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How do you check a home improvement contractor registration in New Jersey?

In New Jersey, home improvement contractor businesses register every year with the Division of Consumer Affairs, larger jobs need a written contract that lists the registration number, and builders of new homes register separately, through the Department of Community Affairs, which runs its own Builder Search.

Source: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Bureau of Homeowner Protection, read 22 October 2026.
Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.
Source: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Home Builder Search, read 22 October 2026.

The license lookup is yours to run on the state's site.

InstaBids is an AI-run marketplace for homeowners and property managers: describe a home job once, by chat or through your own AI assistant, add photos, and get multiple written quotes on the same scope, compared apples to apples, with no phone calls or home visits before you pick.

By InstaBids editorial team with AI research agents. Sources last read: 22 October 2026

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Key facts

Who must register to do home improvement work in New Jersey?

The business that sells or does the work. Section 3 of P.L.2004, chapter 16, the state's home improvement registration law, as amended by P.L.2023, chapter 237 and published by the New Jersey Legislature, reads: "No contractor business shall offer to perform, or engage, or attempt to engage in the business of making or selling home improvements unless registered with the Division of Consumer Affairs"

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

The same section continues: "Every contractor business shall annually register with the director."

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

In the act's definitions, the director "means the Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs in the Department of Law and Public Safety."

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

A news release from the Office of the Attorney General on undercover operations by the Division of Consumer Affairs says: "HICBs that submitted bids were cited for soliciting home improvement work without having an active HICB registration."

Source: New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, release on Division of Consumer Affairs undercover operations, read 22 October 2026.

Where does the registration number appear on a New Jersey contract?

On the written contract, once a job passes the threshold quoted here. Section 16 of the act, as amended, opens: "Every home improvement contract for a purchase price in excess of $500, and all changes in the terms and conditions of the contract, shall be in writing."

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

The first item on its list of contract terms reads: "The legal name, business address, and registration number of the contractor business"

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

For a change of mind, section 16 adds: "a home improvement contract may be cancelled by a consumer for any reason at any time before midnight of the third business day after the consumer receives a copy of it."

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

For questions about a contractor, section 14 of the act, as amended, reads: "The director shall provide a toll-free telephone number for consumers making inquiries regarding contractors and contractor businesses."

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

How do you look up a new home builder in New Jersey?

New homes are a separate list. The 2004 act, in the text the Legislature published on enactment, lists who it leaves out: "The provisions of this act shall not apply to:"

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2004, chapter 16 as enacted, read 22 October 2026.

The first item reads: "Any person required to register pursuant to “The New Home Warranty and Builders’ Registration Act,”"

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2004, chapter 16 as enacted, read 22 October 2026.

That builder registration sits with the Department of Community Affairs. Its Bureau of Homeowner Protection page says: "The Bureau of Homeowner Protection administers the New Home Warranty Program"

Source: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Bureau of Homeowner Protection, read 22 October 2026.

The same page points builders to the department's service portal "to securely apply for a new home builder's registration"

Source: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Bureau of Homeowner Protection, read 22 October 2026.

The department's Home Builder Search on that portal gives this tip: "If you do not know the builder registration number, then suggested search is by Company Name."

Source: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Home Builder Search, read 22 October 2026.

Has New Jersey started licensing individual home improvement contractors?

A 2023 law sets up individual licences, but it holds that part back until after a new board adopts its rules, as quoted below. P.L.2023, chapter 237 was approved January 8, 2024.

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

Section 9 of that law reads, in part: "no individual shall perform home improvement services or home elevation services unless licensed by the board."

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

In the law's definitions, the board "means the New Jersey State Board of Home Improvement and Home Elevation Contractors."

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

Section 5 says sections 9 through 13 "shall remain inoperative until the first day of the sixth month next following the promulgation by the board of the rules and regulations."

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

A later law, P.L.2025, chapter 323, was approved January 20, 2026.

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2025, chapter 323, read 22 October 2026.

It rewrote section 9 to read: "no individual shall perform home improvement services or home elevation services unless licensed by the board or working under the direction or supervision of an individual licensed by the board."

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2025, chapter 323, read 22 October 2026.

Its last section reads: "This act shall take effect immediately but shall remain inoperative until such time as provided in section 5"

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2025, chapter 323, read 22 October 2026.

This page does not predict when the individual licence sections will start. Until they do, the business registration with the Division of Consumer Affairs, described above, is the record to ask about.

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

What should you ask a New Jersey contractor before you sign?

Ask for the business registration number, find it on the written contract, and call the Division with any question about the contractor. These are practical suggestions, not the Division's rules.

Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

  1. Ask for the business registration number and the exact business name.

    Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

  2. For a larger job, ask for a written contract that shows the business name, address and registration number.

    Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

  3. Ask the Division of Consumer Affairs about the business by phone.

    Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

  4. For a newly built home, search the builder's registration number or company name on the Home Builder Search.

    Source: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Home Builder Search, read 22 October 2026.

  5. Read the three-business-day cancellation notice in the contract before the work starts.

    Source: New Jersey Legislature, P.L.2023, chapter 237, read 22 October 2026.

The Office of the Attorney General's release on the Division's Nail It! campaign says: "Grievances pertaining to home improvement contractors (“HICs”) consistently rank high on the Division’s annual list of consumer complaints."

Source: New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, release on the Nail It! campaign, read 22 October 2026.

Who sees your contact details when you post a job on InstaBids?

One point about InstaBids follows. Contact details stay hidden until the homeowner picks a contractor and they confirm the connection.

Source: InstaBids process and privacy, live-page excerpts, read 22 October 2026.

Post your job on InstaBids, and contractors can bid in writing on one written scope.

Homeowners anywhere in the US can post a job; once you send it, InstaBids finds contractors to bid on it.

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