Contractor licensing in Pennsylvania

Q: How do you check a Pennsylvania contractor license?

HIC registration search. Says whether they are registered. It is not a competency check and does not claim to be.

What the state requires, which trades are treated differently, and what you will be asked for whatever the answer is.

The short answer

Pennsylvania has no contractor license. Anyone doing more than $5,000 a year of home improvement work must register with the Attorney General and carry insurance, and must put the registration number on every contract and advertisement.

No trade is singled out: the same answer applies across the board.

Last verified 2026-09-27 · Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General

Trades with their own rules

None. Pennsylvania applies the same rule to every trade.

Everything else

These 29 trades fall under Pennsylvania's general position above — registration required. There is no separate rule for any of them, which is why there is no separate page.

Roofing
Siding
Windows / Doors
Gutters
Soffit / Fascia
Coping
Masonry / Brick
Solar
Framing
Concrete
Foundation
Excavation / Grading
Demolition
Electrical
Plumbing
HVAC
Insulation
Drywall / Sheetrock
Painting
Flooring / Carpet
Tile / Stone
Cabinets / Countertops
Finish Carpentry
Deck / Fence
Hardscaping
Landscaping
Garage Doors
Water / Fire Restoration
Final Clean

Checking a license

Registry HIC registration search

Worth knowing Says whether they are registered. It is not a competency check and does not claim to be.

Where this comes from. 73 P.S. 517.1 et seq. (Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act), administered by the Office of Attorney General — the source. Checked 2026-09-27. This is a reference, not legal advice: if a contract turns on it, read the statute.

What you will be asked for anyway

No state requirement does not mean no paperwork. Every hiring contractor and property manager worth working for asks for the same four things before anybody starts, and asks again every time one expires.

1
Certificate of insuranceGeneral liability, naming them as additional insured.
2
Surety bondOften required by cities that register your trade, and by plenty of hiring contractors regardless.
3
Signed subcontractor agreementTheirs, not yours. Scope, payment terms, and who carries what.
4
W-9So they can 1099 you. It carries your TIN, so it is the one to be careful with.

If you are the contractor

Your compliance pack, sent in one link.

Keep them in one place and answer the next contractor who asks in about six seconds — with a page showing your carrier, policy number, cover and expiry, that updates itself when you renew. Free, and whoever you send it to needs no account.

Set up your compliance pack

If you are hiring one

Check the certificate before they start.

Pennsylvania registers contractors, so a license number can be looked up. What you can always check is the insurance, the bond, and whether either has lapsed since the day it was emailed to you. That last part is where it usually goes wrong: a PDF attached in March says nothing about July.

Keep a roster current

Cities that add their own rules

Where the state is quiet, municipalities fill the gap, and they do not agree with each other. If you work across a metro you are dealing with several sets at once.

Philadelphia
Pittsburgh