GUIDES · JULY 6, 2026 · BY DAVID MELNYCHUK
How to Verify a PA Contractor in 2 Minutes (Before You Hand Over a Deposit)
Pennsylvania makes checking a contractor genuinely easy, and almost nobody does it. Two minutes on a state website beats two months of regret. Here is the process, using us as the example.
Step 1: Ask for their HIC number
Any contractor doing more than $5,000 of home improvement work per year in Pennsylvania must register with the Attorney General as a Home Improvement Contractor. Registration comes with a number in the format PA followed by digits. Ours is PA214721, and it lives in the footer of every page on this site.
A contractor who hesitates to give you this number has answered your real question already.
Step 2: Look it up
Go to the Attorney General's HIC search at hicsearch.attorneygeneral.gov and enter the number or business name. You will see the registration status, the business address and whether the registration is current. Expired registration is a yellow flag worth asking about. No registration at all for a company quoting you a $20,000 bathroom is a red one.
Step 3: Ask for the insurance certificate
Registration requires liability insurance, but limits and currency vary. Ask for a certificate of insurance naming you as certificate holder for the project. Any insured contractor can get this from their agent in a day, free. We send ours with the contract before anyone asks.
What PA law says about your contract and deposit
The Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act gives you specific rights. Contracts over $500 must be written and include the registration number, total price and approximate start and completion dates. For most projects, deposits cannot exceed one third of the contract price except to cover special ordered materials. And you have a three business day right to cancel after signing.
A contractor who follows these rules by default is showing you how the whole project will go. One who wants half down in cash with no paperwork is also showing you.
Questions we hear a lot
Does PA HIC registration mean the state tested their skills?
No. Registration verifies identity and insurance, not craftsmanship. It is the floor, not the ceiling. For skill, look at photos of real work, talk to past clients and see how they answer technical questions about your project.
What deposit is normal for a remodeling project in PA?
One third at signing is the legal cap for most projects and a common industry standard, with the balance staged at milestones. Material heavy jobs can legitimately need more up front for special orders, and the law accounts for that when it is documented.