How to check a Connecticut home improvement contractor's registration
Who must register, what counts as home improvement, how to use the state lookup and what the law says about advertising and unregistered work.
Connecticut does not license most remodelers, but it does require them to register with the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP). The rules are in the Home Improvement Act, Chapter 400 of the Connecticut General Statutes. Checking a registration takes a couple of minutes and is the first step before any signed contract.
Who must be registered
Under section 20-420, no one may hold themselves out as a home improvement contractor or salesperson without first obtaining a certificate of registration from the commissioner. The Act defines a contractor as anyone who owns and operates a home improvement business or who undertakes, offers to undertake or agrees to perform any home improvement. It excludes a person whose total price for all of their home improvement contracts does not exceed $1,000 in any 12 consecutive months (section 20-419).
What counts as home improvement
The definition is broad. It includes the repair, replacement, remodeling, alteration, conversion, modernization, improvement, rehabilitation or sandblasting of, or addition to, a building used as a private residence, and it lists work such as driveways, swimming pools, porches, garages, roofs, siding, insulation, sunrooms, flooring, patios, landscaping, fences, doors and windows, waterproofing, and water, fire or storm restoration and mold remediation, where the total price exceeds $200. A private residence means a single-family home, a multifamily dwelling of not more than six units, or a condominium unit. The Act does not cover construction of a new home, which has its own registration for new home construction contractors under Chapter 399a.
Who is exempt
Section 20-428 exempts government agencies, vocational schools, and anyone holding a current professional or occupational license under the general statutes, but only for the work that license covers. That is why electricians, plumbers and heating and cooling contractors hold trade licences from DCP instead of home improvement registration for their own trade. A licensed plumber who also builds a deck, however, is doing home improvement work that needs registration.
How to check
- Ask for the registration number. It looks like HIC.0123456. The law requires registered contractors to state in any advertisement that they are registered and to include the registration number (section 20-427(a)). A contractor must also show the certificate on request.
- Look it up. Use the Connecticut eLicense lookup, or search this directory by name or town.
- Check the name. The registered name should match the company on your contract.
- Check the status and expiry. This directory lists only registrations that are Active and have an unexpired term on the day we checked, and shows the date the current term ends.
What the law says about unregistered work
Under section 20-427(b), it is prohibited to make or offer to make any home improvement without a current certificate of registration, to use an expired, suspended or revoked certificate, to present another person's certificate as your own, or to represent that registration endorses a contractor's workmanship. A violation is generally a class B misdemeanor, and any violation of the Act is also deemed an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.
A registration is not an endorsement
The statute itself bars contractors from suggesting that registration is an endorsement of the quality of their work or competency by the commissioner. The registration shows a contractor has registered and is in the state's database; it does not tell you about skill, insurance, or customer experience. Ask for references, a certificate of insurance and examples of recent work.
If someone is not in the database
Search the state lookup by registration number rather than name, because businesses trade under names that differ from the registered one. This site shows only positive records and never says a business is unregistered.
General information only, current as of the date above. The information on Connecticut Home Improvement Contractor Check is not a recommendation or a guarantee of anyone's work. A license record shows registration status on the date shown, not workmanship, insurance coverage at the time of your job, or suitability for your project. Confirm license, insurance and permits directly before you hire. Rules and programs change; check the official sources linked in this guide.