Arkansas contract template: what you are required to include, and how much deposit you can take

Published November 3, 2026 · Arkansas Code and the federal Cooling-Off Rule checked November 3, 2026

• Free. The download links come by email.
• Deepsel is our product: free estimate, invoice and scheduling software for contractors (scheduling and dispatch, quotes, invoicing, card payments). The section before the FAQ says where it fits and where it doesn't.
• Not legal advice. Have an Arkansas attorney read the template before you use it.

Arkansas has no law that says a home improvement contract must be in writing, and no cap on the deposit you can take. What it does have is a lien notice with teeth. On a house or any building of up to four units, the owner must receive Arkansas's "IMPORTANT NOTICE TO OWNER," word for word in bold capitals, before you start work. Skip it and you lose your lien rights and risk a fine of up to $1,000. Sign the job at the customer's home and you also owe them a written contract with cancellation notices, Arkansas's and the federal one. The deposit is whatever the two of you agree, but a customer who cancels in time gets every dollar back within 10 days.

If you're a master electrician working directly for a homeowner, all of that applies to you. Your electrical license most likely keeps you out of the home improvement license for electrical work (the exemption is below), but the lien notice and the cancellation rules attach to the job, whatever license you hold. The notice rule has no dollar floor. A $400 breaker swap on a duplex is covered the same as a whole-house rewire.

A contractor on Reddit put the risk of a generic form plainly: "just googling a contract and hoping for the best won't get one that's written specifically for the state he works in."¹⁵ I read the Arkansas Code chapters on contractor licensing, electricians, home solicitation sales, deceptive trade practices and mechanics' liens, the Residential Contractors Committee's rules, and the federal cooling-off rule on November 3, 2026. Every rule below links to its source in the Sources list.

The template has all of it in the required wording. Get it three ways: make your own copy in Google Docs (opens in your Drive), download the Word version (.docx), or download the PDF. Pick a format, enter your email and I'll send the links.

Does this apply to you?

Arkansas's contract rules attach to the job. Your trade license can switch off only the last row below, the Committee's license. Here's who each rule reaches.

By trade

Electricians (most of the newly licensed Arkansas contractors we email). Arkansas licenses you under the electricians' chapter, Arkansas Code 17-28, and I read every section of it: definitions, exemptions, the Board of Electrical Examiners, licenses, apprentices, penalties. None of it mentions contracts, deposits, or putting your license number on a bid. It even says it doesn't change the contractor licensing chapter.¹¹ So your contract duties come from the same laws as everyone else's:

• Home improvement license. The Committee's license law exempts "a person or entity licensed as a contractor by another licensing agency, board, or commission of the State of Arkansas if the contractor is performing work within the scope of the license held," and the Committee's license classes don't include electrical work at all.⁸ My reading: a panel upgrade, a service change or a rewire under your master license doesn't need it. Add framing, drywall or a remodel worth more than $2,000 to the job and that reading gets thin, so call the Board before you sign.
• Lien notice. Yes, on every job on a home or building of up to four units, before you start. It's the easy one to miss, because a service call doesn't feel like a construction contract. Put the notice on the back of your work authorization.
• Cancellation. Yes, when you sell the job at the house for more than $25.
• Your license. Electrical work needs an electrician's license at any price.¹¹ Commercial jobs of $50,000 or more fall under the Contractors Licensing Board's own license,¹⁰ which is outside this article.

Plumbers and HVACR contractors: the same as electricians. Your own board's license should keep you out of the Committee's license for work within its scope, under the same exemption, and the contract rules all apply.

Remodelers, home improvement contractors and builders: all of it, plus the Committee's license once a job passes $2,000. Splitting a job into contracts under $2,000 doesn't avoid it.⁸ The Board says the home improvement license is "for a contractor who is only responsible for certain types of work (painting, windows, flooring, etc.)," while structural changes and additions need a remodeler's license.⁹ Two license rules touch your paperwork: you may do business "only in the name under which they are licensed," and Committee licensees must post the license number and name in letters at least three inches high on a sign at every residential job site.⁸

Roofers: residential roofing over $2,000 needs a roofing contractor registration unless you hold a builder or remodeler license.⁹ On insurance jobs you add the insurance-repair notice and wait before starting (below). The Committee can revoke a roofing registration for "abandoning a roofing contract without legal grounds after a consideration in payment has been tendered."⁸

Handymen and small jobs under $2,000: no Committee license, but the lien notice still applies on any residential job and the cancellation rules on any home sale over $25.

Landlords and commercial customers: the lien notice covers rentals too, because it reaches all "residential real estate containing four (4) or fewer units."¹ The home solicitation law covers services "furnished primarily for personal, family, or household purposes,"⁴ so a landlord buying work on a rental is probably outside it. On buildings of five or more units and commercial property there's no notice before work; subcontractors and suppliers send their own notice within 75 days instead.¹

What your Arkansas contract must include

No Arkansas statute lists what every home improvement contract must say. The required items come from three laws. Here they are in the statutes' own words, with the wording I put in the template.

The Arkansas lien notice to owner (18-44-115)

This is the one that costs real money. "No lien upon residential real estate containing four (4) or fewer units may be acquired" unless the owner "has received, by personal delivery or by certified mail, a copy of the notice," and "It shall be the duty of the residential contractor to give the owner ... the notice ... before the commencement of work."¹ The notice "may be incorporated into the contract or affixed to the contract and shall be conspicuous, set out in boldface type, worded exactly as stated in all capital letters."¹ Here it is, as the statute and the Contractors Licensing Board's own instruction sheet print it:^1,2

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO OWNER

I UNDERSTAND THAT EACH CONTRACTOR, SUBCONTRACTOR, LABORER, SUPPLIER, ARCHITECT, ENGINEER, SURVEYOR, APPRAISER, LANDSCAPER, ABSTRACTOR, OR TITLE INSURANCE AGENT SUPPLYING LABOR, SERVICES, MATERIAL, OR FIXTURES IS ENTITLED TO A LIEN AGAINST THE PROPERTY IF NOT PAID IN FULL FOR THE LABOR, SERVICES, MATERIALS, OR FIXTURES USED TO IMPROVE, CONSTRUCT, OR INSURE OR EXAMINE TITLE TO THE PROPERTY EVEN THOUGH THE FULL CONTRACT PRICE MAY HAVE BEEN PAID TO THE CONTRACTOR. I REALIZE THAT THIS LIEN CAN BE ENFORCED BY THE SALE OF THE PROPERTY IF NECESSARY. I AM ALSO AWARE THAT PAYMENT MAY BE WITHHELD TO THE CONTRACTOR IN THE AMOUNT OF THE COST OF ANY SERVICES, FIXTURES, MATERIALS, OR LABOR NOT PAID FOR. I KNOW THAT IT IS ADVISABLE TO, AND I MAY, REQUIRE THE CONTRACTOR TO FURNISH TO ME A TRUE AND CORRECT FULL LIST OF ALL SUPPLIERS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS UNDER THE CONTRACT, AND I MAY CHECK WITH THEM TO DETERMINE IF ALL MATERIALS, LABOR, FIXTURES, AND SERVICES FURNISHED FOR THE PROPERTY HAVE BEEN PAID FOR. I MAY ALSO REQUIRE THE CONTRACTOR TO PRESENT LIEN WAIVERS BY ALL SUPPLIERS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS, STATING THAT THEY HAVE BEEN PAID IN FULL FOR SUPPLIES AND SERVICES PROVIDED UNDER THE CONTRACT, BEFORE I PAY THE CONTRACTOR IN FULL. IF A SUPPLIER OR OTHER SERVICE PROVIDER HAS NOT BEEN PAID, I MAY PAY THE SUPPLIER OR OTHER SERVICE PROVIDER AND CONTRACTOR WITH A CHECK MADE PAYABLE TO THEM JOINTLY.

SIGNED: ________ ADDRESS OF PROPERTY: ________ DATE: ________

I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THE SIGNATURE ABOVE IS THAT OF THE OWNER, REGISTERED AGENT OF THE OWNER, OR AUTHORIZED AGENT OF THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY AT THE ADDRESS SET OUT ABOVE.

________ CONTRACTOR

Three things to know about it:

• Timing. Before work starts. Handing it to the owner inside the signed contract is personal delivery. If the contract is signed by email or on a tablet, mail the notice by certified mail too, or get it signed on paper before you start; when it goes by certified mail, the owner's signature isn't needed.¹
• It protects your subs and suppliers. No subcontractor, supplier or laborer can lien the house unless the owner received at least one copy.¹ A supplier can ask you to certify that the owner got it, and a false certification carries a fine of up to $2,500.³
• The exceptions don't help most of you. You can skip it if you supply a performance and payment bond. There's also a "direct sale" exception, but only for a seller who is not a home improvement contractor or residential building contractor as the licensing law defines them,¹ and that definition covers anyone who contracts to repair or improve an existing home, licensed or not.⁸ On my reading that includes an electrician hired by the owner. Give the notice.

Section 6 of the template carries the notice in bold capitals with the signature and certification lines. The owner can also ask you for "A list of all parties doing work or furnishing material for a building and the amount due to each," and you have five business days to give it.³ Sample wording, from Section 6.2: "If you ask, we will give you, within five business days, a correct list of everyone furnishing labor or materials for the job and the amount due to each."

Signed at the customer's home: the cancellation notices and the payment terms

Arkansas's home solicitation sales law covers a sale "in which the seller or a person acting for him or her engages in a personal solicitation of the sale at other than appropriate trade premises in an amount more than twenty-five dollars."⁴ It counts "services in connection with the repair, alteration, or improvement of residential premises." The contract isn't enforceable unless there is a writing that is "signed by both the consumer and the seller," "Contains no provision not included in the oral sales presentation," "Contains the name and address of the seller" and "Contains the date on which the consumer actually signs the writing."⁴ You must also disclose "clearly and conspicuously, both orally and in writing in the contract":⁴

• "The total cash price;"
• "The down payment;"
• "The unpaid balance of the cash price;"
• "The number, amount, and due dates of payments necessary to pay the unpaid balance in full;" and
• "An accurate description of the goods or services purchased."

Hand over a fully completed copy when the customer signs, with a form captioned "NOTICE OF CANCELLATION," in duplicate, "attached to the contract or receipt and easily detachable," in 10-point bold type.⁴ The federal rule adds a bold statement right next to the customer's signature line: "You, the buyer, may cancel this transaction at any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of this transaction. See the attached notice of cancellation form for an explanation of this right."⁵ It also wants its own Notice of Cancellation in duplicate, in the same language you used to sell the job. Both laws want you to tell the customer about the right out loud.

Section 4 of the template is a payment table that covers the first four (total cash price, down payment, unpaid balance, then each payment with its due date or milestone), and Section 1 is the description. The federal statement sits in the Owner's signature box, and Appendices A and B hold the two forms. The "no provision not included in the oral sales presentation" line is a strange one: in practice it means you walk the customer through the contract before they sign, which you should do anyway.

Roof and exterior repairs paid by insurance

When you repair or replace a roof, or do "other exterior repair, replacement, construction, or reconstruction work" on a home for one to four families, and the job is paid from the owner's property insurance, you must hand the owner this statement in 10-point bold before they sign: "You may cancel this residential real estate repair contract at any time within three (3) business days after you have received written notification from your insurer that all or any part of the claim or residential real estate repair contract is not a covered loss under the insurance policy. See attached notice of cancellation form for an explanation of this right."⁶ A matching form goes with it in duplicate. And you "shall not commence work until the insured's right to cancel ... has expired," except for emergency services.⁶ Section 10 and Appendix C of the template cover it. On my reading it can reach an electrician too: a storm-torn service mast paid for by the owner's insurer is exterior repair.

Your licensed name and number

Use your name exactly as licensed. For Committee licensees that's the law.⁸ I found nothing in the contractor licensing law, the Committee's rules or the electricians' chapter that requires your license number on the contract. Put it on page 1 anyway: it's the first thing a careful homeowner looks up, and page 1 of the template has a line for each Arkansas license and registration.

What else belongs in the contract

Nothing else is required by statute. The Arkansas Attorney General tells homeowners to "Have a written and signed contract before any work begins" and to check that it contains "A complete and detailed description of the work to be done and the materials to be used, including the grade, quality and quantity," "A provision requiring your written approval before any price increases are implemented or before the scope of work is expanded," a statement of "the builder's or contractor's guarantee," "A starting date and, more importantly, a completion date," and "full disclosure of the payment terms."¹² The template has each one: the materials table, written change orders, a workmanship warranty, start and completion dates, and the payment table, plus a hidden-conditions clause, insurance and lien waivers.

How much deposit can a contractor take in Arkansas?

As much as the customer agrees to. Arkansas sets no cap. I read the contractor licensing chapter and the Residential Contractors Committee's rules, the electricians' chapter, the home solicitation sales law, the Deceptive Trade Practices Act with its insurance-repair subchapter, and the lien law. None of them limits a residential deposit or says how it must be held. No trust account, no escrow, no bond.

Someone on r/GeneralContractor asked the question every new contractor asks: "are you allowed legally to charge that much deposit?"¹⁶ In Arkansas the legal answer is yes. These rules still shape it:

• Cancellation refunds. On a home sale, "Within ten (10) days after a home solicitation contract or offer has been cancelled, the seller must tender to the buyer any payments made by the buyer."⁴ That's 10 calendar days, quicker than the federal rule's 10 business days. Treat the deposit as the customer's until the three days pass, and don't order special-order materials before then. Section 2.4 of the template says so.
• Insurance-paid jobs. If the owner cancels after the insurer denies part of the claim, you return "any payments, partial payments, or deposits" within 10 days, keeping only the reasonable value of emergency services.⁶
• Paying your suppliers. It's a crime for a contractor "knowingly to receive payment of the contract price or any portion of it without applying the money so received toward the discharge of any liens known to the person receiving the payment" with intent to defraud the owner. Over $25 it's a felony.³ That's the closest Arkansas comes to a contractor-fraud statute.
• Taking a deposit and not showing up. There's no Arkansas crime written for that. The general theft law covers it: theft includes obtaining "the property of another person by deception."¹³ The Committee can revoke a license for "misconduct in the contractor's business," and a roofing registration for abandoning a job after payment or "Mishandling funds or property entrusted to the roofing contractor."⁸

How to set the payment schedule

With no legal cap, the limit is what a homeowner will sign. The Attorney General warns them: "Beware of those demanding a full payment before work is finished."¹² And the lien notice you hand them tells them they may hold back payment until your suppliers are paid, ask for lien waivers, and pay a supplier and you with one joint check. So I'd size the deposit to the special-order materials plus a little to hold the date, tie each later payment to something the owner can see (materials delivered, rough-in inspection passed, the final walk-through), and expect a joint check on any big material order. Section 4 of the template is laid out that way, and 4.1 says in one sentence what the deposit pays for. The final payment comes when the work is done, with lien waivers from your subs and suppliers.

Cancellation: Arkansas's 3-day rule and the FTC rule

Two laws give the customer three days to cancel a sale made at their home. Both apply at once.

Saturdays count under both laws, so the deadline usually lands on the same day. Sign on a Thursday and both run out at midnight Monday.^4,5 Holidays are where they can split: Arkansas skips its state holidays, the FTC skips federal ones. Skip both kinds and put the same date on both forms. The FTC rule leaves state laws in force unless they give the buyer less,⁵ and Arkansas's form says nearly the same thing as the federal one in different words, so the template carries both. Arkansas adds one trap: "If seller fails to give both oral and written notice of the buyer's right to cancellation, the cooling-off period does not begin to run until actual notice is given."⁴ Forget to say it out loud and the three days never start.

When the 3-day rule doesn't apply

• The customer signs at your shop or office, or the deal follows negotiations there.
• The deal is done entirely by phone or mail, with no other contact before you do the work (federal rule).
• Emergency repairs. Arkansas's law steps aside on its own, but the federal rule still needs the customer's handwritten, signed waiver describing the emergency. A preprinted waiver doesn't count, so get the handwritten one.^4,5
• The customer asked you to come and repair or maintain their personal property. Anything extra you sell on that visit is covered again.^4,5 Wiring, panels and light fixtures are part of the house rather than personal property, so I'd give the notices on any electrical job priced and signed at the house.

A customer who signs your quote online a day after you priced it at their kitchen table is the gray area. The federal phone-and-mail exception covers only deals done "without any other contact," and you were standing in their kitchen. I'd treat it as a home sale and give the notices.

Other notices and paperwork

Arkansas mechanics lien deadlines

If you're not paid: send the owner 10 days' notice of your claim before you file,³ then file the lien with the circuit clerk "within one hundred twenty (120) days after the things specified in this subchapter have been furnished or the work or labor done or performed," with an affidavit that you gave the notices and a copy of each.³ That affidavit is where a missing Important Notice to Owner ends your lien. Then sue on the lien within 15 months of filing. If you served the owner notice of the filed lien and weren't paid within 20 days, the court awards a winning contractor a reasonable attorney's fee, and a winning owner gets theirs.³ Miss the lien and you can still sue on the contract: five years from the breach on a written contract, three on one that was never written down.¹⁴ One more reason to put it on paper.

If a customer hasn't paid, the Arkansas mechanics lien guide has the steps, every deadline and a demand letter.

Licenses and workers' compensation

Committee licensees must carry workers' compensation as the workers' compensation law requires, and home improvement contractors on work under $50,000 are excused unless another law requires it.⁸ Section 8 of the template has a box for each case.

I found no Arkansas requirement for an arbitration notice, a recovery fund notice or an insurance disclosure in a residential contract.

What happens if you get it wrong

• No Important Notice to Owner. No lien on that job, and a fine of up to $1,000.¹ Until 2021 it was worse: a contractor who skipped the notice was "barred from bringing an action either at law or in equity ... to enforce any provision of a residential contract." Act 984 of 2021 took that out, so today you can still sue for the money, just without the lien.¹
• Missing or wrong cancellation paperwork. The contract can't be enforced against the customer if you didn't hand over a completed copy or committed a deceptive practice. The customer recovers 10% of the job or $100, whichever is greater, plus actual damages, and a knowing and willful violation is a Class A misdemeanor.⁴ It's also a violation of the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
• Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The Attorney General can seek penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, plus up to $10,000 more when the customer is elderly or has a disability. A customer can sue for their "actual financial loss" and attorney's fees, within five years.⁷ Arkansas's act has no triple damages.
• Insurance-repair rules broken. A deceptive practice under the same act.⁶
• No supplier list within five business days of a request. A fine of up to $2,500, plus the owner's damages, costs and attorney's fee.³
• No license when one is required. You can't sue to enforce the contract or for the value of your work. Each day is a Class A misdemeanor, and the Committee can fine you $100 to $400 a day.⁸ Electrical work without an electrician's license draws civil penalties of up to $1,000 a day.¹¹

The Arkansas contract template

It's a residential construction contract written for Arkansas, with five appendices. Page 1 collects the parties, a line for each Arkansas license or registration (Committee, roofing, electrician, HVACR, plumbing), the job address and county, the property type, where the contract was signed, whether insurance pays for it, and the total cash price. Then:

• Sections 1 to 3: the work, a materials table with a special-order column, permits, cleanup, start and completion dates, and the price (fixed, or time and materials with a cap).
• Section 4: the payment table (total cash price, down payment, unpaid balance, each payment and when it's due), the 10-day refund promise for a cancelled sale, and lien waivers and joint checks.
• Section 5: written change orders and hidden conditions.
• Section 6: the Important Notice to Owner in bold capitals, word for word, with the signature and certification lines, and the five-business-day supplier list promise.
• Sections 7 to 14: subcontractors, licenses and insurance, a workmanship warranty, the insurance-repair statement and terms, owner duties, ending the contract, disputes and general terms.
• Signatures, with the federal cancellation statement inside the Owner's box and a checklist of what the owner received.
• Appendix A: two Arkansas Notices of Cancellation. Appendix B: two federal Notices of Cancellation. Appendix C: two insurance-repair Notices of Cancellation. Appendix D: a change order form. Appendix E: notes for you, to remove before the owner gets the contract.

Download it: copy it into Google Docs, get the Word file, or the PDF.

Where Deepsel fits

Deepsel is free estimate, invoice and scheduling software for contractors. You write quotes with options, and a shop-wide terms text you set once is copied onto every quote, so the Arkansas clauses from this template can sit there. The customer approves the quote online and signs it on screen. You can ask for a deposit, a percent or a fixed amount, which they pay by card when they approve, and the deposit is credited on the final invoice. On Pro, this Arkansas contract is built in. Attach it to the estimate, and the customer reads it on the quote page, notices and cancellation forms included, and signs it when they approve; your saved signature goes on when you send, and you both get the signed copy to print or save as PDF. Template, not legal advice. Have it reviewed for your business. Deepsel doesn't know Arkansas law, though. The terms text alone won't add the notices or the detachable cancellation forms, and it shows as plain text (so the lien notice won't be in bold there). Deepsel doesn't check a deposit against any limit either. It also collects the card deposit the moment the customer approves, so on a job sold at the home that money is still refundable for three days. Hand the owner the printed Important Notice before you start. The Free plan covers 30 estimates and 30 invoices a month for your whole team, with scheduling and dispatch, quotes, invoicing, card payments, and customer and equipment records; Pro is $29 a month with unlimited estimates and invoices. Details are on the pricing page.

Frequently asked questions

Does a licensed electrician need a home improvement license in Arkansas?

Probably not for electrical work. The Residential Contractors Committee's licensing law exempts "a person or entity licensed as a contractor by another licensing agency, board, or commission of the State of Arkansas if the contractor is performing work within the scope of the license held," and the Committee's license classes don't include electrical work. If the job adds non-electrical work worth more than $2,000, such as framing, drywall or a remodel, call the Contractors Licensing Board before you sign. Either way, the Important Notice to Owner and the cancellation rules still apply to your residential contracts.

How can I verify a contractor's license in Arkansas?

Use the Find A Licensed Contractor search on the Contractors Licensing Board's pages at labor.arkansas.gov, or call the Board at (501) 372-4661, the number the Attorney General gives for checking a license, the date it was issued and any complaints. Electricians are on a separate roster kept by the Board of Electrical Examiners on the same site. Put your own license number on page 1 of your contract so the customer can check it before they sign.

What is the difference between a contractor and a handyman in Arkansas?

The line is $2,000. Home improvement work on a home of one to four units costing more than $2,000 in labor and materials needs a Residential Contractors Committee license. Below that, no license, as long as the job isn't split into smaller contracts to stay under the line. Electrical work is different: it needs an electrician's license at any price. The contract rules ignore the $2,000 line, too. The Important Notice to Owner applies to every residential job, and the cancellation rules to every sale over $25 made at the customer's home.

Can a contractor keep the deposit if the customer cancels?

Not when the customer cancels within the three-day window on a job sold at their home: Arkansas law says the seller must return any payments within 10 days. After the window closes, the contract decides. Under the template, the owner pays for work done and special-order materials already ordered, and gets the rest back within 30 days. On an insurance-paid roof or exterior repair that the owner cancels after the insurer denies part of the claim, everything comes back within 10 days except the reasonable value of emergency services.

Does the homeowner have to sign the Important Notice to Owner?

Not always. The law says the owner must have received the notice, by personal delivery or by certified mail, before work starts, and that no signature is needed when it goes by certified mail. When you hand it over in the contract, get it signed and dated anyway. To file a lien you swear that you gave the notice and attach a copy of it, so a signed copy is your proof.

What is the statute of limitations for breach of contract in Arkansas?

Five years for a written contract, counted from when the claim arises (Arkansas Code 16-56-111), and a partial payment or a written acknowledgment of the debt extends it. Contracts not in writing get three years (16-56-105). Claims under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act also have five years. A lien runs on a much shorter clock: file it within 120 days after your last work and sue on it within 15 months after filing.

Sources

1. Arkansas Code 18-44-115, Notice to owner by contractor: (a)(1) no lien on "residential real estate containing four (4) or fewer units" unless the owner "has received, by personal delivery or by certified mail, a copy of the notice"; (a)(2) no signature needed by certified mail; (a)(3) the residential contractor's duty "before the commencement of work"; (a)(4) no lien; (a)(5)(C) no lien for subs and suppliers unless the owner received at least one copy; (a)(6) fine "not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000)"; (a)(7) "conspicuous, set out in boldface type, worded exactly as stated in all capital letters"; (a)(8) bond and direct-sale exceptions; (b) commercial real estate and the 75-day notice. law.justia.com (2025 Arkansas Code); notice text: attachment 44-115-1. Before Act 984 of 2021, (a)(4) said a contractor without the notice "is barred from bringing an action either at law or in equity, including without limitation quantum meruit, to enforce any provision of a residential contract": 2020 Arkansas Code; explainer: Mann and Kemp, "Arkansas Legislature Finally Helps Residential Contractors". All read November 3, 2026.
2. Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, "Important Notice Instructions: Notice to Owner by Contractor" - the statute and the complete notice text, "MUST BE GIVEN BEFORE START OF WORK." labor.arkansas.gov, read November 3, 2026.
3. Arkansas Code chapter 18-44, other sections: 18-44-108 (supplier list within "five (5) business days," fine up to $2,500, damages and attorney's fee), 18-44-114 (10 days' notice before filing), 18-44-117 (file within 120 days, with an affidavit of notice and copies of each notice), 18-44-119 (sue "within fifteen (15) months after filing the lien"), 18-44-128 (attorney's fee after 20 days unpaid; to the owner if the owner wins), 18-44-132 (receiving payment without discharging known liens with intent to defraud; felony over $25). law.justia.com, 2025 Arkansas Code, read November 3, 2026.
4. Arkansas Code chapter 4-89, Home Solicitation Sales: 4-89-102 (definitions; "more than twenty-five dollars"; the buyer-requested repair of "personal property" exclusion; "Seller" means a person "engaged in the door-to-door or telephone sale"; "Services" includes the "repair, alteration, or improvement of residential premises" and work "furnished primarily for personal, family, or household purposes"; the five written and oral payment disclosures), 4-89-103 (emergency repairs, the 75 percent trade-premises seller and existing credit excepted), 4-89-104 (Class A misdemeanor), 4-89-105 (10 percent or $100, whichever is greater, plus actual damages), 4-89-106 (a deceptive trade practice), 4-89-107 ("until midnight of the third calendar day, excluding Sundays and holidays"), 4-89-108 (the signed writing, the completed copy, the Notice of Cancellation "in duplicate ... easily detachable ... in 10-point bold face type," oral and written notice), 4-89-109 (payments returned "Within ten (10) days"). law.justia.com; form text: attachment 89-108-1. 2025 Arkansas Code, read November 3, 2026.
5. Federal Trade Commission, Rule Concerning Cooling-Off Period for Sales Made at Homes or at Certain Other Locations, 16 CFR Part 429: 429.0 ($25 at the buyer's residence, $130 elsewhere, "including those in response to or following an invitation by the buyer"; the handwritten emergency waiver; a business day is "any calendar day except Sunday or any federal holiday"), 429.1 (statement by the signature, Notice of Cancellation in duplicate, oral notice, refund within 10 business days), 429.2(b) (state laws stand unless they give the buyer less). ecfr.gov, read November 3, 2026.
6. Arkansas Code 4-88-901 to 4-88-905, Unfair Practices Related to Residential Real Estate Repair Contracts: 4-88-901 (contracts paid "from the proceeds of a property and casualty insurance policy"), 4-88-902 ("residential contractor" includes anyone who repairs or replaces roof systems or does "other exterior repair, replacement, construction, or reconstruction work"; one to four families), 4-88-903 (the bold statement and the Notice of Cancellation in duplicate), 4-88-904 ("shall not commence work until the insured's right to cancel ... has expired"; refund of "any payments, partial payments, or deposits" within 10 days less emergency services), 4-88-905 (a deceptive practice). law.justia.com, 2025 Arkansas Code, read November 3, 2026. A 2025 bill to rewrite the subchapter (HB1308) was sent to interim study and not enacted: arkleg.state.ar.us.
7. Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act: 4-88-103 (knowing and willful violation a Class A misdemeanor), 4-88-107(a)(10) ("any other unconscionable, false, or deceptive act or practice"), 4-88-113 (Attorney General penalties "not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation"; private action for "actual financial loss"; "A court may award reasonable attorney's fees"), 4-88-115 (five years), 4-88-202 (additional penalty up to $10,000 for violations against an elder person or a person with a disability). law.justia.com and 4-88-202, 2025 Arkansas Code, read November 3, 2026.
8. Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, "Arkansas Residential Contractors Licensing Law: Statutes and Rules of the Residential Contractors Committee" (revised April 2026): Arkansas Code 17-25-502 ("Home improvement contractor" covers the "repair, modification, improvement ... to any preexisting single family residence"; one to four units), 17-25-505 (license required; Class A misdemeanor each day), 17-25-508 ("only in the name under which they are licensed"), 17-25-510 ($100 to $400 a day; revocation for "misconduct in the contractor's business"), 17-25-513 (the $2,000 exemption and the no-splitting rule; licensees of other Arkansas boards "performing work within the scope of the license held"), 17-25-514 (workers' compensation), 17-25-515 (no action on the contract or "For quantum meruit"), 17-25-601 to 17-25-611 (roofing registration; revocation for "Abandoning a roofing contract without legal grounds after a consideration in payment has been tendered" and "Mishandling funds"), 17 CAR 295-110 and 295-111 (license classes; no electrical, plumbing or HVAC class), 17 CAR 295-115 (job-site sign, letters at least three inches high). labor.arkansas.gov; statutes also on law.justia.com. Read November 3, 2026.
9. Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board, "Apply for Contractors License/Registration" - "A home improvement license is needed to do specialty work on a single-family residence, if the project is more than $2,000 ... (painting, windows, flooring, etc.)"; remodeler's license for "major structural changes"; "A Residential Roofer Registration is need to perform 'Roofing, Roof Decks, Roofing Sheet Metal' projects more than $2,000." labor.arkansas.gov, read November 3, 2026.
10. Arkansas Code 17-25-101 and 17-25-103 (license from the Contractors Licensing Board for work of $50,000 or more, single-family residences excluded). law.justia.com, 2025 Arkansas Code, read November 3, 2026.
11. Arkansas Code chapter 17-28, Electricians: 17-28-101 (definitions, including "master electrician" and "residential master electrician"), 17-28-102(d) ("Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as repealing, modifying, or affecting in any way the provisions of § 17-25-101 et seq."), 17-28-304 (no electrical work without a license), 17-28-309 (civil penalty up to $1,000 a day); subchapters 1 to 3 contain no section on contracts, deposits or license numbers on bids. law.justia.com, 2025 Arkansas Code, read November 3, 2026.
12. Arkansas Attorney General, "Home Improvements" - contract checklist for homeowners; "Beware of those demanding a full payment before work is finished"; license checks at (501) 372-4661. arkansasag.gov, read November 3, 2026.
13. Arkansas Code 5-36-103(a)(2), theft of property: knowingly obtaining "the property of another person by deception or by threat with the purpose of depriving the owner of the property." law.justia.com, 2025 Arkansas Code, read November 3, 2026.
14. Arkansas Code 16-56-111 ("Actions to enforce written obligations, duties, or rights ... shall be commenced within five (5) years"; partial payment or written acknowledgment tolls) and 16-56-105 (three years for contracts "not in writing"). law.justia.com, 2025 Arkansas Code, read November 3, 2026.
15. r/Contractor thread: "just googling a contract and hoping for the best won't get one that's written specifically for the state he works in." reddit.com.
16. r/GeneralContractor thread: "are you allowed legally to charge that much deposit?" reddit.com.