Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026
Deposit: one-third at most
Contracts over $5,000
The limit
1/3
On contracts over $5,000, the deposit can't be more than one-third of the price, plus listed special-order materials.
Exception: Listed special-order materials can be added on top. Some retailers with a letter of credit on file are exempt.
Ask: Is any of this deposit for special-order materials? If so, please list that cost separately.
Read the full rule
For a home improvement contract with a total price of more than $5,000, the contractor may not take a deposit of more than one-third of the contract price, or one-third of the price plus the cost of special-order materials that the written contract lists as being ordered.
The exceptions (3)
Contracts with a total price of $5,000 or less: the one-third limit does not apply. Even then, no payment may be demanded or taken before the contract is signed.
Special-order materials listed in the written contract: the deposit may be one-third of the price plus their cost. The contract must list the down payment and the special-order amount separately.
Home improvement retailers of any size that post an irrevocable letter of credit payable to the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection ($100,000 per store, up to $2,000,000) and make sure their contractors are registered and insured are not held to the limit.
Cancel within three business days of signing, without penalty. The contract must include a notice of this right.
Some sales are excepted, such as emergency work you sign a card for.
The exception, in the rule's words
Emergency work under the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. This applies when you contacted the contractor about a bona fide emergency that makes or could make the home uninhabitable (for example heating, electrical, plumbing, ventilation, roof or outer-wall problems), were given a written estimate, and signed a separate Emergency Work Authorization card giving up the 3-day right to cancel.
Read the full rule
When it applies
Any home improvement contract for work of more than $500 on a private residence, wherever it was signed: at your home, at the contractor's office or anywhere else.
You can cancel a Pennsylvania home improvement contract without penalty within three business days of signing it, wherever you signed it. The contract must include a notice of this right. If the sale came from the contractor visiting or calling you at home, state consumer law also says your payments must be refunded within 10 business days of your written cancellation.
Most Pennsylvania home improvement contractors must register with the Attorney General. It isn't an endorsement of their skill.
Read the full rule
Most Pennsylvania home improvement contractors must register with the Attorney General's Office. The registration number, which starts with PA, must be on your contract, estimates and ads. The Attorney General says registration is not an endorsement or approval of the contractor's competency or skill. You can check a contractor at 1-888-520-6680 or on the Attorney General's website.
Who needs one: Anyone who owns or runs a home improvement business, or who offers or agrees to do home improvements, unless their home improvement work totaled less than $5,000 in the previous taxable year. This includes subcontractors. Home improvement means work of more than $500 on a private residence: a single-family home, a building with two units or fewer, or a single unit such as a condominium or co-op.
Who doesn't
Contractors whose home improvements totaled less than $5,000 in the previous taxable year
Home improvement retailers with a net worth of more than $50 million, and their employees who do not perform home improvements (subcontractors who install for them must register)
Construction of a new home (not a home improvement under the act)
Landscapers certified by the Department of Agriculture under the Plant Pest Act, for that work only. They must still register for hardscape, retaining walls, fountains, drainage systems, nondecorative fences and similar work at a private residence
Emergency work done under the emergency provisions of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law
Work that is not on a private residence, such as commercial property
The Commonwealth, its political subdivisions and the federal government
Where the number must appear
advertisements
contracts
estimates
proposals
Issued by: Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Bureau of Consumer Protection (Home Improvement Contractor registration)
An estimate isn't the contract. Ask for all 11 in writing before you sign.
Written, legible & signedWork over $500, with notices attached: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Be in writing, legible and signed by you and by the contractor or its salesperson. It must contain the entire agreement, with copies of all required notices attached. This applies to home improvement work of more than $500.
PA reg. #, name, address, phone: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Show the contractor's Pennsylvania home improvement registration number (it begins with PA) and the contractor's name, address and phone number. A P.O. box alone does not count as an address.
Signing, start & finish datesWhen work begins and is mostly done: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Show the date of the transaction and the approximate start and completion dates.
Work, materials & specsWhat work and materials are included: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Describe the work, the materials and the specifications. These cannot change without a written change order signed by you and the contractor.
Total price: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
State the total price. For time-and-materials work, it must instead state the written initial cost estimate, say the cost may not go more than 10 percent above that estimate, and give the total potential cost in dollars.
Down payment listed apartDown payment and special orders, apart: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
List the down payment and any amount for special-order materials separately.
Subcontractors' contact infoAll the ones known when you sign: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Give the names, addresses and phone numbers of all subcontractors known when you sign.
Liability insurance termsAt least $50,000 each, and the amount: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
State that the contractor agrees to keep liability insurance of at least $50,000 for personal injury and $50,000 for property damage, and give the amount of coverage it has when you sign.
AG phone # & cancel noticeYour 3-day right to cancel: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Include the Attorney General's toll-free number (1-888-520-6680) and a notice of your right to cancel within three business days.
A free signed copyNo payment before you sign: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Be given to you as a free, completed copy when you sign. No payment may be demanded or taken before the contract is signed.
No banned clausesHold-harmless, waivers and others: show the rule's own words
In the rule's words
Leave out clauses such as: hold-harmless, waiver of health, safety or building codes, confession of judgment, jury-trial waiver, assignment of your wages, giving up your claims or defenses, releasing the contractor from liability for how it collects payment or repossesses goods, attorney fees for the contractor, waiver of your rights under the act, and automatic renewal unless the contract clearly gives you a written way to opt out and the contractor must remind you before each renewal. If the contract has any of them, you may void it. Any arbitration clause must be in capital letters and 12-point bold type, on a separate page, signed and dated by both sides on their own lines, and must say whether the decision is binding and whether it is confidential.
Deposit cap, cancellation, registration, number-display and contract rules were read directly from the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (HICPA), Act 132 of 2008, 73 P.S. sections 517.1 and following, on palegis.us: section 2 (definitions), section 3 (registration), section 6 (number display), section 7 (contracts and rescission) and section 9(9)-(10) (payments and deposits). The Attorney General's posted copy (HIC-Act-132.pdf, footer 'Amended 7.07.11 & 10.22.14') matches. The palegis text includes amendments through Act 160 of 2014, palegis counts 2 acts affecting the law, and the AG's updates page names October 22, 2014 as the latest amendment. The palegis law-information page shows the first five 2025-26 session bills that would amend HICPA (HB 1148, HB 1928, HB 2016, SB 540, SB 1324) and links to a fuller list that was not opened. None appears in the statute text. Check again if any becomes law.
IMPORTANT for depositCeiling(): the one-third limit applies only when the total contract price is more than $5,000 (section 9(10)). The schema has no minimum-price field, so depositCeiling() would compute a one-third figure for any price. For a Pennsylvania contract of $5,000 or less, the app must show no ceiling. The exceptions list says this, but code should enforce it.
The AG FAQ describes the deposit rule more loosely: 'Generally speaking a down payment of one-third of the total contract price or one-third plus the cost of special ordering materials is appropriate.' The same FAQ says the law limits deposits for any project whose total price is more than $5,000. The statute (section 9(10)) is the controlling text and is what the rule field states.
Cancellation: HICPA section 7(b) gives three business days from signing, wherever the contract was signed. HICPA sets no refund deadline for a cancellation, so refundWithinDays is null. The 10-business-day refund in the plain text comes from the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, section 7(g) (73 P.S. 201-7). It covers sales of $25 or more made through an in-person or phone contact at the buyer's home. Neither statute defines 'business day', so whether Saturday counts was not verified.
Under HICPA section 7(a), a contract missing a required item, including the rescission notice, is not valid or enforceable against the owner. The AG FAQ adds that without the written cancellation notice the contract may be voidable even after the three days. UTPCPL section 7(e) says the cancellation period does not start until the buyer is told of the right and given the Notice of Cancellation copies.
Emergency work under UTPCPL section 7 is excluded from HICPA's definition of home improvement, so the deposit cap and contract rules do not apply to it either. Under UTPCPL section 7(j.1)-(j.2), the 3-day right can be waived only with the Emergency Work Authorization card and a written estimate. The contractor may take immediate steps to remove a clear and immediate danger without the card.
Separate refund right (HICPA section 9(2)): if no substantial part of the work has been done and more than 45 days have passed since the start date in the written contract, the contractor must refund the amount paid within ten days after the owner's written refund request sent by certified mail is accepted or refused.
Registration threshold wording differs. The statute says less than $5,000 'during the previous taxable year'; the AG FAQ says 'less than $5,000 of work in a calendar year'. The registration entry uses the statute's wording.
HICPA protects 'owners'. A person who owns three or more private residences in Pennsylvania counts as an owner only for their primary residence and residences used for personal recreation, so most work on their rental properties is outside the act.
The AG registration page says the online registration system has been operational again since April 24, 2026. Contractors who started a business, or whose registration expired, after August 8, 2025 could operate during the outage and had until June 8, 2026 to register online if they had not filed on paper. Paper applications filed since August 8, 2025 may still be processing. A contractor missing from the AG lookup is a reason to ask, not proof of a violation.
Local licensing: the Department of Labor & Industry says the Commonwealth has no licensure or certification for most construction contractors, and that some municipalities license home improvement, electrical and plumbing contractors. HICPA section 12 bars municipalities from registering or licensing home improvement contractors, but keeps local trade licensing for electricians, plumbers and other trades that was in effect on July 1, 2009 (the act's effective date). Homeowners should ask the municipality about local electrical or plumbing licenses.
Other statewide certifications that do not map cleanly to a trade slug: L&I certifies asbestos and lead removal contractors and workers. DEP requires certification for radon-in-air testing, radon mitigation and radon laboratories, but only lists, and does not certify, radon-in-water testing.
General information from official Pennsylvania sources. For your situation, ask the state's consumer protection office or a lawyer.