Massachusetts · Remodeling licensing · official-source guide
Massachusetts licenses remodeling at the state level. The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation requires a Home Improvement Contractor registration for work on existing owner-occupied one to four unit homes, and the Board of Building Regulations and Standards issues the Construction Supervisor License that structural work needs. Registration costs $150 plus a one-time Guaranty Fund payment.
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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.
Massachusetts regulates remodeling through two state bodies, and neither one hands out a general contractor license. The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation runs the Home Improvement Contractor program. Any contractor, subcontractor, partnership or corporation that solicits, bids on or performs contracting work in Massachusetts on an existing, owner-occupied residential property with one to four units must be registered as a Home Improvement Contractor. The Board of Building Regulations and Standards, which sits inside the Office of Public Safety and Inspections at the Division of Occupational Licensure, issues the Construction Supervisor License. The state says in writing that an HIC registration and a CSL are different and are not interchangeable. Registration is statewide. The building permit is municipal. Your HIC number works in every city and town in the Commonwealth, while the permit, the fee and the inspection sequence come from the building official where the house stands. The state tells contractors to check with the municipal building official in the city or town where the project sits for any further licensing requirements. Registration and payment run through the MA Contractor Hub. Paper applications and paper certified checks are no longer accepted and are sent back to the applicant. Walk-in help for contractors is open Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM at One Federal Street in Boston, and even then the registration and the payment are completed online. The contractor support line is 617-648-2467. Construction supervisor questions go to the Office of Public Safety and Inspections at (617) 727-3200.
The test is the building, not the job title. HIC registration applies to work on an existing, owner-occupied, non-commercial residential property with one to four units. New construction, buildings with more than four units, investment property, vacation or secondary homes, and homes outside Massachusetts are not covered by the home improvement contractor law. That boundary cuts both ways. A remodeler working on a three-family where the owner lives in one unit is inside the law. The same crew gutting a vacant flip or a ten-unit building is not, and the homeowner there gets none of the chapter 142A protections. The state publishes a job-by-job chart. Exterior painting, gutters, kitchen cabinets and shelving, locks, and below-ground pools all require HIC registration. Interior painting, finish flooring, carpet and tile, driveways, patios, fencing, central heating, central air conditioning, yard and garden work, freestanding masonry walls and above-ground pools are listed as not requiring it. The state calls the chart general guidance and tells you to consult the building official on project specifics. One rule removes most of the argument: the contractor who signs the contract with the homeowner must hold the HIC registration. You cannot sign the job and then hide behind a registered subcontractor. Section 9 of chapter 142A also bars offering or agreeing to perform residential contracting services without registration, so the bid itself is regulated, not only the work. Corporations and partnerships must designate one individual responsible for the entity's work, and that designee is jointly and severally liable for the fees and for violations.
HIC registration alone buys you a narrow lane. The state describes it as ordinary repairs: exterior painting, wallpapering, repairing existing decking and similar jobs. Larger work, including building a deck or putting an addition on an existing home, requires a Construction Supervisor License. Structural work such as a kitchen renovation can require both a CSL and an HIC registration, and the state is explicit that the two do not have to be held by the same person. A registered contractor may subcontract the larger scope to an individual or company that holds both. The contract signer still needs the HIC. On the code side, a licensed construction supervisor or a registered design professional must oversee construction for one and two family homes and their appurtenant structures of any size, for most existing one to four family owner-occupied homes, and for buildings containing less than 35,000 cubic feet of enclosed space. Above 35,000 cubic feet the registered design professional, an engineer or architect, controls the project and a CSL is not required, because the design professional is treated as the licensed person. The state chart marks demolition, insulation, roofing, masonry related to the building, siding, sheetrock, plastering, structural carpentry, decks, exterior stairs, solar panels and solid fuel burning appliances as CSL work that also needs HIC registration. Trim carpentry, gutters and kitchen cabinets need the HIC and may need a CSL depending on fire resistance ratings or whether the work pierces the building envelope. Read the scope before you quote, not after.
The Construction Supervisor License comes in grades, and the grade sets your legal scope. The unrestricted CSL covers construction, reconstruction, alteration, repair, removal or demolition of buildings of any use containing less than 35,000 cubic feet, one and two family dwellings with any additional accessory, buildings or structures for agricultural use, and walls under ten feet measured from the base of the footing to the top of the wall. The one and two family dwelling CSL covers the same scope of work but only for one and two family dwellings with any additional accessory. From there the state issues specialty licenses. The masonry specialty covers masonry structures that require a permit. The roof covering specialty covers roof covering work including repair, plus replacement of 25 percent of sheathing and 25 percent of sistering roof rafters. The windows, doors and siding specialty covers doors, windows and siding, including repair and replacement of damaged window or door framing under four feet wide and up to 25 percent of sheathing. The solid fuel burning appliance specialty covers installation of those appliances and does not allow work on any structural elements including sheathing, with inlet or exhaust elements needed for the installation treated as possible exceptions. Each specialty carries the same building type limits as the unrestricted license. Knowingly contracting beyond the scope of your registration is a prohibited act under section 17 of chapter 142A, so a siding specialist who sells a framing job has a licensing problem before the first inspection.
Construction supervisor candidates must verify three years of experience in building construction or design. The state points applicants to the candidate handbook for how that experience is counted and documented. The examination is administered by PSI, and the state directs all exam questions to PSI rather than to the board. Testing on the 9th Edition of the state building code concluded on December 31, 2024, and testing on the 10th Edition began January 1, 2025. Since December 17, 2024, registration is only for 10th Edition testing through PSI. The sequence is short: decide which license type matches the work you sell, verify the three years of experience, review the candidate handbook, apply for and schedule the exam with PSI, sit the exam, then mail the score report to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards with whatever items the score report lists. The HIC side works nothing like this. The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation states plainly that an HIC registrant is not required to pass an examination. Registration is an application, a fee, and a one-time payment into the Guaranty Fund. Before approving any registration or renewal, the director refers applicant identifying information to the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services, which reports back only on convictions for gross fraud or cheat at common law under section 76 of chapter 266. If you file under a trade name you must supply the DBA name, a permanent address, and a digital copy of the business certificate filed with the city or town clerk where the business is based.
New HIC applicants pay a $150 registration fee plus a separate mandatory payment to the Guaranty Fund scaled to headcount. The published tiers are $100 for zero to three employees, $200 for four to ten, $300 for eleven to thirty, and $500 for more than thirty. Section 11 of chapter 142A sets the same tiers in statute and makes the fund payment refundable if the application is denied. The statute also says no contractor pays the fund fee more than once unless the fund administrator determines the fund is short, in which case the director may assess registrants again after a public hearing, no more than once in any twelve month period and never above the original assessment amount. The statute ties the registration fee itself to the fee paid by construction supervisors under section 94 of chapter 143, plus the cost of credit card processing, and requires that applicants be allowed to pay by major credit card. Each certificate of registration bears a number valid for two years from issuance. Supplemental registration cards for an officer, partner or staff member cost $10 each, and the registration number on every card matches the original HIC number. A duplicate card for a lost or stolen card is free, and the original card holder stays liable for any work performed. On the construction supervisor side, license renewal is $100. The state does not publish an initial CSL application fee or the PSI exam fee on its apply page, so budget those from PSI directly rather than from a number you read somewhere else.
HIC registration runs on a two year cycle. The renewal fee is $100, plus any outstanding balance on the account. The state tells contractors to start the renewal 30 to 60 days before the expiration date. Letting it lapse is expensive in a specific way: you have to reapply and pay the $150 registration fee again, plus $100 to $500 to the Guaranty Fund based on headcount, and the state warns that your ability to pull municipal permits may be affected while you are expired. That is the part that stops a job cold, because the permit clerk checks the registration before the crew checks the calendar. Registered contractors must keep their file current. A change of business address, mailing address, phone number or email during the registration window has to be updated in the MA Contractor Hub account within 30 days, and failing to notify the director of a change of trade name or address is a prohibited act. Construction supervisor renewals follow a different clock. Renewal notifications go out 60 days before expiration, the state asks you to allow five weeks for processing, and the renewal fee is $100. There is a one year grace period to renew after expiration. For an additional fee of $100, a license can be renewed up to two years after expiration. Past two years you have to take the examination again and apply for a new license. Continuing education certificates submitted for a prior renewal cannot be submitted a second time.
Construction supervisors carry a continuing education load that remodelers often underestimate. The required course topics are code review, workplace safety, business practices and workers compensation, energy, and lead safe practices. Every supervisor must complete at least one hour in each of those topics. The total depends on the license grade. An unrestricted construction supervisor completes 12 hours. A restricted construction supervisor completes 10 hours. A specialty construction supervisor, which covers masonry, roofing, insulation and the other specialty grades, completes 6 hours. Qualified licensees may take up to a maximum of six hours online, and the remaining hours have to come from in-person classroom training. The state asks you to finish the courses at least 60 days before the license expires and to repeat the cycle every two years. Certificates already used for a prior renewal application cannot be reused. The Division of Occupational Licensure publishes a list of approved continuing education coordinators and courses, so you are not free to pick any seminar and call it compliant. Plan the classroom hours around your build calendar. Twelve hours of training is two slow days in February and a real scheduling problem in June. The Home Improvement Contractor registration works differently: the state confirms that an HIC registrant is not required to pass an examination, and the registration and renewal pages describe fees and account upkeep rather than coursework. Treat the CSL hours as the training obligation that actually governs your crew leads.
Section 2 of chapter 142A is the part of Massachusetts law that costs remodelers money when they ignore it. Every agreement to perform residential contracting services above one thousand dollars must be in writing and must include the complete agreement between owner and contractor, a clear description of any other documents incorporated into it, and the full names, social security numbers and street addresses, not post office boxes, of the parties. The contractor's registration number goes in the contract. So does the name of any salesperson who solicited or negotiated it and the date the parties executed it. You must state the date work is scheduled to begin and the date it is scheduled to be substantially completed, give a detailed description of the work to be done and the materials to be used, state the total amount to be paid, and set out a time schedule of payments with each payment stated in dollars including all finance charges. All parties sign. The contract must carry a clear and conspicuous notice that all contractors and subcontractors must be registered with the director, that registration inquiries go to the director, the registration number itself, the owner's three day cancellation rights, all warranties and the owner's rights under the chapter, any lien or security interest on the residence created by the contract, and, in ten point bold type or larger directly above the signature space, the words Do not sign this contract if there are any blank spaces. The owner gets a signed copy at signing. A contract that fails these requirements is not invalid solely because of the noncompliance, but the violation stands on its own.
Sourcesmalegislature.gov
The deposit rule is the one most remodeling disputes turn on. Any deposit required in advance of starting work cannot exceed the greater of one third of the total contract price or the actual cost of materials or equipment of a special order or custom made nature that must be ordered in advance to keep the project on schedule. No final payment may be demanded until the contract is completed to the satisfaction of both parties. Demanding or receiving payment in violation of that clause is a listed prohibited act. Contracts may not contain an acceleration clause letting the holder declare the unpaid balance due because the holder feels insecure. Where the contractor feels insecure, the statute gives a lawful alternative: as a condition of continuing the work, require that the balance of contract funds in the owner's possession be placed in a joint escrow account requiring both signatures for withdrawal. Work cannot begin before the contract is signed and a copy transmitted to the owner. On permits, the contract must tell the homeowner what permits are needed, that getting them is the contractor's obligation, and that a homeowner who secures their own permits is excluded from the Guaranty Fund provisions. That last line is worth reading aloud at the signing table, because a homeowner who pulls their own permit to save a few dollars has just given up the only state backstop they had. A contract may route disputes to a private arbitration program approved by the director, but only if the clause is clearly and conspicuously disclosed in language the director designates and each party separately signs and dates it.
Massachusetts gives homeowners a cooling off window, and chapter 142A requires your contract to disclose it. Section 2 says the contract must give clear and conspicuous notice of the owner's three day cancellation rights under section 48 of chapter 93, section 14 of chapter 255D, or section 10 of chapter 140D, whichever applies. Section 48 of chapter 93 is the one that catches most remodeling sales. An agreement for the sale or lease of goods, the rendering of services, or both, primarily for personal, family or household purposes, above twenty five dollars in value, that is consummated by a party at a place other than the address of the seller, which may be a main office or a branch, may be cancelled by the buyer. The buyer must notify the seller no later than midnight of the third business day following execution, and the cancellation is effective on notice. The buyer does not need a reason and does not need the seller to have breached anything. The paperwork rules go with it. The agreement must be in writing, in the same language principally used in the oral sales presentation, signed by the seller, and must carry the seller's address, the date of the transaction and all agreed or legally required terms. Leaving out a required or agreed term, or failing to deliver a copy signed by the seller, gives the buyer the right to cancel until the omission is cured, and the three day clock does not start running until then. Sign at the kitchen table and the clock is yours to protect.
This is where a marketing decision becomes a licensing violation. Section 17 of chapter 142A prohibits publishing, directly or indirectly, any advertisement relating to home construction or home improvements that does not contain the contractor's or subcontractor's certificate of registration number. The same clause prohibits any advertisement containing an assertion, representation or statement of fact that is false, deceptive or misleading. A separate clause prohibits advertising in any manner that you are registered under the chapter unless the advertisement includes an accurate reference to your certificate of registration. Read together, those rules mean the HIC number belongs on the website, the vehicle lettering, the yard sign, the mailer and the social profile that sells home improvement work, and that calling yourself state registered without the accurate number attached is itself the violation. Two more clauses matter to how you brand. Conducting a residential contracting business in any name other than the one you registered is prohibited, and so is failing to notify the director of a change of trade name or address. A rebrand is a registration update, not just a new logo. Violations of section 17 subject you to the administrative sanctions of section 18 and to criminal prosecution under section 19, and violations of any provision of the chapter constitute an unfair or deceptive act under chapter 93A, which is the statute that carries consumer multiple damages and attorney fees in Massachusetts. The state also tells homeowners to look for an HIC registration number on the contractor's website or advertisements before hiring, so the number is doing sales work as well as compliance work.
The Residential Contractor's Guaranty Fund sits inside the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation and exists to compensate owners for actual losses caused by registered contractor or subcontractor conduct that a court or an approved arbitrator has found to be work performed in a poor or unworkmanlike manner, a common law violation, or a violation of a consumer protection statute or regulation, including the prohibited acts in section 17. It only pays where the contractor failed to pay the judgment or award and the director has determined that reasonable efforts to collect were made. The state describes it as a fund of last resort and compensates eligible homeowners for actual loss up to $25,000, noting that actual loss can differ from the award amount. A homeowner must file within seven years of the contract date and within seven years of the award or judgment, must prove there was a contract, that the contractor was registered when the contract was signed, that the contractor and not the homeowner secured the building permit, that the property was a pre-existing one to four family Massachusetts residence that is the owner's primary residence, and that collection efforts are exhausted. Here is the part aimed at you. After a consumer is paid, the responsible registered contractor must reimburse the fund with interest within 30 days. Failure to repay can mean administrative fines, revocation of your registration, and in extreme cases criminal prosecution. Failing to repay the fund in full with annual interest is itself a prohibited act. Owners may sue in superior court, district court or small claims, or request a private arbitration program approved by the director.
Sourcesmass.gov 1malegislature.gov 2malegislature.gov 3malegislature.gov 4
Section 19 of chapter 142A sets the criminal exposure. A contractor or subcontractor who knowingly, willfully or negligently operates without obtaining a certificate of registration and is not otherwise exempt, or who continues to operate after revocation or during suspension, or who fails to renew the certificate, may be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both. Any person who knowingly and willfully violates another provision of the chapter where no greater penalty is provided may be fined up to two thousand dollars or imprisoned up to one year, or both. Those penalties are in addition to any administrative penalty and may be sought by the attorney general or a district attorney. Note that negligently sits in the statute next to knowingly and willfully, so a renewal you forgot is inside the same sentence as a registration you never filed. The civil side is usually the larger number. Violations of any provision of chapter 142A constitute an unfair or deceptive act under chapter 93A. A contractor's conduct includes the conduct of agents, employees, salespersons and subcontractors when the work falls within the scope of the contract. Being unregistered also strips the homeowner of arbitration through the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation and of any Guaranty Fund recovery, which tends to push the dispute straight into court. Municipal penalties stack on top. Boston warns that work done without the right permit can mean paying double for the permit, or being required to fix or remove the work.
Sourcesmalegislature.gov 1malegislature.gov 2mass.gov 3boston.gov 4
Massachusetts does not publish a surety bond or a minimum general liability limit as a condition of HIC registration on the registration pages, and the one-time Guaranty Fund payment is the consumer backstop the statute builds in. Workers compensation is a separate and firm obligation. Section 25A of chapter 152 requires every employer to provide for payment of workers compensation to employees, either by insurance with an insurer, by membership in a workers compensation self-insurance group, or by obtaining an annual self-insurer license from the department under the conditions the statute sets. The state also tells homeowners to ask a contractor for proof of liability insurance and workers compensation insurance before hiring, and Boston requires a certificate of insurance uploaded with a permit application, so the practical requirement arrives through the customer and the permit counter even where registration does not demand it. Out of state remodelers should read one line carefully: the state says Massachusetts does not recognize out of state contractor licenses, and that 780 CMR, the Massachusetts building code, applies to all buildings and structures in the Commonwealth. There is no shortcut around the exam for a supervisor licensed elsewhere. All out of state corporations and limited liability companies applying for an HIC registration must first complete the foreign corporation registration process with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and state law requires a foreign corporation to file a certificate of registration within 10 days after it starts to transact business in Massachusetts, accompanied by a certificate of legal existence or good standing from its home jurisdiction.
Sourcesmass.gov 1malegislature.gov 2mass.gov 3mass.gov 4boston.gov 5
Boston Inspectional Services issues a Short-Form Permit for minor alterations, repairs and replacements that do not change a building's structure or use, and a Long-Form Permit for major alterations or renovations that do. The short-form fee is a $20 application fee plus $10 per $1,000 of the work estimate. Only the licensed contractor can apply, the name on the application must match the name on the license, and applications submitted by office staff or third parties are not accepted. The upload list for a contractor includes front and back copies of the valid, non-expired trade license, a certificate of insurance, the signed contract agreement between you and the homeowner, a site safety plan, and the Mattocks-Higgins Affidavit of Workplace Safety. An Experience Rating Number Form from your insurer may also be required, though not for sole proprietors or newer contractors. The licensed contractor must be onsite during the inspection, and the inspector contacts the applicant within 48 hours of a request. Homeowners in one and two family owner-occupied homes may pull their own permit in Boston, which also removes their Guaranty Fund eligibility under state law. Verification runs two ways. Homeowners are told to check HIC registration status and complaint history using the MA Contractor Hub search tool, to ask to see the state-issued HIC identification card, and to confirm CSL status where the work requires one. Construction supervisor and other Office of Public Safety and Inspections licenses are checked on the state License Verification Site, which covers records from 2001 to the present.
Sourcesboston.gov 1boston.gov 2mass.gov 3mass.gov 4mass.gov 5
These are common details other guides publish about Massachusetts, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes, in most cases. A contractor working on an existing, owner-occupied residential property with one to four units must hold a Home Improvement Contractor registration from the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Structural work such as a kitchen renovation can also require a Construction Supervisor License, and the state says the two credentials need not be held by the same person.
No. The state states that they are different and not interchangeable. The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation issues the HIC registration. The Board of Building Regulations and Standards, inside the Office of Public Safety and Inspections, issues the CSL. HIC alone covers ordinary repairs. Decks, additions and structural work need the CSL as well.
No. The Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation states that an HIC registrant is not required to pass an examination. Registration means an application, the $150 fee and a one-time Guaranty Fund payment. The Construction Supervisor License is the credential with an exam, administered by PSI, plus three years of building construction or design experience.
Your certificate of registration number. Section 17 of chapter 142A prohibits publishing any advertisement relating to home construction or home improvements that lacks it, and prohibits false, deceptive or misleading claims. Advertising that you are registered without an accurate reference to the certificate is also prohibited. Violations are unfair or deceptive acts under chapter 93A.
No more than the greater of one third of the total contract price or the actual cost of special order or custom made materials and equipment that must be ordered in advance to keep the schedule. No final payment may be demanded until the contract is completed to the satisfaction of both parties. Demanding more is a prohibited act.
Each certificate of registration bears a number valid for two years from issuance, so renewal lands every two years. The renewal fee is $100, plus any outstanding balance on the account. The state asks contractors to start the process 30 to 60 days before the expiration date and to renew through the MA Contractor Hub.
You reapply rather than renew. That means paying the $150 registration fee again plus $100 to $500 to the Guaranty Fund based on headcount. The state also warns that your ability to pull municipal permits may be affected while you are expired, and failing to renew sits in the same criminal penalty sentence as never registering.
No. The state says plainly that Massachusetts does not recognize out of state contractor licenses, and that 780 CMR applies to all buildings and structures in the Commonwealth. Out of state corporations and limited liability companies must also complete foreign corporation registration with the Secretary of the Commonwealth before an HIC registration is approved.
The state chart lists interior painting, finish flooring, carpet and tile, driveways, patios, fencing, central heating, central air conditioning, yard and garden work, freestanding masonry walls and above-ground pools. The chart is general guidance only. Whether a permit or a Construction Supervisor License applies still depends on project specifics and the local building official.
Up to $25,000 of actual loss, and only after a court judgment or arbitration award goes unpaid and collection efforts are exhausted. Once the fund pays, the responsible registered contractor must reimburse it with interest within 30 days. Failure to repay can bring administrative fines, revocation of registration, and in extreme cases criminal prosecution.
Section 19 of chapter 142A allows a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both, for operating without a certificate of registration, continuing after revocation or suspension, or failing to renew. Other knowing and willful violations carry up to two thousand dollars or one year. Chapter 93A liability runs alongside.
You are. The contract must tell the homeowner what permits are needed, that obtaining them is the contractor's obligation, and that a homeowner who secures their own permits is excluded from the Guaranty Fund provisions. In Boston, work done without the right permit can mean paying double for the permit or fixing or removing the work.
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