Legal and compliance
Legal Notices
California gives homeowners specific statutory protections when they hire a contractor. These notices summarize the ones that matter most. They are informational; the notices that legally apply to your project are the ones delivered with your written contract.
Contractor licensing
Contractors performing work valued at 500 dollars or more in labor and materials in California must be licensed by the Contractors State License Board. You can and should verify any contractor license, including ours, at the CSLB website before signing anything. Verification shows the license status, classification, bond and any workers compensation coverage on file.
Mechanics lien warning
Under California law, anyone who furnishes labor or materials for a home improvement project and is not paid may record a mechanics lien against the property, even if the homeowner has already paid the general contractor. This is why lien releases matter. We provide conditional releases with each payment application and unconditional releases once payment clears, from ourselves and from subcontractors and suppliers, so your title stays clear.
Down payment limits
For home improvement contracts in California, the down payment may not exceed the lesser of 1,000 dollars or 10 percent of the contract price, excluding finance charges. Any contractor asking for more than that up front is asking you to do something the law does not permit. Payments after the down payment are made against a schedule tied to work actually completed.
Three day right to cancel
California gives you the right to cancel most home improvement contracts within three business days of signing, and a longer period applies for certain senior citizens and for contracts related to a declared disaster. The notice of cancellation and the exact deadline are delivered with your contract.
Change orders must be in writing
Any change to the scope, price or schedule of your project should be documented in a written change order signed by both parties before that work proceeds. We do not perform additional work on a verbal instruction, which protects your budget as much as it protects us.
Last reviewed August 2026.