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West Virginia

West Virginia · home improvement

Your rights in West Virginia

Information, not legal adviceRules checked Oct 4, 2026

3 business days to cancel

If they finance it and you agree away from their office

Cancel in writing by midnight of the third business day. Cash sales at home get the federal 3-day rule.

Some sales are excepted, such as emergency work you ask for, once it has begun.

The 5 exceptions, in the rule's words
  • A bona fide emergency: you asked for the goods or services and the seller provided them without delay because of the emergency, and either the seller has in good faith made a substantial start on the work before you cancel, or the goods cannot be returned in substantially as good condition as when you received them.
  • Sales that follow earlier negotiations at the seller's fixed place of business.
  • Sales made on an open-end credit account with the seller that was open at least three months before the sale.
  • Sales that can be rescinded under the federal Truth in Lending Act.
  • Sales of motor vehicles, mobile homes or farm equipment.
Read the full rule

When it applies

A home solicitation sale: a consumer credit sale of more than $25, meaning the seller gives you credit (payable in installments or with a finance charge) or the job is paid with a consumer loan tied to the sale, where you were approached and gave your agreement somewhere other than the seller's fixed place of business, such as your home. This state right does not cover cash sales.

If the seller finances your purchase and you agree to it away from the seller's place of business (for example, at home), West Virginia lets you cancel in writing until midnight of the third business day after you sign. A mailed notice counts when you mail it. Any payment must be returned within 10 days. Separately, the federal Cooling-Off Rule gives a 3-business-day right for many sales of $25 or more made at your home, including cash sales.

W. Va. Code § 46A-2-132 · read on code.wvlegislature.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

License number

On the contract, bids and ads

Residential work costing $5,000 or more needs a license from the West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board.

Read the full rule

A West Virginia contractor doing residential work that costs $5,000 or more (labor and materials) must hold a license from the West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board. The license number must be on your contract, and a copy of the license must be posted at the job site. Check the license with the Board before you sign.

Who needs one: Anyone who, for pay and not as someone's employee, undertakes, offers or bids to build, alter, repair, improve, move or demolish a building or structure (or any part of the work) when the whole project costs $5,000 or more in labor and materials for residential work ($25,000 or more for commercial work).

Who doesn't

  • Landscaping or painting services
  • Licensed pest control operators, unless they also make structural repairs over $1,000 on the treated property
  • Suppliers who only furnish materials and do not fabricate them or use them in the project
  • An owner, tenant or occupant who personally does the work on the property they own, lease or occupy
  • Selling or installing a finished product that does not become a permanent, fixed part of the structure
  • Repair work that the owner of equipment hires out on an emergency basis to keep the equipment running or restore it
  • Work done by government employees or by public utilities regulated by the Public Service Commission

Where the number must appear

  • the contract
  • advertising
  • bids

Issued by: West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board

W. Va. Code § 46A-2-132 · read on code.wvlegislature.gov · checked Oct 4, 2026 (official source, opens in a new tab)

The contract must include

Source: WV law

An estimate isn't the contract. Ask for all 13 in writing before you sign.

  • Written & signed by bothProjects of $10,000 or more: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For a project of $10,000 or more in labor and materials (counting any materials you supply), be in writing and signed by both the licensed contractor and you, describing the work and its cost, and include the items below.

  • Name, address & license #On every signed contract: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Show the contractor's name, business address, West Virginia contractor license number and license classifications. The license number must be on every signed contract, whatever the price.

  • Your name & the job addressGoes on the signed contract: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Show your name and address, and the project address if it is different.

  • Work, materials & subsWhat work and materials are included: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Describe the work and materials the contractor will provide, any work the contractor expects subcontractors to do, and any materials you will supply.

  • Total cost & payment planThe total and when each payment is due: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    State the total cost and the payment terms, including a payment schedule.

  • Start & completion datesWhen work begins and is mostly done: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Give the start date and the completion date.

  • Changes signed & datedAny change, in a signed writing: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Say that any change to the work, the price or the terms needs a written authorization signed and dated by both of you.

  • Liability insurance statementTheir insurance, in writing: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    State whether the contractor has a valid, current general liability insurance policy, with both of you confirming that disclosure.

  • Written subcontractsWith any sub they hire: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    Say that the contractor will have a written contract with any subcontractor it hires.

  • Workers' comp & UI numbersAnd workers legally allowed to work: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    List the contractor's workers' compensation policy number and unemployment insurance account number, and state that everyone working on the job is legally allowed to work in the United States.

  • Buyer's right to cancelSeller-financed, away from their office: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    If the seller finances the sale and you agree to it away from the seller's place of business, carry the 'BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL' notice, and you must write the date you sign in your own handwriting.

  • 3-day cancel notice & formsMost sales made at your home: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For a sale of $25 or more made at your home that the federal Cooling-Off Rule covers, give you a copy showing the date and the seller's name and address, a notice of your right to cancel within 3 business days, and two copies of a Notice of Cancellation form.

  • Roofing: insurance cancelRoofs you expect insurance to pay: show the rule's own words

    In the rule's words

    For a roof repair or replacement you expect insurance to pay for, give you before you sign: the contractor's mailing address and phone number, a boldface notice that you may cancel until midnight of the fifth business day after your insurer says all or part of the claim is not covered, and a Notice of Cancellation form in duplicate, attached but easy to detach.

On signing day

  • Keep a signed copy
  • Find the cancel notice
Sources32 official pages · checked Oct 4, 2026

Notes from our check

  • Independently re-verified on 2026-10-04. Every statute was read on code.wvlegislature.gov, both Board rules were read in full from the Board's PDFs, and 16 CFR Part 429 was read through the eCFR API (version of 2026-09-30).
  • No general limit on deposits or down payments for home improvement contracts was found. None appears in the whole Contractor Licensing Act (W. Va. Code ch. 30, art. 42, sections 1 to 20), its rules 28 CSR 2 and 28 CSR 4, or the home solicitation sections (§§46A-2-132 to 135). A full-text search of every chapter on code.wvlegislature.gov for the phrase 'home improvement' returned only two unrelated sections (§48-1-235.2 and §64-9-3). Of the sections a search for 'advance payments' returned, only the roofing rule below is relevant. depositCap is therefore null, and the app must not state a West Virginia cap.
  • Roofing only, not a general cap: under the Storm Scammer Consumer Protection Act, a roofing contractor may not require any advance payment on a residential roof repair or replacement that is expected to be paid from a property and casualty insurance policy until the owner's cancellation period has ended. The exception is a reasonable and customary charge for emergency repairs the owner authorized. Payments must be returned within 10 days of a cancellation (W. Va. Code §46A-6M-4, https://code.wvlegislature.gov/46A-6M-4/).
  • Roofing only: the owner of an insurance-paid residential roof contract may cancel before midnight of the fifth business day after the insurer says all or part of the claim is not covered. Before signing, the contractor must give its mailing address and phone number, a boldface disclosure, and a detachable Notice of Cancellation in duplicate. Emergency repairs the owner authorized must still be paid for (§§46A-6M-2, 46A-6M-3, 46A-6M-4).
  • Cancellation scope: West Virginia's own three-business-day right covers only 'home solicitation sales', which the statute defines as consumer credit sales of more than $25 (§46A-1-102(22)). In a consumer credit sale, the credit comes from a seller who regularly extends credit of that kind, and the debt is payable in installments or carries a finance charge (§46A-1-102(13)). 'Payable in installments' means two or more periodic payments besides a down payment when there is a finance charge, or four or more when there is none (§46A-1-102(30)). A sale paid with a consumer loan also counts when the lender is subject to the buyer's claims against the seller. Whether an ordinary contract with a deposit and progress payments counts was not verified, so the app should say the state right applies only when the seller finances the job.
  • Federal rule: for sales the state right does not cover, the FTC Cooling-Off Rule (16 CFR Part 429) gives 3 business days to cancel a door-to-door sale, cash or credit, of $25 or more at the buyer's home or $130 or more at other temporary locations. The refund is due within 10 business days. Exclusions include visits the buyer asked for to repair or maintain the buyer's personal property. They also include bona fide emergencies where the buyer made the first contact and waived the right in a signed, dated statement in their own handwriting (16 CFR 429.0(a)). Under 16 CFR 429.2, the federal rule does not cancel state door-to-door sales laws unless they directly conflict with it.
  • Until the seller has given the written agreement with the 'BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL' statement, the buyer may cancel the home solicitation sale by notifying the seller in any manner (§46A-2-133). A seller who performed services before the cancellation, or before giving that statement, is not entitled to be paid for them (§46A-2-135). Chapter 46A does not define 'business day', and §46A-2-134 says 'within ten days' without saying whether those are business or calendar days.
  • Licensing history: the former Contractor Licensing Act, W. Va. Code §21-11, is repealed; the code site shows §21-11-3 as '[Repealed.]'. 2021 HB 2006 moved the Act to §30-42, and the Board's About page and the bill status page both give its effective date as June 15, 2021. The current §30-42-3(d) sets the license threshold at $5,000 for residential work and $25,000 for commercial work. The Board's complaint page gives the same figures, counting materials and labor. 2025 SB 871 and 2026 SB 65 would have removed drywall work from the definition of 'contractor'. Both passed the Senate, and each was last referred to the House Government Organization committee, so as read on 2026-10-04 neither is law.
  • Contract contents: the $10,000 written-contract duty (§30-42-10(b)) applies to licensed contractors. 'Aggregate value' counts all labor and materials, including materials the owner supplies (28 CSR 4, subsection 2.2). The listed contents, from the owner's details through the workers' compensation numbers, come from 28 CSR 4, subsection 4.1, and apply to contracts of $10,000 or more. The Board recommends, but does not require, terms on permits, warranties, liens and site maintenance (28 CSR 4, subsection 4.2). The license number must be on every fully executed contract and in advertising, whatever the price (§30-42-6(b)). A contractor with a website may have its advertising point to the website for that information (28 CSR 2, subsection 3.2). Under 28 CSR 2, subsection 4.2, no bid may be accepted unless the contractor license number appears on its face.
  • The Board's complaint page says the Board cannot help with building code violations, contract disputes, misappropriated funds or workmanship. Before it disciplines a licensed contractor, it needs a certified copy of an unsatisfied court judgment or a favorable arbitrator's ruling. The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division takes consumer complaints, and its FAQ points consumers to the Board's license search. No Attorney General page on home improvement deposits or cancellation was found.
  • 28 CSR 2 says it expires on August 1, 2027; the classification list should be rechecked after that date. Under §30-42-20, cities and counties may not require an additional contractor license from someone who holds a state license.
  • Another statewide credential was found but not mapped to a trade slug: radon testing and radon mitigation require a state radon license (§16-34-3). 'environmental-testing' was left out of both lists because the slug also covers testing that this license does not reach.

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

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