and it has conditions (see exemptions).
Who doesn't
Repair or maintenance worth less than $1,000 in labor and materials, but only when no building permit is required, the work is not plumbing, electrical, refrigeration, heating or air-conditioning work (or another classification the Board says significantly affects public health and safety), and the work is not part of a larger project of $500 or more
An owner building or improving a home on their own property for their own occupancy, not for sale or lease, who has applied to the Board for the owner-builder exemption
Selling or installing finished products that are not fabricated into and do not become a permanent fixed part of the structure
Work on personal property
Work done only by government agencies, or by public utilities on work incidental to their business
An estimate isn't the contract. Ask for all 12 in writing before you sign.
Written, in 10-point boldCopies and a receipt when you sign: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Be in writing, with all written information printed in at least 10-point bold type. When you sign, you get a legible copy of everything you signed and a signed receipt for any money you paid.
Name, license # & limit: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Show the contractor's name, address, license number and the monetary limit on that license.
Your name & the job addressGoes on the signed contract: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Show your name and mailing address and the address or legal description of the property.
Signing & completion datesWhen the work should be done: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Show the date the contract is signed and the estimated date all work will be completed.
Work described, plans if newWhat work and materials are included: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Describe the work. For a project of new work (the Board counts, for example, work that needs a building permit, moving walls, kitchen or bath remodels and added living space), include a plan and scale drawing with specifications, the materials to be used and the equipment to be installed. Repair-only jobs do not need these.
Total price & depositThe total and any deposit: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
State the total price, including all applicable taxes, and the amount of any down payment or deposit. The deposit can be no more than $1,000 or 10 percent of the price, whichever is less, unless the contractor's bond exception applies.
Each progress paymentIn dollars, tied to a stage of work: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
List each progress payment in dollars and cents and the stage of work at which it is due. Apart from the down payment, payments may not get ahead of the value of the work done unless the contractor provides a payment and performance bond whose cost is included in the price.
Written change ordersAny change, in a signed writing: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
State that any change in scope or price must be agreed in writing as a change order that sets out every change. A change order you did not accept cannot be enforced against you.
Recovery Fund & lien noticesThat they gave you both notices: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
State that the contractor gave you the Residential Recovery Fund notice and the Board's notice and information form about contractors and liens.
Board, bond & attorney noticeNear the signatures: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Give you a way to initial the provisions you have read. Near the signatures, include a notice that you may contact the Contractors Board for help, ask for a payment and performance bond, contact an attorney, and ask for the contract in the language it was explained to you in.
Permits; no waiver clausesThey must get all permits: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Not include any clause that waives your rights under the contractor law (such a clause is void). The contractor must apply for and get all necessary permits.
3-day cancel notice & formsIf you signed at home after a sales visit: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
If you signed at home after a sales visit, include near your signature a bold statement of your right to cancel within 3 business days, plus two copies of a Notice of Cancellation form.
Deposit cap: read directly from NRS 624.970(2)(g) on leg.state.nv.us. The section was added in 2023 and covers contracts signed on or after October 1, 2023 between a licensed residential contractor and the owner-occupant of a completed single-family residence (NRS 624.970(1) and (7); 'single-family residence' is defined in NRS 624.455). The Board's Consumer Checklist page states the same rule: 'cannot exceed $1,000 or 10% of contract price, whichever is less', with the $100,000 Consumer Protection Bond and bond-relief exceptions. A contract whose deposit term breaks the rule is voidable by the owner (NRS 624.970(1)(b)). If another term required by subsection 2 is missing, the owner may modify the contract to bring it into compliance, and a reasonable modification is enforceable against the contractor (NRS 624.970(1)(a)). NAC 624.013 reads 'repair' in this section to include replacing or maintaining installed equipment such as heating and air-conditioning units, plumbing fixtures, chimneys and garage doors.
Pools/spas and residential solar fall outside NRS 624.970 (NRS 624.970(7)(d)) and have their own sections with the same $1,000 or 10 percent figure: NRS 624.940(2)(g) for pool or spa contracts over $1,000, and NRS 624.875(2)(g) for residential photovoltaic contracts. Neither section has the $100,000-bond exception. A pool contract that breaks NRS 624.900-624.965 is void and unenforceable against the owner (NRS 624.940(5)). A noncompliant solar contract is voidable by the owner (NRS 624.875(1)). Pool and solar contractors who take that down payment must also start work within 30 days after permits (and, for solar, utility approvals) are issued unless the owner agrees in writing to a longer period (NRS 624.935(1), 624.870(1)). That start-of-work rule is not a cap.
Cancellation: Nevada has its own door-to-door sales right (NRS 598.140 to 598.2801), so it is used instead of the federal rule. A business day is any calendar day except Sunday and the listed holidays (NRS 598.150). The buyer cancels by delivering, mailing or telegraphing written notice, addressed to the seller's place of business, no later than midnight of the third business day after signing (NRS 598.230). refundWithinDays is 10 BUSINESS days (NRS 598.280(4)), not calendar days. The seller must also tell the buyer about the right orally at signing (NRS 598.280(1)). Exceptions are from NRS 598.180.
Cancellation penalty conflict: NRS 598.260 lets a seller charge a cancellation penalty of up to the least of 5 percent of the price, $15, or the down payment. The federal FTC Cooling-Off Rule (16 CFR 429.2(b), read via the eCFR API, current to 2026-10-01) treats state laws that permit any fee or penalty for cancelling as directly inconsistent with the federal rule. The app should not tell homeowners that a Nevada seller may charge a cancellation fee.
Registration: Nevada licenses all contractors through the Nevada State Contractors Board (NRS 624.700). There is no general dollar threshold. The only small-job exemption is NRS 624.031(6) (repair or maintenance under $1,000, with conditions). A bid or contract made without the required license is void (NRS 624.700(4)). Under NAC 624.640(1), a bid or contract outside the scope of the license or above its monetary limit is void; the Board's Working with Contractors page says the same in plainer terms ('Contracts written in excess of the established limit are invalid'). License number on the contract: NRS 624.970(2)(a). License number and monetary limit on all bids and contracts: NAC 624.640(5). On advertising: NRS 624.720(4). On commercial vehicles: NRS 624.288. The Board's Working with Contractors page states that homeowners who use unlicensed contractors are not eligible for the Residential Recovery Fund.
www.nscb.nv.gov redirects (HTTP 301) to www.nvcontractorsboard.com, the Board's own site, so those pages are cited as the licensing board. No Nevada Attorney General or Consumer Affairs page on door-to-door sales was read: the cancellation figures come from the statute text only.
Trade coverage: every NSCB-licensed trade below is still subject to the NRS 624.031(6) exemption for repair or maintenance under $1,000 with no permit and not part of a $500+ project, except plumbing, electrical, refrigeration, heating and air-conditioning work, which never qualify. NRS 624.031(6)(c) also excludes any classification the Board says significantly affects public health and safety; no NAC 624 section naming such classifications was found, so no other trade is said to be excluded. Individual plumbers and electricians may also need local certificates (NAC 624.150 refers to plumber certificates issued by local building departments). That was not researched further and is not stated in this entry.
Nevada has no dollar threshold for the NRS 624.970 written-contract rules on general home improvement. The pool/spa contract contents apply to contracts over $1,000 (NRS 624.940(2)).
Sources not on a .gov/.us/legislature domain were cited alongside the official ones: https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/resources/consumer-checklist/; https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/resources/working-with-contractors/; https://www.nvcontractorsboard.com/resources/home-improvement-bill-of-rights/
General information from official Nevada sources. For your situation, ask the state's consumer protection office or a lawyer.