STATE LICENSE
ConditionalPennsylvania Office of Attorney General —…
There is no Pennsylvania general contractor license and no state exam. The statewide gate is the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act: anyone who undertakes or offers home improvements on a private residence — a single-family home, a two-unit building, or a condo or co-op unit — must register with the Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection unless their home improvements totaled under $5,000 in the previous taxable year. Registration is $100 for two years, requires $50,000 / $50,000 liability insurance and criminal and bankruptcy disclosures, and the number must appear on every ad and contract.
New home construction is excluded from HICPA, so a builder of new houses does not need HIC registration for that work. The real licensing lives in the big cities: Philadelphia L&I requires a Contractor License ($126/year, $500,000 general liability, OSHA 30 for supervisors) and Pittsburgh PLI requires a General Contractor License for commercial work, new one- and two-family dwellings, rental or investment renovations and demolition ($90/year, $1M/$2M liability, EPA RRP firm certification).
The state sets the license floor; the county or city permit office controls filing, inspections, and local rules wherever the job site sits.
HICPA § 12 preempts local registration or licensing of home improvement contractors — no municipality may charge a fee to register or license a HIC-registered contractor as such. Municipalities keep building permits, UCC enforcement, the § 302(e) workers' compensation check, pre-2006 local insurance standards, and pre-existing trade licenses conditioned on testing (electricians, plumbers and other trades).
The local offices section below names the exact permit desk for every Pennsylvania county on file.
Each row names the issuing authority, cost, timeline, citation, and status behind the requirement — verified against the official source.
Published fees from the issuing authorities, as of October 2026. Local permit fees vary by project and jurisdiction — the basis is stated where a flat number does not exist.
HICPA requires $50k / $50k; Philadelphia requires $500k general liability and Pittsburgh $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate.
Philadelphia adds a 1.5% monthly surcharge once a renewal is 60+ days late; Pittsburgh charges a $50 late fee and the license lapses 60 days after expiration.
On residential contracts over $5,000, deposits are capped at one-third of the price plus special-order materials.
A practical sequence for a new general contracting contractor in Pennsylvania. Actual agency processing times are noted in the ledger above.
Each item names the issuing authority, cycle, and citation.
Statutory consequences with their citations — not estimates, not “commonly cited” guesses.
Misleading inducements, taking an advance payment and not performing or refunding, concealing identity, posing as a government or utility employee, and similar acts are home improvement fraud. Amounts over $2,000 are a third-degree felony; the grade rises one step when the victim is 60 or older, and a second offense is a second-degree felony regardless of amount. The court may revoke or suspend the registration.
Failing to register, abandoning a job without justification, or deviating from specifications without a signed change order is a prohibited act — and any HICPA violation is a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, which carries Commonwealth civil penalties for willful violations and private suits for actual damages or $100, with up to treble damages.
A home improvement contract that misses HICPA's written-contract requirements is not valid or enforceable against the owner; recovery is limited to the reasonable value of requested work where a court finds it equitable.
Inside city limits, the city office listed here issues the permit; the county office serves unincorporated areas. Every office links to its official page.
Every fact in this file was checked against these official sources on October 2026.
Pending verification: HIC registration fee: the Attorney General's FAQ and portal state $100 per two-year registration, but HICPA § 5 as published on palegis.us still reads $50 — the amending authority for the increase was not located · Which model-code editions the UCC triennial update approved October 16, 2025 (effective January 1, 2026) adopts was not confirmed in regulation text · Licensing in Pennsylvania's other ~2,500 municipalities was not surveyed; HICPA § 12 preserves pre-existing local trade licenses conditioned on testing, so a borough or township may still license a trade · Whether a Philadelphia Contractor License is required of contractors doing only residential home improvement in Philadelphia (the city page describes 'construction, demolition, or repair' broadly) was not confirmed against the Philadelphia Code
General information, not legal advice. Always confirm requirements, deadlines, and forms with the issuing authority before filing or contracting.
Store licenses, permits, policies, and renewal dates in one place.