Requirements by state
Pennsylvania contractor license requirements
Quick answer
Pennsylvania contractor license requirements
Pennsylvania requires Home Improvement Contractor (HICPA) registration, not a tested license, for anyone earning $5,000 or more a year from residential home improvement work. There is no exam, no experience proof, and no bond: registration costs $100 every 2 years, and contractors carry $50,000/$50,000 liability insurance instead.
At a glance
- Exam
- Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Home Improvement Contractor registration (HICPA) requirements (no state exam)
- Vendor
- No state exam vendor
- Fees
- Registration fee (every 2 years) $100
- NASCLA accepted
- No
- Last reviewed
- 2026-07-28
License classes
- HICPA
- Home Improvement Contractor registration : Covers residential home improvement work.
Pennsylvania regulates contracting through a state contractor registration (bond and insurance based, not a competency exam). This page lays out exactly what Pennsylvania requires: the licensing agency, who must be licensed, experience, exams, fees, the financial responsibility mechanism, and reciprocity, every figure sourced and dated below.
Who must be licensed in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Home Improvement Contractor registration (HICPA) is the licensing authority. Registration required for contractors earning $5,000 or more per year from home improvement work on residential property.
Experience and qualification
No experience proof or exam is required for HICPA registration.
License classes
- HICPA (Home Improvement Contractor registration): Covers residential home improvement work.
Exam
No exam and no continuing education requirement for HICPA registration.
Fees
- Registration fee (every 2 years): $100
Financial responsibility
Pennsylvania uses insurance in place of a bond ($50,000 / $50,000) as its financial-responsibility mechanism. No bond is required. HICPA requires $50,000 personal injury and $50,000 property damage liability insurance, plus workers’ compensation for any employees.
Reciprocity and the NASCLA exam
Pennsylvania is not on NASCLA’s participating-agencies list, confirmed directly against NASCLA’s own page, so a NASCLA Accredited Examination credential from another state does not by itself satisfy Pennsylvania’s requirements. See contractor license reciprocity for what does carry over, and the 50-state comparison for which states do accept the NASCLA exam.
Official source
Verify everything at the source: Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Home Improvement Contractor registration (HICPA), www.attorneygeneral.gov. The NASCLA participating-agencies determination above is drawn from NASCLA’s own list, nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24.
Sources: Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Home Improvement Contractor registration (HICPA) (www.attorneygeneral.gov, reviewed 2026-07-28); NASCLA participating state agencies list (nascla.org, confirmed 2026-07-24). Fee, bond, and experience figures are compiled from the agency's published requirements and current industry compliance guides as of 2026-07-28; treat any figure not independently reconfirmed against a fetched primary-source page as reported pending the next freshness review, per this site's standard practice.