Connecticut has 16,290 registered home improvement contractors in this site's directory; Fairfield County has 31.5%

Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection publishes its license and registration records on data.ct.gov. From the file retrieved Oct. 30, 2026, limited to business credentials with Connecticut addresses, this site's directory lists 19,756 contractors.

By credential

• Home improvement contractors: 16,290
• New home construction contractors: 2,391
• Major contractors: 723
• Demolition, plumbing, heating and electrical contractor businesses: 352, most of them demolition contractors

The Home Improvement Act

The Home Improvement Act, chapter 400 of the General Statutes, requires anyone who owns and operates a home improvement business, or offers to perform home improvements, to register with DCP. The law exempts people whose home improvement contracts total no more than $1,000 in any 12 months. Under section 20-427, a registered contractor must show the certificate on request and put the registration number in every advertisement. Doing home improvement work without a current registration is a class B misdemeanor, and so is claiming that registration is the state's endorsement of a contractor's workmanship or competence.

Section 20-429 says a home improvement contract is not valid or enforceable against an owner unless it is in writing, signed by both parties, contains the entire agreement, the date, the contractor's name, address and registration number, a notice of cancellation rights, and start and completion dates, among other terms. Changes must also be in writing and signed.

The law also protects deposits. A contractor must refund a homeowner's payment within 10 days of a written request if no substantial part of the work has been done and more than 30 days have passed since the contract's start date, or since the contract date if no start date was given. Failing to do so is a misdemeanor, class A if the job is over $10,000.

Each registered contractor pays $100 a year into the Home Improvement Guaranty Fund under section 20-432, and salespeople pay $40. New home construction contractors who opt to do home improvement work pay the fund fee too. A homeowner who wins an arbitration award or court judgment against a registered contractor, for a contract entered within the prior two years, can apply to the fund for unpaid actual damages and costs, excluding punitive damages. The application must be made within two years after the judgment becomes final.

Demolition and the trades

The smaller credential groups in this site's file are mostly demolition contractors: 505 listed businesses hold a demolition credential. A handful hold plumbing and piping, heating, piping and cooling, or electrical contractor licenses as businesses. Individual trade licenses are not included in this site's directory.

By county

Home improvement contractors by county:

• Fairfield County: 5,136
• New Haven County: 3,996
• Hartford County: 3,339
• Litchfield County: 1,126
• New London County: 960
• Middlesex County: 836
• Tolland County: 569
• Windham County: 328

Across all credentials, Fairfield County has 6,306 of the 19,756 contractors listed, or 31.9%. New Haven and Hartford counties follow with 4,655 and 4,030.

New home construction contractors are concentrated in Fairfield (903), New Haven (405), Hartford (385) counties. Major contractors are led by Hartford (234), New Haven (185), Fairfield (163).

Renewals

Nearly every home improvement registration in the file, 16,283 of 16,290, expires in March 2027. Most new home construction registrations, 1,592 of 2,391, also expire in March 2027, while most major contractor registrations expire in June 2027. General contractors who keep lists of approved subs can recheck them before those dates arrive.

Connecticut counties no longer have county governments, so this site groups towns by the county they historically belonged to. Every listing in our directory shows its credential and expiration date. See our registration guide.