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

Published November 3, 2026 · Iowa 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 Iowa attorney read the template before you use it.

Iowa has no law that says a home improvement contract must be in writing, and no cap on the deposit you can take. Three other laws put the contract on paper anyway. Sign a job at the customer's home and you owe them a written contract with a 3-day cancellation notice. Work on a house or duplex and you need a written lien notice to keep your lien rights. Repair storm or fire damage and the owner signs an insurance notice along with the contract. The deposit is whatever the two of you agree, but a customer who cancels inside the three days gets every dollar back within 10 business days.

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 Iowa's state-specific part is short. Each piece of it still costs real money when it's missing: a void contract, a lost lien, a consumer fraud claim. I read the Iowa Code chapters on contractor registration, door-to-door sales, mechanic's liens, storm repairs, insurance assignments and consumer fraud, plus the federal cooling-off rule, on November 3, 2026. Every rule below links to the statute 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?

Iowa's contract rules follow the job, not the trade. Your license type doesn't switch any of them off. Here's who each one reaches.

By trade

Remodelers, home improvement and general contractors (most of the newly registered Iowa contractors we email): all of it. You price jobs at the kitchen table, you work on houses, and you buy materials for the job, so the cancellation notice and the lien notice go in every residential contract you write.

Roofers: everything above, plus 103A.71 on every roof. The law defines a residential contractor as "a person in the business of contracting to repair or replace residential roof systems" or doing other exterior work after a catastrophe.⁶ So the bans on rebating a deductible and on negotiating the owner's insurance claim cover you on every roof job, storm or not. The signed notice is for catastrophe repairs.

Electricians, plumbers and HVAC contractors: Iowa licenses you under its own chapters (103 for electrical, 105 for plumbing and mechanical), and neither one says a word about contracts or deposits. The same rules apply to you as to everyone else. Two things change in practice. The lien law counts you as a general contractor when the homeowner hires you directly, so a furnace or panel replacement needs the notice of commencement within 10 days if you want lien rights. And plumbing, HVAC and mechanical contractors must list their license number on every written advertisement;¹³ I'd put it on the contract too.

Painters, flooring, fencing, landscaping and the other specialty trades: same rules. The lien law names "grading, sodding, installing nursery stock, landscaping, sidewalk building, fencing" among the work that earns a lien,³ so landscapers and fence builders have lien rights worth protecting.

Landlords and commercial customers: the cancellation rule covers purchases made "primarily for personal, family, or household purposes,"¹ so a landlord buying work on a rental is probably outside it. The residential lien notices stop at two-family homes. On larger buildings and commercial jobs you only file the lien itself.⁵

What your Iowa contract must include

With no general contract statute, the required items come from three laws. Here they are in the statutes' own words, with the wording I put in the template.

Signed at the customer's home: the cancellation statement and two notice forms

Iowa's door-to-door sales law covers a sale of $25 or more "in which the seller or the seller's representative personally solicits the sale, including those in response to or following an invitation by the buyer," agreed anywhere other than your place of business.¹ That's nearly every residential job you price at the house. The contract (or a receipt, if you don't use a contract) must:

• be in the same language you used to sell the job, and show the date and your name and address;
• carry this statement in bold type of at least 10 points, 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.";
• come with two filled-in copies of a form captioned "Notice of Cancellation," attached and "easily detachable," in Iowa's wording, with your name, your business address, the date and the cancel-by date filled in;
• leave out any waiver of the right to cancel and any confession of judgment.

You also have to tell the customer about the right out loud when they sign, and hand over a completed copy of the contract on the spot.¹ The template puts the statement inside the Owner's signature box and has both forms in Appendix A.

On a house or duplex: the mechanics lien notice (MNLR)

Iowa runs liens through an online registry at the Secretary of State, the mechanics' notice and lien registry (MNLR). If you have contracted or will contract with a subcontractor on a single-family or two-family home, Iowa Code 572.13 says you "shall provide the owner with the following owner notice in writing in boldface type of a minimum size of ten points":³

"Persons or companies furnishing labor or materials for the improvement of real property may enforce a lien upon the improved property if they are not paid for their contributions, even if the parties have no direct contractual relationship with the owner. The mechanics' notice and lien registry provides a listing of all persons or companies furnishing labor or materials who have posted a lien or who may post a lien upon the improved property."

The notice must also give the registry's web address and toll-free number. The Secretary of State lists them as sos.iowa.gov/MNLR and 1-888-767-8683, and says the language can go "in either the construction contract or a separate written notice."⁵ Leave it out and you are "not entitled to a lien."³

The lien law's definition of a subcontractor is wide. It "includes every person furnishing material or performing labor upon any building ... except those having contracts directly with the owner."³ On my reading that takes in the supply house that sells you the materials for the job, so I put the notice in every residential contract. It's one paragraph.

The second half happens after signing: within 10 days of starting, post a notice of commencement of work on the registry ($7 online). The registry's rule is blunt: a general contractor for residential construction "shall post a notice of commencement of work to the MNLR within ten days of commencement of work, or the general contractor is not entitled to a lien."⁴ It asks for the owner's name and address, the property's legal description and tax parcel number, and the start date, so page 1 of the template collects them. Sample wording, from Section 6.2: "We will post a notice of commencement of work to the mechanics' notice and lien registry within 10 days after work starts."

Storm, hail, wind or fire repairs: the Notice of Contract Obligations and Rights

When you repair damage from "fire, earthquake, tornado, windstorm, flood, or hail storm" or another natural occurrence on a home for one to four families, Iowa Code 103A.71 requires "a fully completed duplicate notice in at least ten-point bold type" containing a set statement, signed by the owner "prior to or contemporaneously with entering into the contract."⁶ The statement tells the owner they may owe you whether or not insurance pays, and that the contract is void if you rebate their deductible or negotiate their claim. Appendix B of the template has the full text twice (one copy signed, one for the owner); fill in your company name where the statute says "(insert name of residential contractor)."

Section 10 of the template backs the notice with plain promises. Sample wording: "We will not rebate, waive or discount any part of your insurance deductible" and "We do not represent you or negotiate with your insurance company on your claim."

What else belongs in the contract

Nothing else is required by statute. The Iowa Attorney General tells homeowners what to look for, though, and a contract that matches the list gets signed faster: "The contract should list the work, materials, price, start and completion dates, cleanup, permits, inspections, and change-order process."¹² Your registration number isn't required on the contract either (the registration rules don't mention contracts),¹⁴ but put it on page 1; it's the first thing a careful homeowner looks up. The template adds a payment schedule, written change orders, a hidden-conditions clause, insurance, a workmanship warranty and lien waivers on request.

How much deposit can a contractor take in Iowa?

As much as the customer agrees to. Iowa sets no cap. I read the registration chapter, the door-to-door sales law, the lien law, the storm-repair section, the insurance assignment law, the consumer fraud and theft chapters, and the registration rules, and 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 Iowa the legal answer is yes. Two rules still shape it:

• Cancellation refunds. If the job was sold at the home and the customer cancels within three business days, you must "refund all payments made under the contract or sale" within 10 business days of getting the notice.¹ Treat the deposit as theirs until the three days pass, and don't order special-order materials before then. Section 2.4 of the template says so.
• Insurance assignments. If a roofer takes an assignment of the owner's insurance benefits and the owner cancels it, all "payments, partial payments, or deposits" go back within 10 business days.⁷

There's no Iowa crime written for contractors who take a deposit and never start. The general theft law covers it: theft includes obtaining "the property of another ... by deception."¹⁰ A false promise in a sale is also an unlawful practice under the consumer fraud act.¹⁰

How to set the payment schedule

With no legal cap, the limit is what a homeowner will sign. The Attorney General's page lists "Large Upfront Payment" as a red flag: "Requests for most or all of the money before work begins can create serious risk."¹² So I'd size the deposit to the special-order materials plus a little to hold the date, and tie each later payment to something the owner can see: materials delivered, rough-in inspection passed, the final walk-through. That's how the table in Section 4 of the template is laid out, 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: Iowa's 3-day rule and the FTC rule

Two laws give the customer three business days to cancel a sale made at their home. Both apply at once, and where they differ Iowa's is the stricter one.

The difference that bites is Saturday. Sign on a Thursday and the federal three days end at midnight Monday; Iowa's end at midnight Tuesday, because Iowa skips the Saturday.^1,2 Put Iowa's date on the form. The FTC rule leaves state laws in force unless they give the buyer less than it does.² Iowa's notice form matches the federal one except for one paragraph about returning goods, where Iowa's version is kinder to the buyer, so the template uses Iowa's wording.

When the 3-day rule doesn't apply

• The customer signs at your shop or office.
• The deal is done entirely by phone or mail, with no other contact before you do the work.
• The customer called you for a real emergency and hands you a dated, signed statement in their own handwriting that describes it and waives the right to cancel. A preprinted waiver doesn't count.
• The customer asked you to come and repair or maintain their personal property. Anything extra you sell on that visit, beyond the parts the repair needs, is covered again.¹ Whether a furnace or a water heater counts as personal property isn't spelled out, so I'd give the notice on any replacement sold 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 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 notice.

Other notices and paperwork

The lien deadline: 90 days

If you're not paid, post your lien on the registry within 90 days after your last day of work. You can post it up to two years and 90 days later, but past 90 days you also have to serve written notice on the owner, and the lien reaches only what the owner still owed at that point.³ Win a lien suit and the court may award your attorney fees. File a lien in bad faith on a home and the owner gets theirs plus at least $500 or the amount of the lien, whichever is less.³

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

Roofers and assignments of insurance benefits

Some storm roofers have the owner sign over the insurance proceeds. Iowa Code 515.137A, rewritten in 2025, sets the rules for that "post-loss assignment": an itemized description of the work, materials, labor and fees; two notices in capital letters in 14-point type; the owner's right to cancel for any reason within five business days; no fee for cancelling or for handling the insurance check; and no assignment at all for at least 72 hours after a disaster declaration. Break any of it and the assignment is void.⁷ The template doesn't assign benefits (Section 10.5 says so). If you work that way, have an attorney write the assignment form.

Registration

Registration is separate from the contract, but it's the first box on page 1. The law caps the fee at $50 a year, DIAL charges $50, and plumbing and mechanical contractors register through their joint license application.^8,9 The FAQ below covers who has to register.

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

What happens if you get it wrong

• Missing or wrong cancellation paperwork. A simple misdemeanor, and an unlawful practice under the consumer fraud act, where the Attorney General can ask for a civil penalty of up to $40,000 per violation.^1,10 If you don't hand over a copy of the contract, the contract is void and that's "a complete defense in any action based on the contract."¹ The customer can also sue you for actual damages plus their attorney fees, and up to three times the damages for "willful and wanton" violations.¹¹
• No lien notice or no notice of commencement. No lien on that job.^3,4 You can still sue for the money, but without the lien and its fee recovery.
• No storm notice, a deductible rebate, or negotiating the claim. The contract is void, and the owner has "no responsibility for payment under the contract." Rebates and claim negotiating are also unlawful practices under the consumer fraud act.⁶
• Not registered. A citation of up to $500 for a first violation and up to $5,000 after that.⁸

The Iowa contract template

It's a residential construction contract written for Iowa, with four appendices. Page 1 collects the parties, your registration and license numbers, the job address with its parcel number and legal description (for the registry), where the contract was signed, whether it's a storm job, and the 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: a payment schedule table with the deposit, progress payments tied to milestones and the final payment, the refund promise for a cancelled home sale, and lien waivers on request.
• Section 5: written change orders and hidden conditions.
• Section 6: the 572.13 lien notice in bold, with the registry address and toll-free number, and your promise to post the notice of commencement.
• Sections 7 to 14: subcontractors, registration and insurance, a workmanship warranty, the storm-repair terms, owner duties, ending the contract, disputes and general terms.
• Signatures, with the cancellation statement inside the Owner's box and initials for the copies handed over.
• Appendix A: two detachable Notices of Cancellation in Iowa's wording. Appendix B: the 103A.71 notice and its duplicate. Appendix C: a change order form. Appendix D: 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 Iowa 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 Iowa 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 Iowa law, though. The terms text alone won't add the notices or the detachable cancellation forms, and Deepsel collects the card deposit the moment the customer approves, so on a job sold at the home that money is still refundable for three business days. 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

Do you have to have a contractor's license in Iowa?

Iowa has no general contractor license. What it has is registration: anyone who earns $2,000 a year or more from construction registers with the Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL), and the fee is $50. Trades are licensed on top of that. Electricians need a state electrical license, and an electrical contractor must also be registered. Plumbing, HVAC, refrigeration, sheet metal and hydronic contractors get their license from the Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board through a joint application that covers the registration too.

Does a handyman need a license in Iowa?

Not a license, but a registration once you earn $2,000 a year or more from construction work. Below that, or if you only work on your own property, the registration law says you are not a contractor. A self-employed handyman who pays no more than $2,000 a year to employ others and doesn't work with or for other contractors in the same phases of construction is exempt from the fee, though the law still treats them as a contractor who registers. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC work needs the trade license no matter how small the job.

What qualifies you as a general contractor in Iowa?

It depends on the law. Iowa's lien law says a general contractor 'includes every person who does work or furnishes materials by contract, express or implied, with an owner.' So an electrician, roofer or HVAC company hired directly by the homeowner is a general contractor for lien purposes, and has to give the lien notice and post the notice of commencement within 10 days to keep lien rights. The registration law doesn't separate general contractors from subcontractors: both register.

How much deposit can a contractor ask for in Iowa?

Iowa sets no limit on a residential deposit and has no rule on how it must be held. The limits are practical. If the job was sold at the customer's home, they can cancel within three business days and you must refund every payment within 10 business days. And the Iowa Attorney General tells homeowners that a request for most or all of the money before work begins is a red flag. Size the deposit to the special-order materials and tie the other payments to work the owner can see.

Is there a 3-day right to cancel a contractor contract in Iowa?

Yes, when the sale is $25 or more and the customer agrees to it anywhere other than your place of business, including at their home after they invited you over. Iowa's door-to-door sales law and the FTC Cooling-Off Rule both apply. Iowa counts business days without Saturdays, so its deadline can run a day later than the federal one; use Iowa's date. Contracts signed at your office, deals done entirely by phone or mail, and real emergencies with a handwritten waiver from the customer are outside the rule.

Is there a Google Docs, Word or PDF version?

All three, and all of them free. The Google Docs link makes a copy in your own Drive, the .docx opens in Word, and the PDF prints as is. The bold notices, the two detachable cancellation forms and the change order form carry over in every format.

Sources

1. Iowa Code chapter 555A, Door-to-Door Sales: 555A.1 ("'Business day' means any calendar day except Saturday, Sunday, or public holiday"; door-to-door sale of $25 or more "including those in response to or following an invitation by the buyer"; the six exclusions, including the handwritten emergency waiver and buyer-requested repairs of "the buyer's personal property"; "primarily for personal, family, or household purposes"), 555A.2 (the statement near the signature, 10-point bold), 555A.3 (the Notice of Cancellation, "easily detachable"), 555A.4 (oral notice, no waiver, refund "within ten business days"), 555A.5 ("failure to provide a copy of the contract ... shall void any contract ... and shall constitute a complete defense"), 555A.6 (simple misdemeanor; violation of 714.16). legis.iowa.gov, Iowa Code 2026, read November 3, 2026.
2. 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; a business day is "any calendar day except Sunday or any federal holiday"), 429.1 (statement, Notice of Cancellation in duplicate, oral notice, 10-business-day refund), 429.2(b) (state laws stand unless they give the buyer less). ecfr.gov, read November 3, 2026.
3. Iowa Code chapter 572, Mechanic's Lien: 572.1 (definitions of "general contractor", "residential construction" and "subcontractor"), 572.2 (persons entitled to a lien, including "grading, sodding, installing nursery stock, landscaping, sidewalk building, fencing"), 572.9 to 572.11 (two years and 90 days; after 90 days, notice to the owner and limited to the balance due), 572.13 (owner notice, 10-point bold, registry address and toll-free number; "not entitled to a lien"), 572.13A (notice of commencement within 10 days), 572.32 (attorney fees; bad-faith liens). legis.iowa.gov, Iowa Code 2026, read November 3, 2026.
4. Iowa Administrative Code chapter 721-45, Mechanics' Notice and Lien Registry: 45.4(1) ("A general contractor for residential construction shall post a notice of commencement of work to the MNLR within ten days of commencement of work, or the general contractor is not entitled to a lien"), 45.4(2) (contents), 45.13(1) ($7 online, $10 on paper). legis.iowa.gov, read November 3, 2026.
5. Iowa Secretary of State, "Mechanics Liens": the notice goes "in either the construction contract or a separate written notice ... in a minimum font size of ten points"; "MNLR Internet Web site address (sos.iowa.gov/MNLR) and MNLR toll-free telephone number (1-888-767-8683)"; "Commercial construction projects file only a lien." sos.iowa.gov, read November 3, 2026.
6. Iowa Code 103A.71, Residential contractors: definitions of "catastrophe", "residential contractor" and "residential real estate" (one to four families); no deductible rebates (subsection 2); no representing or negotiating insurance claims (subsection 3); the Notice of Contract Obligations and Rights, "a fully completed duplicate notice in at least ten-point bold type" (subsection 4); contract void on a violation (subsection 5); unlawful practice under 714.16 (subsection 6). legis.iowa.gov, Iowa Code 2026, read November 3, 2026.
7. Iowa Code 515.137A, Post-loss assignment of rights or benefits to a residential contractor ("Insured Homeowner's Protection Act"), as amended by 2025 Iowa Acts chapters 28 and 159: required contents and 14-point capitalized notices, five-business-day cancellation, refund of "all payments, partial payments, or deposits" within ten business days, 72-hour bar after a catastrophic disaster, void on a violation. legis.iowa.gov, Iowa Code 2026, read November 3, 2026.
8. Iowa Code chapter 91C, Construction Contractors: 91C.1 ($2,000 threshold; fee exemption for small self-employed contractors; chapter 105 licensees register through the combined application), 91C.2 (registration required), 91C.4 (fee "shall not exceed fifty dollars per year"), 91C.8 (penalties up to $500, then $5,000). legis.iowa.gov, Iowa Code 2026, read November 3, 2026.
9. Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, "Contractor Registration": "$50 application fee"; "Carpenters, electricians, plumbers, roofers, painters and many others must register"; plumbing, mechanical and HVAC contractors use the joint application with the Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board. dial.iowa.gov, read November 3, 2026.
10. Iowa Code 714.1(3) (theft includes obtaining "the property of another ... by deception") and 714.16 (consumer frauds: "false promise" is an unlawful practice; civil penalty "not to exceed forty thousand dollars per violation"). legis.iowa.gov, Iowa Code 2026, read November 3, 2026.
11. Iowa Code chapter 714H, Private Right of Action for Consumer Frauds: 714H.3(2)(f) (violating chapter 555A), 714H.5 (actual damages, costs and attorney fees; up to three times actual damages for "willful and wanton disregard"; two-year limit). legis.iowa.gov, Iowa Code 2026, read November 3, 2026.
12. Iowa Attorney General, "Home Improvement & Contractor Tips": "The contract should list the work, materials, price, start and completion dates, cleanup, permits, inspections, and change-order process"; "Requests for most or all of the money before work begins can create serious risk." iowaattorneygeneral.gov, read November 3, 2026.
13. Iowa Code 105.25(2) ("All written advertisements ... by a person who is engaged in the business of designing, installing, or repairing plumbing, HVAC, refrigeration, sheet metal, or hydronic systems shall include the listing of the contractor license number") and 103.9(1) (an electrical contractor must "be registered with the state of Iowa as a contractor pursuant to chapter 91C"). Chapter 105 and chapter 103, legis.iowa.gov, Iowa Code 2026, read November 3, 2026.
14. Iowa Administrative Code chapter 481-465, Construction Contractor Registration (formerly 875-150): scope, definitions, application and registration number rules; nothing on contract contents. legis.iowa.gov, 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.