Delaware · Remodeling licensing · official-source guide
Delaware does not license remodelers as a trade. There is no state board and no competency exam. Instead the Division of Revenue issues a contractor business license, and the Department of Labor Office of Contractor Registration must issue a certificate of registration before you perform any construction services. Residential work is also governed by the Attorney General's Home Improvement Regulations.
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Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-10-05. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Delaware has no contractor licensing board. The Division of Professional Regulation lists 37 professional licensing boards and commissions, and none of them covers general contracting, remodeling or home improvement. Two state offices still stand between you and your first Delaware remodel. The Division of Revenue issues the contractor business license under 30 Del. C. Chapter 25, and the Division states that any contractor conducting business activity in Delaware is required to register with it and obtain a business license. The Department of Labor runs the Office of Contractor Registration under the Delaware Contractor Registration Act, 19 Del. C. Chapter 36, and Section 3604 says a contractor must register before performing construction services or maintenance. The Labor Department puts the sequence plainly: register before beginning work in the state, in addition to registering with the Division of Revenue and reporting hiring. A third layer applies only to residential work. The Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit enforces the Home Improvement Regulations at 6 Del. Admin. Code 106, which control what a home improvement contract must contain and what a contractor may not do or say. Electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning work inside the remodel is licensed separately by two Division of Professional Regulation boards. A Delaware remodeler therefore answers to revenue law, labor law, consumer protection regulation and trade licensing at the same time, not to one contractor board.
Sourcesdpr.delaware.gov 1revenue.delaware.gov 2delcode.delaware.gov 3labor.delaware.gov 4attorneygeneral.delaware.gov 5attorneygeneral.delaware.gov 6
This is the license Delaware actually calls a contractor license. Under 30 Del. C. Section 2502, anyone wanting to engage in business in Delaware as a contractor applies to the Division of Revenue and pays a fee of $75. The license must be obtained, and proof of compliance made, before or at the same time as the contract is executed. On competitively bid contracts over $50,000 the application has to be started before the bid goes in, and for a subcontractor, before the general contractor submits its bid. The license runs until January 1 and is renewed for a full year on payment of $75 plus the gross receipts license fee. Section 2501 defines contractor broadly: anyone furnishing labor, or labor and materials, for construction, alteration, repair, dismantling or demolition of buildings and other improvements to real property, whether general contractor or subcontractor, resident or nonresident. Remodeling sits squarely inside that definition. The Division will not issue the license until the applicant is in compliance with the nonresident bond rules of Section 375, has filed a certificate of notice from the Delaware Department of Labor confirming it has told the Department about its Delaware construction contracts, and has filed a certificate of insurance showing Delaware workers compensation coverage or qualified self insurer status. The Division asks resident and nonresident contractors to submit its packaged application forms.
The $75 is only the entry fee. 30 Del. C. Section 2502(c) adds a license fee of 0.6472 percent of the aggregate gross receipts paid to the contractor. It is normally due monthly, by the twentieth of the following month, and each month carries a deduction of $100,000 before the fee applies. A smaller contractor files quarterly instead. If taxable gross receipts during the statutory lookback period do not exceed $1,500,000, the return and payment are due by the last day of the first month after the quarter closes, and the quarterly deduction is $300,000. All branches or entities under common ownership or common direction and control get only one deduction between them, monthly or quarterly, so splitting a remodeling business into two entities does not double the exclusion. Section 2501 defines gross receipts for a contractor as all sums received for work done or materials supplied on Delaware real property, and lets you exclude sums paid to subcontractors only where the subcontractor is itself licensed and subject to the chapter and a written agreement states the exact sums payable. That last condition matters on a remodel with several trades under you: no written subcontract stating the amounts means no deduction. Returns go in with a certified statement on the Department of Finance form. Real estate developers compute gross receipts differently under the same section.
Sourcesdelcode.delaware.gov
Delaware added a second mandatory step in 2021. Under 19 Del. C. Section 3604, a contractor must register with the Department of Labor before performing construction services or maintenance. Section 3602 defines contractor to include any business entity engaging in construction services or maintenance for profit in the state under an express or implied contract, and expressly includes subcontractors and lower tier subcontractors. Construction services covers all building or work on a building, structure or improvement of any type. The Department's own fact sheet says that from July 1, 2021 businesses performing construction services must be registered with the Office of Contractor Registration to work in the state, and the registration form is headed as an application for a certificate of registration under 19 Del. C. Chapter 36. Section 3605 lists what the application must carry: business name, address, phone, fax and email; entity type; for an out of state principal address, the name and address of a Delaware custodian of records and agent for service of process; tax identification numbers; proof of Delaware workers compensation insurance; proof of a state business license; and a safety plan compliant with Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements. It also requires disclosure if the business, or anyone holding a financial interest in it, has been cited for a labor law violation, convicted of home improvement fraud under 11 Del. C. Section 916 or new home construction fraud under Section 917, or found to have committed an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud Act.
Sourcesdelcode.delaware.gov 1industrialaffairs.delaware.gov 2laborfiles.delaware.gov 3
The registration fee turns on whether you do public work. Under 19 Del. C. Section 3605(c), a contractor without a state contract pays an initial annual nonrefundable fee of $200, and $200 again for the second annual registration. A contractor holding a state contract pays $300 for the first year and $300 for the second. After two consecutive years of registration with no violation of the chapter or other labor laws, the contractor may register for a two year period: $300 for the private category and $500 for the public category. The Department's fact sheet sets out the same tiers in plain terms and adds the combined figures, listing $200 for private construction, $300 for public construction and $500 for both on a yearly basis, and $300, $500 and $800 respectively for a two year registration. The application form labels private as residential or commercial work and public as Delaware prevailing wage projects. All fees are nonrefundable. Section 3606 says the certificate runs one year from the date of registration, or two years where the contractor has earned the longer term, and must be renewed no less than 30 days before it expires. A certificate is not transferable. The sting is in subsection (c): a registered contractor who lets the certificate lapse before applying to renew has to apply again as if for the first time, losing the two year privilege.
Sourcesdelcode.delaware.gov 1industrialaffairs.delaware.gov 2laborfiles.delaware.gov 3
A Delaware remodeler does not sit an exam. There is no state trade examination, no proof of years in the field, no education requirement and no license classes at state level, because there is no board that writes any of those rules for general remodeling. The Division of Professional Regulation's own list of 37 boards and commissions includes electricians, plumbers and heating and air conditioning contractors, elevator mechanics, manufactured home installers and home inspectors, but no general contractor board. What the state screens instead is conduct and solvency. The Department of Labor reviews labor law violations, criminal convictions for home improvement fraud and new home construction fraud, and prior findings of unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud Act, and 19 Del. C. Section 3607 lets it deny, suspend or revoke a certificate. The Division of Revenue screens tax compliance, workers compensation coverage and the nonresident bond. So experience is not the gate in Delaware; a clean labor and consumer record is. This cuts both ways for a remodeler trying to win work. Entry is quick, which means your competition is wide. Nothing in your license signals skill to a homeowner, which pushes the differentiation onto what you can show: the registration certificate, the trade licenses of the people doing the electrical and plumbing, your insurance, references and photographed work.
Delaware does not license the remodeler, but it does license the trades that make a kitchen or bathroom work. The Board of Electrical Examiners licenses apprentices, master electricians, master electricians special, limited electricians and limited electricians special, and also licenses electrical inspection agencies; master special and limited special licenses restrict practice to specialties such as elevators or heating and air conditioning. Its authority is 24 Del. C. Chapter 14, and Section 1407 says no person may provide electrical services, hold themselves out as qualified to act as a licensed electrician, or use any title conveying that impression, unless licensed under the chapter. Section 1408 sets the experience path: a master electrician needs six years full time under a licensed master electrician, or 8,000 hours plus 576 hours of related instruction, or four years plus two years of technical training. A limited electrician needs three years, or 4,000 hours plus 288 hours of instruction. Licenses renew biennially with continuing education and proof of general liability insurance under Section 1411. The Board of Plumbing, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Examiners issues master plumber, master HVACR and master restricted HVACR licenses under 24 Del. C. Chapter 18. Section 1807 bars unlicensed plumbing services and the use of titles like master plumber, with exemptions for apprentices and other workers supervised by a master plumber who employs them or works for the same business entity.
Sourcesdpr.delaware.gov 1dpr.delaware.gov 2delcode.delaware.gov 3delcode.delaware.gov 4
Delaware does not set a general liability minimum for remodelers at state level, and it does not require a performance bond from a resident contractor. What it does require is workers compensation and a written safety plan. The Division of Revenue cannot issue the contractor license until the applicant has filed a certificate of insurance showing liability insured in the amount and manner required under the state workers compensation laws, or a Department of Labor form certifying qualified self insurer status. The Contractor Registration Act requires proof of Delaware workers compensation insurance with the registration application, and a safety plan compliant with Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements. The Department's fact sheet says state law requires anyone performing construction services with one or more employees to have an OSHA compliant safety plan, and points contractors with no plan to its Office of Safety and Health. The same fact sheet tells you to have the workers compensation policy number and the Delaware unemployment insurance account number ready before you start the registration. For electricians, general liability insurance is a condition of issuance and of every biennial renewal under 24 Del. C. Section 1411, so the electrician you put on a remodel carries coverage the board checks. Practical effect: carry workers compensation from the first hire, document the safety plan, and expect proof of both to be asked for twice.
Sourcesdelcode.delaware.gov 1delcode.delaware.gov 2industrialaffairs.delaware.gov 3delcode.delaware.gov 4
A remodeler based in Maryland, Pennsylvania or New Jersey working across the Delaware line has one extra obligation, and it is a real one. Under 30 Del. C. Section 375, a nonresident contractor or subcontractor required to be licensed under Chapter 25 must file a surety bond with the Department of Finance equal to 6 percent of the contract or subcontract price on all contracts of $20,000 or more, or 6 percent of estimated cost and profit on a cost plus contract of that size. Where two or more contracts in one calendar year total $20,000 or more, the bond is 6 percent of the aggregate. The bond must be filed before construction begins, including before beginning a contract under $20,000 once it aggregates with other contracts that year past the threshold. The Division of Revenue may prescribe cash bonds instead, and under subsection (g) the Director may accept a bank letter of credit in the same amount. The Secretary of Finance may waive the requirement in whole or part if no bond is needed to protect state tax revenue. Failure to comply draws a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per occurrence, and a willful or knowing failure is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $3,000, up to six months imprisonment, or both. The Division of Revenue publishes the nonresident bond, cash bond receipt and letter of credit forms, plus a letter form for contracts under $20,000.
This is where Delaware regulates the remodeler hardest. The Home Improvement Regulations at 6 Del. Admin. Code 106 apply to home improvement transactions, and the Attorney General's guidance defines home improvement as any alteration, repair, addition, modification or improvement to a dwelling or the property it sits on, naming driveways, sidewalks, swimming pools, unattached structures, porches, kitchens, bathrooms, chimneys, fireplaces, stoves, air conditioning or heating systems, water heaters, water treatment systems, electrical wiring, plumbing fixtures, doors, windows, roofs, gutters, downspouts and siding. Repairs and replacements count. New home construction does not. Purely commercial work does not, but work on a dwelling for a business client does. The homeowner must get a written contract containing all material terms, including the item or service purchased and the contract price. They must get an approximate completion date unless the contract clearly discloses that none will be given, and the work must be finished by that date absent events beyond the contractor's control or a written agreement to a later date. The homeowner must be given the contractor's name, address, telephone number, website if there is one, and email address. Every final term must be filled in before the homeowner is asked to sign. A cost plus price must be clearly disclosed as such, with the calculation method and a good faith estimate. Delivery and installation charges must be disclosed, and may be stated separately or inside the total.
Sourcesattorneygeneral.delaware.gov 1attorneygeneral.delaware.gov 2
The Attorney General's guidance answers the change order question directly: adding a product or service mid job does not require an entirely new contract, but it does require a written instrument signed by both parties detailing the terms of the addition, and that instrument must be accompanied by a copy of the Consumer Protection Unit's regulation summary. The summary itself must be given to the homeowner in the format the Unit publishes, including the Department of Justice letterhead and varying font sizes, with working hyperlinks if delivered electronically; it may be built into the contract or handed over separately. On warranties, every affirmation of fact or promise amounting to an express warranty has to be in the contract, and any disclaimer, modification or limitation of a warranty, including implied warranties, or any limit on remedies for breach, must be clear and conspicuous and initialed by the homeowner. If oral representations are not meant to bind, the disclaimer must sit on a separate page. The prohibited list is long. No liquidated damages clause that charges the same amount regardless of how much work was done. No describing a binding contract as an estimate. No telling a homeowner they were specially selected for a discount when they were not. No presenting samples as current when they are not. No claiming materials are dangerous or defective when they are not. No chasing a certificate of completion before the work is finished.
Sourcesattorneygeneral.delaware.gov 1attorneygeneral.delaware.gov 2
Delaware's Home Solicitation Sales Act, 6 Del. C. Chapter 44, is the rescission rule that catches remodelers who sell at the kitchen table. A door to door sale means a sale of consumer goods or services with a purchase price of $25 or more where the seller personally solicits and the buyer's agreement is made somewhere other than the seller's place of business, and the chapter extends it to sales solicited and closed by telephone. Section 4404 makes it an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud Act to fail to give the buyer a completed contract or receipt at signing carrying, in bold faced type of at least 10 point and in the language of the sales presentation, the statement that the buyer may cancel at any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the transaction. A detachable Notice of Cancellation in duplicate must be attached, with the seller's name and address and the cancellation deadline already filled in. The seller must also say out loud that the right exists. Waivers and confessions of judgment are barred. On a valid cancellation the seller has 10 business days to refund all payments, return trade ins and cancel any note and security interest. No note may be sold or assigned to a third party before midnight of the fifth business day. One exclusion matters on repair calls: where the buyer initiated contact and asked the seller to visit to repair or maintain personal property.
The civil exposure under the Contractor Registration Act is the largest number in Delaware's scheme. Section 3609 sets a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than $85,000 per violation for a knowing violation, and up to $1,000 per violation for a violation that is not knowing. Section 3610 lets the Department bring a civil action, including an action in the Court of Chancery to enjoin work by an unregistered contractor, without posting a bond or filing fee. Section 3611 sends all civil penalties collected to the State General Fund. Section 3607 lets the Department deny, suspend or revoke a certificate. On the revenue side, willful failure to pay a tax or license fee, file a return, keep records or supply required information is a class A misdemeanor under 30 Del. C. Section 573, and Section 576 caps the smallest cases at a fine of not more than $3,000 with no imprisonment. Missing the nonresident bond under Section 375 carries a civil penalty up to $10,000 per occurrence. Doing the electrical or plumbing yourself without a license is separately punished: for plumbing, 24 Del. C. Section 1807(d) sets a fine of not less than $1,500 and not more than $3,000 for a first offense and not less than $3,000 nor more than $6,000 after that, with jurisdiction in the Justice of the Peace Courts.
Sourcesdelcode.delaware.gov 1delcode.delaware.gov 2delcode.delaware.gov 3delcode.delaware.gov 4
Delaware does not issue a remodeler a license number to print on a truck, because it does not license the trade, and no state rule found in these sources requires a registration number in advertising. What it does regulate is what you may call yourself and what you may claim. Under 24 Del. C. Section 1407 nobody may use a title conveying the impression they are a licensed electrician unless they hold the license, and Section 1413 has the Board apply to the Attorney General for a cease and desist order against anyone using titles such as master electrician or limited electrician without one. Section 1807 does the same for licensed plumber, master plumber and licensed master plumber. So a remodeling company may advertise remodeling, but it may not advertise plumbing or electrical services under those protected titles unless a licensee stands behind the work. The Consumer Fraud Act, 6 Del. C. Section 2513, makes deception, false promise, misrepresentation, unfair practice or the concealment of a material fact in connection with the sale or advertisement of merchandise an unlawful practice whether or not anyone was actually misled. Section 2522 allows a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each willful violation plus restitution and rescission, and Section 2525 gives every victim a private cause of action without waiting for the Attorney General. Criminal home improvement fraud under 11 Del. C. Section 916 includes giving a false business name, address or phone number.
Sourcesdelcode.delaware.gov 1delcode.delaware.gov 2delcode.delaware.gov 3delcode.delaware.gov 4
Delaware gives a homeowner three public lookups, and a remodeler should expect all three to be used. The Department of Labor publishes a registry of businesses certified as construction contractors at contractorregistry.delaware.gov, searchable by name, ZIP code, certification number, NAICS code or industry. Its disclaimer says a contractor not listed either has not applied or has been removed, and that a contractor dropped from the registry may have failed to reregister, may be under review, or may have been suspended or revoked. The Division of Revenue runs a Delaware Business Licenses Search with business activity categories including resident contractor, nonresident contractor and construction manager. Individual trade licenses are verified free through the Division of Professional Regulation's DELPROS license lookup, which treats its online verifications as primary source verifications drawn from live data and flags disciplinary history. On remedies, Delaware runs no home improvement contractor recovery fund in these sources. Civil penalties collected under the Contractor Registration Act go to the General Fund, not to injured homeowners. A homeowner's routes are the Consumer Mediation Unit of the Department of Justice, enforcement by the Attorney General under the Consumer Fraud Act with restitution and rescission available, and a private cause of action under 6 Del. C. Section 2525. Home improvement fraud under 11 Del. C. Section 916 runs from a class A misdemeanor to a class B felony where the loss reaches $100,000.
Sourcescontractorregistry.delaware.gov 1revenue.delaware.gov 2delpros.delaware.gov 3delcode.delaware.gov 4delcode.delaware.gov 5delcode.delaware.gov 6attorneygeneral.delaware.gov 7
Permits and local licensing are where a Delaware remodel actually gets stopped or cleared. The state license and the state registration do not substitute for either. New Castle County, which contains Wilmington and the largest share of the state's housing, licenses contractors itself through its Department of Land Use. The county offers two classes in unincorporated New Castle County: a permit endorsed license, required for individuals or companies performing construction related activities that require a permit, and a non permit endorsed license, valid for construction activity under Sector 23 of the North American Industry Classification System that does not require a permit. All persons engaging in any aspect of construction activity as defined by Sector 23 must be licensed, with stated exemptions including electrical contractors licensed by the State of Delaware, certain Department of Transportation work, and state facility maintenance employees. The county's published contractor requirements set graduated license classes tied to the value of work, each with its own surety bond amount, plus a general liability requirement and an annual license fee; the exact figures are not reproduced here because they could not be confirmed from a directly retrievable county document. Kent and Sussex counties and incorporated municipalities such as Wilmington and Dover run their own permit and business license processes. Check the jurisdiction before quoting, because an unincorporated address and a city address a mile apart can carry different license obligations.
Sourcesnewcastlede.gov
These are common details other guides publish about Delaware, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
No. Delaware has no contractor licensing board and no state trade exam for remodelers. You need a Division of Revenue contractor business license under 30 Del. C. Section 2502 and a Department of Labor certificate of registration under 19 Del. C. Chapter 36. Both are mandatory before you contract or start work.
The flat application fee is $75 under 30 Del. C. Section 2502, and renewal is $75 plus the gross receipts license fee. That second fee is 0.6472 percent of aggregate gross receipts, with a $100,000 monthly deduction, or a $300,000 quarterly deduction for contractors under the statutory lookback threshold.
Under 19 Del. C. Section 3605, a contractor with no state contract pays $200 for the first annual registration and $200 for the second. A contractor with a state contract pays $300 each year. After two clean consecutive years you may register for two years at $300 private or $500 public.
They interlock. The Division of Revenue will not issue the contractor license without a Department of Labor certificate of notice and proof of workers compensation coverage. The Labor registration application requires proof of a state business license. Start both together, and have the registration in hand before any construction work begins.
Resident contractors face no state surety bond. Nonresident contractors do. Under 30 Del. C. Section 375 the bond is 6 percent of the contract price on contracts of $20,000 or more, or 6 percent of aggregate contracts reaching that total in one calendar year, filed before construction begins.
A written contract with all material terms, the item or service purchased and the price. An approximate completion date, or a clear disclosure that none is given. Your name, address, telephone number, website and email. All final terms filled in before signing. Express warranties written in, and any disclaimer initialed.
Yes. The Attorney General's guidance says an entire new contract is not required, but a written instrument signed by both parties must detail the terms of the addition, and it must be accompanied by a copy of the Consumer Protection Unit's regulation summary in the published format with letterhead and font sizes intact.
Within three business days, when the sale is a door to door sale under 6 Del. C. Chapter 44. You must supply a bold faced cancellation notice and a detachable duplicate Notice of Cancellation, state the right out loud, and refund everything within 10 business days of a valid cancellation.
A knowing violation of the Contractor Registration Act draws a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than $85,000 per violation under 19 Del. C. Section 3609. A violation that is not knowing draws up to $1,000. The Department can also seek an injunction stopping the work.
Not under the protected titles unless a licensee stands behind it. 24 Del. C. Section 1407 bars using any title conveying that you are a licensed electrician without the license, and Section 1807 does the same for licensed plumber and master plumber. Subcontract those trades to board licensed holders.
Nothing in these sources establishes a home improvement contractor recovery fund. Civil penalties under the Contractor Registration Act go to the State General Fund. A homeowner's routes are the Department of Justice Consumer Mediation Unit, Attorney General enforcement with restitution, and a private cause of action under 6 Del. C. Section 2525.
Three places. The Department of Labor contractor registry at contractorregistry.delaware.gov lists certified construction contractors. The Division of Revenue Delaware Business Licenses Search shows active business licenses by activity type. The Division of Professional Regulation DELPROS lookup verifies individual electrical, plumbing and HVACR licenses and shows disciplinary history.
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