How to Check a Contractor's Registration in Pennsylvania

People often ask whether a contractor is “licensed,” and in Pennsylvania that question has a strange answer. For most of the work done on a house here, there is no state license to check. What there is instead is a registration with the Attorney General’s office, plus a handful of trade credentials that matter for specific jobs. Once you know which is which, checking a contractor takes about as long as making a cup of coffee.

Pennsylvania Registers Contractors, It Doesn’t License Them

The state Department of Labor and Industry says it plainly: Pennsylvania “currently has no licensure or certification requirements for most construction contractors” (PA L&I contractor licensing). There’s no statewide license for general contractors, roofers or heating and air companies. That surprises people who’ve moved here from states that have one. It also means a contractor who tells you they’re “state licensed” for a roof or a kitchen is either confused or hoping you are.

What the state does have is the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act, usually shortened to HICPA. Under it, contractors who do at least $5,000 of home improvement work a year must register with the Office of Attorney General (PA Attorney General). That covers sole proprietors and subcontractors too, including subs who never sign a contract with a homeowner (AG contractor FAQ). Out-of-state contractors working here aren’t exempt, so the crew that drove up from across the line needs a number just like the local one (AG on HICPA).

HICPA covers work on a private home or the land next to it when the job is over $500. New home construction and commercial buildings fall outside it (AG on HICPA). So if you’re adding a porch, replacing windows or finishing a basement, the registration rule applies. If you’re building a new house from the ground up, it’s a different set of questions.

How to Look Up a PA Number

The number looks like “PA” followed by digits, something like PA123456. Leading zeros are optional, so PA000372 and PA372 are the same registration (AG contractor FAQ). Contractors are required to show it on their ads, contracts, estimates and proposals, and it’s supposed to be easy to see (AG on HICPA). A truck that advertises the business counts as an ad and needs the number on it too (AG contractor FAQ).

Here’s the check:

1. Get the number and the exact business name. Take them off the estimate, not off a business card someone hands you at the door.
2. Search it on the Attorney General’s lookup at hicsearch.attorneygeneral.gov, which is the verification link the office gives (PA Attorney General).
3. Confirm it’s current. Registrations run two years and have to be renewed (AG contractor FAQ). An expired one is a reason to stop and ask.
4. Match the name. The business on the registration should be the business on your contract. A brother-in-law’s number doesn’t cover the brother-in-law’s friend.
5. Call if the site gives you trouble. The Home Improvement Registration Hotline is 1-888-520-6680, and complaints about unregistered contractors can go to HIC@attorneygeneral.gov (AG consumer page).

The office moved registration to a new online system that became operational April 24, 2026, and it now runs automated criminal docket checks on registrants (PA Attorney General). That’s worth knowing. It still isn’t a background check you can read for yourself, so treat it as one layer, not the whole thing.

What Registration Means, and What It Doesn’t

A registration tells you the contractor filed with the state, paid the fee and showed proof of insurance. To register, a contractor has to carry at least $50,000 in personal injury liability and $50,000 in property damage coverage (AG contractor FAQ). Working unregistered can bring civil penalties of $1,000 or more (AG contractor FAQ). Those are real teeth, and a contractor who skips the paperwork is skipping more than a form.

What it doesn’t tell you is whether they’re any good. The Attorney General’s office says registration “is not an endorsement of their honesty or quality of work” (AG consumer page). The same office suggests checking references, getting more than one bid and looking for complaints with the Better Business Bureau (AG: protect yourself). I’d add one more thing. Watch for anyone who calls their registration a license, a certification or a seal of approval, because it’s none of those.

Plumbers, Electricians and the Local Layer

Plumbing and electrical work is where the local picture comes in. Since July 1, 2009, towns in Pennsylvania can’t run their own home improvement contractor registration, but licensing rules for electricians, plumbers and similar trades that were in place on that date could stay (AG on HICPA). L&I confirms that some municipalities license plumbing and electrical contractors, and that the state has no role in it (PA L&I contractor licensing). York Township, for one, issues master and journeyman plumbing licenses (York Township plumbing license application).

That’s a patchwork, and York County has a lot of municipalities. The practical move is to call the code office in the town where the house sits, not the one on your mailing address, and ask whether it licenses plumbers or electricians. If it does, ask the contractor for that number too. Either way, ask who’s pulling the permit and getting the inspection, because the inspection is what actually looks at the wiring.

A Few Trades With Their Own State Credentials

Some jobs do carry a state credential, and these are worth checking separately:

• Radon testing and mitigation: testers and mitigators must be certified by the PA Department of Environmental Protection, and DEP keeps a directory by county that it updates monthly (PA DEP radon services directory). Our /radon-mitigation/ page covers more of that.
• Pest control: businesses that apply pesticides need a pesticide application business license from the Department of Agriculture (PDA).
• Well drilling: drillers are licensed by DCNR, which publishes a list (DCNR).
• Asbestos and lead abatement: L&I certifies the workers and contractors (L&I asbestos, L&I lead).
• Painting, windows or remodeling in a house built before 1978: work that disturbs paint calls for a lead-safe certified firm, and EPA has a locator for them (EPA). About 18% of York County homes were built in 1939 or earlier, so plenty of houses here fall in this group (Census ACS 2020 to 2024).

Get the Insurance From the Agent

The registration says the contractor had insurance when they filed. It doesn’t say they still have it the week they’re on your roof. So ask for a certificate of insurance, and ask for it to come straight from their insurance agent rather than as a photocopy pulled from a folder in the truck. Have yourself named as the certificate holder, and check the dates and the business name against the contract.

If they have employees on your property, ask about workers’ compensation as well. Then put the PA number, the town license number if there is one, and the insurance details on the contract itself. A contractor worth hiring will have all of it ready and won’t think twice about you asking. When I do our Verified checks, these are the same documents I ask for first.