What a Licensed Home Improvement Contractor in Pennsylvania Actually Is: HICPA Registration, Your Rights, and How to Check in Two Minutes

Ask a Pennsylvania contractor for their license and you will get a number that starts with PA. It is not a license. Pennsylvania does not test or license home improvement contractors the way some states do. What it has is a registration system, created by the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, usually called HICPA, and that system gives homeowners more real protection than most people realize, as long as they know what to ask for.

Here is what the law requires, what it does for you, and how to check anyone in two minutes.

Who has to register

Under HICPA, anyone who does more than $5,000 of home improvement work in a year must register with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. That catches nearly every working contractor: a single bathroom remodel clears the threshold. Registration costs $100 for two years and is renewed on the same schedule.

Registration is not a skills test. It is a public record. To register, a contractor has to provide:

• The business name, address and the names of the owners.
• Any other names the business has operated under.
• Proof of liability insurance, at least $50,000 for personal injury and $50,000 for property damage.
• Disclosure of any criminal convictions related to fraud or home improvement, and any bankruptcies or civil judgments from home improvement work in the past ten years.

That last point is the quiet value of the system: a contractor who has burned homeowners before has to say so on a form the state keeps.

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What the number means on an estimate

The registration number has to appear on every contract, estimate and advertisement, including a website. If you cannot find one on a contractor's paperwork, that is the first question to ask. Ours will be on this site's footer and on every estimate.

A number proves the contractor is registered. It does not prove they are good. Use it as the floor, then look at the work, the reviews and the contract.

How to check a contractor in two minutes

1. Go to the Attorney General's lookup at hicsearch.attorneygeneral.gov.
2. Search by the business name or the registration number.
3. Confirm the registration is current and the name matches the one on the estimate.

If the search finds nothing, ask the contractor to explain. Some register under a legal name different from the trade name; that is fine as long as the paperwork matches. No registration at all for a contractor doing real remodeling work means they are operating outside the law, and the contract rules below will not help you.

The contract rules that protect you

HICPA is mostly a contract law. For any home improvement job over $500, the law requires a written contract, and it lists what the contract must contain. The pieces that matter most to a homeowner:

• The contractor's registration number, name, address and phone.
• A description of the work and the materials, specific enough to hold someone to.
• The total price, and the schedule of payments.
• Approximate start and completion dates.
• A down payment limit. The contractor cannot require more than one-third of the contract price up front, plus the cost of any special-order materials.
• A notice of your right to cancel.

A home improvement contract over $500 that is not in writing, or is missing the required pieces, is not enforceable against the homeowner. That is a strong rule and it is why serious contractors use proper contracts.

Three business days to change your mind

You have the right to cancel a home improvement contract, without penalty, within three business days of signing it. The contract has to tell you so. In 2026 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court confirmed that the cancellation does not have to be in writing: a phone call or telling the contractor in person counts, as long as the contractor actually gets the message in time. Put it in writing anyway, for your own record.

What registration does not do

• It does not guarantee quality. The state does not inspect anyone's work.
• It does not replace permits. A registered contractor still needs a permit from your township for structural, electrical and plumbing work, and your township inspector is the one who checks it.
• It does not cover specialty trades. Electricians and plumbers are licensed separately by municipalities; a remodeler coordinates them and should tell you who they are.
• It does not mean the contractor is bonded. Pennsylvania does not require a bond. Insurance is the protection, and you can ask for the certificate.

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Red flags that a registration number would not catch

• A deposit demand of half or more. The law caps it at a third plus special orders.
• "We don't need a permit for that." For a kitchen with new circuits or a bathroom with moved plumbing, you do.
• A one-line estimate with a single number. Compare it to an itemized one from someone else.
• Pressure to sign today for a price that disappears tomorrow.
• No physical address. The registration form requires one.
• Cash only.

The Attorney General's consumer page lists the same warning signs, and NARI's hiring guide is a good checklist beyond the legal minimum.

How we handle it

Every estimate we send is itemized by trade and material. Every job over $500 gets a written contract with the registration number, the scope, the price, the payment schedule and the dates, and we walk through the cancellation notice with you before you sign. We bring in licensed electricians and plumbers for the work that requires them and we pull the permits ourselves. If anything about that sounds unusual, it should not; it is simply the law, followed.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a contractor license in Pennsylvania? Not for general home improvement work. There is a state registration under HICPA for anyone doing more than $5,000 a year, plus municipal licenses for electricians and plumbers.

Do small jobs under $500 need a contract? Not by law. A written scope is still a good idea for anything beyond a repair call.

Can I cancel after three business days? Not under the cancellation right. After that, the contract terms govern, which is why the scope and the payment schedule matter.

What if a contractor is not registered? Do not hire them for a job over $5,000. If you already did and there is a problem, the Attorney General's office takes complaints.

Work with a registered contractor

Our services page lists what we do and our about page explains how we work. Ask for the registration number when we send your estimate; it will be on it.

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