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Your rights

Ohio

Ohio · home improvement

Your rights in Ohio

Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026

3 business days to cancel

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

Cancel in writing by midnight of the third business day (Saturday counts). No work meanwhile; money back in 10 business days.

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

The 7 exceptions, in the rule's words
  • You started the contact, the work is needed for a real, immediate personal emergency that endangers health, safety or property, and you give the contractor a separate, dated, signed statement in your own handwriting describing the emergency and waiving the three-day right.
  • You contacted the contractor to negotiate the purchase, and the contractor has a fixed business location in Ohio where it regularly offers that work or those goods. Seeing the contractor's newspaper, magazine, catalogue, radio or TV ads does not count as the contractor starting the contact.
  • You asked the contractor to come to your home to repair or maintain your personal property. Anything extra sold to you on that visit, beyond replacement parts used in the repair, is still covered by the right to cancel.
  • The final agreement followed negotiations during your visit to the contractor's fixed, permanent retail location where the goods or services are offered.
  • You started the deal and it was done entirely by mail or phone, with no other contact before delivery or the work.
  • The total price is under $25.
  • The transaction already gives you a right to cancel under the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1635).
Read the full rule

When it applies

A sale of $25 or more of household goods or services where the contractor solicits you at your home (even if you invited them) and you agree there, or where you sign or offer to buy anywhere other than the contractor's place of business (its main office or a permanent branch or local address). Saturday counts as a business day; Sundays and the listed legal holidays do not.

If a contractor sells you the job at your home or anywhere other than its place of business, you can cancel in writing until midnight of the third business day after you sign (Saturday counts; Sunday and legal holidays do not). The contractor may not start the work during that time and must refund your payments within 10 business days of getting your notice. If you were never given the written contract and cancellation forms, the three days have not started. Some sales are excluded, for example when you contacted a contractor that has a fixed business location in Ohio where it regularly offers that work.

Ohio Rev. Code 1345.23 · read on codes.ohio.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

What the contract should include

Source: OH law

Some of these come from state guidance rather than a law. Each item's own words say which.

An estimate isn't the contract. Ask for all 6 in writing before you sign.

  • A signed copy, your languageIf sold away from their office: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For a sale of $25 or more made at your home or anywhere other than the contractor's place of business: a written agreement in the same language as the sales pitch, showing the contractor's name and address and the date you sign. The contractor must leave you a copy that it has signed.

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

    In the rule's words

    Near your signature, in bold type of at least 10 point: a statement that you may cancel before midnight of the third business day. Attached to the contract: two easily detachable notice-of-cancellation forms, also in 10-point bold type, filled in with the contractor's name and address, the date of the sale and the last day to cancel.

  • No waiver of cancel rightsAnd told out loud you can cancel: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    No confession of judgment and no waiver of your right to cancel. The contractor must also tell you out loud, when you sign, that you can cancel.

  • Big-job contract termsJobs of $25,000+ on 1-3 family homes: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For jobs of $25,000 or more on a one-, two- or three-family home (building new or, since September 20, 2024, repairing, improving, remodeling or renovating), unless it is a cost-plus contract: a written contract showing the contractor's name, physical business address, business phone and taxpayer identification number; your name, address and phone; the property address; a general description of the work, goods and services; the expected start and finish dates or time periods; the total estimated cost and any installation, delivery or other costs it leaves out; a copy of the contractor's certificate of general liability insurance of at least $250,000; and dated signatures from both of you.

  • "Excess costs" noticeJobs of $25,000+ without a firm price: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For those jobs of $25,000 or more, unless the contract states a firm price and says the contractor will not charge extra costs: an 'EXCESS COSTS' notice where you initial whether you want a written or oral estimate before work starts on unforeseen but necessary extra costs once they total more than $5,000.

  • All details in writingState advice, not a legal requirement: show the rule's own words

    In the state's guidance

    Advice from the Ohio Attorney General, not a statute, for any job: get all the details in writing, signed by both of you. That covers the work, the timeframe and materials, written approval for any changes, any guarantee, warranty or oral promise, the total cost and payment terms for materials and labor, a requirement that the contractor get all needed permits and inspections, and how any insurance payment will work, including what happens if insurance does not pay.

On signing day

  • Keep a signed copy
  • Find the cancel notice
Sources28 official pages · checked Oct 4, 2026

Notes from our check

  • Deposit: no Ohio statute caps deposits on home improvement contracts of every size, so depositCap is null. But ORC 4722.04 says a home construction service supplier 'may take as a down payment not more than ten per cent of the contract price' before work begins. The exception is a special-order item that cannot otherwise be returned or used: up to 75 percent of its total cost. The limit does not apply to cost-plus contracts, and payments from a construction loan are allowed. It covers only 'home construction service contracts', which ORC 4722.01(C) defines as over $25,000. The app must not compute a 10 percent ceiling for smaller jobs. It may state this rule in words for jobs over $25,000. If the schema gains a minimum-price field, this could become a fixed_fraction cap of 10 with that threshold.
  • Scope change: House Bill 50 (135th General Assembly) took effect September 20, 2024. It widened 'home construction service' in ORC 4722.01(B) from 'the construction of a residential building' (the 2012 version) to include 'the repair, improvement, remodel, or renovation of an existing structure'. A residential building means a one-, two- or three-family dwelling. Since that date, the Chapter 4722 contract rules and the 10 percent down-payment limit reach remodeling and improvement jobs over $25,000. For a violation of 4722.02, 4722.03 or 4722.04, ORC 4722.08 lets the owner rescind the deal or recover actual economic damages plus up to $5,000 in noneconomic damages.
  • Open questions on Chapter 4722, not resolved on official pages: (1) ORC 4722.01(C) defines the contract as 'exceeding' $25,000, while the written-contract duty in 4722.02(A) is triggered when cost 'equals or exceeds' $25,000. The app should say 'about $25,000 or more'. (2) ORC 4722.01(D) defines 'supplier' as someone who maintains general liability insurance of at least $250,000. Whether the chapter reaches a contractor without that insurance is not addressed, so do not infer. (3) ORC 1345.01(A) removes 'transactions involving a home construction service contract' from the Consumer Sales Practices Act definitions (sections 1345.01 to 1345.13). The home solicitation sections (1345.21 to 1345.28) use their own definitions, but ORC 1345.28 enforces them as a deceptive act 'in connection with a consumer transaction' under 1345.02. Whether the three-day right applies to contracts over $25,000 was not confirmed, so the app should not say it does not apply.
  • Cancellation is Ohio's own Home Solicitation Sales Act (ORC 1345.21 to 1345.28), not the federal FTC rule. ORC 1345.23(B)(4) deems a contract that uses the FTC Cooling-Off Rule's notice forms compliant, as long as it gives at least equal information. Refund: the statute and the required notice text say ten business days. The Attorney General's 'Laws Protecting Consumers' page shortens this to 'within 10 days'. Use 10 business days. Under ORC 1345.25, if negotiations happened away from the contractor's fixed business location and the contract was signed there, the sale is presumed to be a home solicitation sale. ORC 1345.22(C) lets home security and automation installers start during the cancellation period only under extra conditions.
  • Deposit receipt: Ohio Administrative Code 109:4-3-07 (effective May 15, 2025) makes it a deceptive act to accept a deposit without giving a dated written receipt at the time of the initial deposit. The receipt must state the goods or services, the cash selling price and the deposit amount, whether the deposit is refundable and on what conditions, and any extra costs. Each later deposit needs a dated receipt showing the remaining amount due. The rule applies to Consumer Sales Practices Act 'consumer transactions', which exclude contracts covered by Chapter 4722. It is a receipt duty, not a cap.
  • The Attorney General's home improvement tips page advises that 'the contract should not have a requirement for a large down payment or payment-in-full until the project is complete and has been inspected.' This is advice, not a legal limit, and gives no figure.
  • Registration is null. The Ohio Attorney General's page says: 'State law does not require home improvement contractors to be licensed, but many Ohio cities do.' The Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board (OCILB, Department of Commerce) licenses only electrical, HVAC, plumbing, hydronics and refrigeration contractors. Its page says it 'regulates commercial contractors' and that 'All local building and health departments regulate residential contractors', which may require the state commercial license for residential work. ORC 4740.01(F) excludes a residential building from 'construction project'. The app should tell Ohio homeowners to check licensing with their city or county building department.
  • The com.ohio.gov OCILB page returned HTTP 404 to the first automated fetch on 2026-10-04. On verification the same day it loaded (HTTP 200) with a normal browser user agent, and the quoted sentences were confirmed there. Every page was reached by its direct official URL.
  • septic-well was left out of both trade lists because the slug covers two different regimes. ORC 3701.344(B)(3) requires private water systems (well) contractors to register each year with the Ohio Department of Health, a statewide registration. ORC 3718.02(A)(8) has each local board of health register sewage treatment system installers, service providers and septage haulers that work in its district, which is a local registration. Mold testing was not checked; the environmental-testing entry rests only on the radon and lead licences.

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

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