Berks Connect
For Business Owners

Berks County Contractor Estimate Template, PA Law Built In

A copyable estimate-and-contract template for Berks County contractors built around the elements Pennsylvania's Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act requires, plus the deposit cap, change-order rule, sales tax treatment and six local permit lines.

Berks Connect Blog|Published September 3, 2026
Image for Berks County Contractor Estimate Template, PA Law Built In

This is the estimate we wish every Berks County contractor handed over: one sheet built around what Pennsylvania law asks for, so the paper you leave on a kitchen table in Exeter closes the job instead of raising questions. It is written for the tradesperson who prices work after dinner, truck still ticking in the driveway.

Here is what is on this page. And if your business is not on BerksConnect yet, claim or add your free business page so the name at the top of your estimate has somewhere public to point.

  • The copyable estimate-and-contract template, one block per required element.
  • The thirteen elements the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act puts on the paper.
  • The deposit cap and the criminal grades behind it.
  • Change orders, with a short form.
  • The sales tax line, and why it is not its own item.
  • Permit lines at six Berks offices, with the date checked.
  • The six checks your customer has been told to run on your estimate.

What Pennsylvania requires on the paper.

The law is the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (HICPA), Act 132 of 2008, in force since July 1, 2009. It covers work at a private residence where the agreed total cash price is more than $500. The Attorney General's contractor FAQ says a contract over that line must be in writing and signed by both of you.

The number goes on the estimate, not only the contract. Section 517.6 requires your registration number on:

  • advertisements distributed in Pennsylvania;
  • contracts;
  • estimates;
  • proposals.

Call it a registration number, not a license number: the Department of Labor and Industry says the Commonwealth has no licensure requirement for most construction contractors.

Section 517.7(a) says no home improvement contract is valid or enforceable against an owner unless it has all thirteen of these:

  1. In writing, legible, with the performing contractor's registration number.
  2. Signed by the owner (or the owner's agent) and by the contractor or a salesperson for the contractor.
  3. The entire agreement, with copies of all required notices attached.
  4. The date of the transaction.
  5. Your name, address and telephone number; a post office box alone is not an address.
  6. An approximate start date and completion date.
  7. The work, the materials and specifications that cannot change without a written change order signed by both of you.
  8. The total sales price, or a time-and-materials provision meeting the terms added in 2014.
  9. The down payment and any amount advanced for special order materials, listed separately.
  10. Name, street address and phone of every subcontractor known at signing.
  11. Liability insurance of at least $50,000 for personal injury and $50,000 for property damage from your work, plus the coverage held at signing.
  12. The Bureau of Consumer Protection toll-free number, 1-888-520-6680.
  13. A notice of the owner's right of rescission.

You also hand the owner a completed copy, with all notices, at signing and at no charge (517.7(c)). The Attorney General's brochure adds that a contract missing required information is not enforceable against the consumer.

The template.

Have a Pennsylvania attorney read this before you use it; it is a starting point, not legal advice. Each numbered block answers one item on the list above, and the bracketed parts are yours to fill, all of them.

[BUSINESS NAME AS REGISTERED]
[Street address, municipality, PA ZIP]   (a P.O. box alone does not count)
[Phone]
Pennsylvania Home Improvement Contractor Registration Number: PA[______]

ESTIMATE AND HOME IMPROVEMENT CONTRACT

Date of this agreement: [__/__/____]
Owner: [Owner name]
Job address: [Street address, municipality, PA ZIP]

1. DESCRIPTION OF WORK
[What is removed, what is built or installed, where, and how.]

2. MATERIALS AND SPECIFICATIONS
[Each material by brand, product, color, grade and quantity. Attach drawings or a
materials list.]
These specifications cannot be changed without a written change order signed by
the Owner and the Contractor.

3. SCHEDULE
Approximate start date: [__/__/____]
Approximate completion date: [__/__/____]

4. PRICE
Total sales price for the work described above: $[________]

5. PAYMENTS
Down payment: $[________]
Amount advanced for special order materials (listed separately): $[________]
Special order materials covered by that amount: [item, supplier, cost]
Balance: [progress payments as work proceeds, then final payment on completion]

6. CHANGE ORDERS
Changes to the work, materials or specifications above require a written change
order, dated, stating the price change for each item, signed by both the Owner
and the Contractor before the changed work begins.

7. SUBCONTRACTORS
Known at signing (name, street address, telephone): [______]   [or: None known]

8. INSURANCE
Contractor maintains liability insurance covering personal injury of not less
than $50,000 and property damage caused by the Contractor's work of not less than
$50,000. Current coverage at signing: personal injury $[______]; property damage
$[______]. Carrier: [______]. Certificate of insurance attached.

9. PERMITS
[Contractor / Owner] applies for the required permit from [municipality]. Permit
fees of $[______] are included in the total price above.

10. REGISTRATION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
The official registration number of [BUSINESS NAME] can be obtained from the
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General's Bureau of Consumer Protection by calling
toll-free within Pennsylvania 1-888-520-6680. Registration does not imply
endorsement.

11. NOTICE OF RIGHT OF RESCISSION
The Owner may rescind this contract without penalty within three business days
of signing, regardless of where it was signed. [Attach the Section 201-7 notice
of cancellation from the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, as
written in the law.]

12. ENTIRE AGREEMENT
This document, with its attached notices, drawings and materials list, is the
entire agreement between the Owner and the Contractor.

13. SIGNATURES
Owner: ______________________________   Date: ____________
Contractor (or salesperson for Contractor): ______________________________   Date: ____________

The Owner receives a completed copy, with all notices attached, at signing, at
no charge.

Clauses that let the owner void the contract.

Section 517.7(e) makes the contract voidable by the owner if it carries any of these. None appear in the template:

  • a hold harmless clause;
  • a waiver of federal, state or local health, life, safety or building code requirements;
  • a confession of judgment clause;
  • a waiver of the owner's right to a jury trial;
  • an assignment or order for payment of wages or other compensation;
  • a promise by the owner not to assert any claim or defense arising out of the contract;
  • a provision awarding the contractor attorney fees and costs;
  • relief of the contractor from liability for acts in collecting payments or repossessing goods;
  • a waiver of any right under the act;
  • automatic or recurring renewal of any provision, outside narrow statutory exceptions.

Deposits and payments.

Two rules in Section 517.9 govern the money line. No payment may be demanded or received before the contract is signed (517.9(9)). And on a contract with a total price over $5,000, the deposit is capped (517.9(10)) at:

  • one-third of the home improvement contract price; or
  • one-third of the price plus the cost of special order materials that will be ordered, as designated in the written contract.

Special order material is defined narrowly in Section 2: not a stock item, ordered from the factory or distributor for this contract, not returnable, of no use on another job. A custom-sized window qualifies. Stock from the supply yard does not.

The balance is yours to schedule: the Attorney General's FAQ says the law does not address it and suggests progress payments with a final payment on completion. Write the schedule into block 5.

Section 517.8 makes home improvement fraud a crime when done with intent to defraud or injure, or knowing one is being facilitated. Three of its offenses live on the estimate:

  • taking an advance payment, then neither performing by the contract date nor returning it (517.8(a)(2));
  • misrepresenting an item as special order material, or its cost (517.8(a)(6));
  • a false or misleading statement to justify a price increase (517.8(a)(1)).

The grades, from 517.8(c):

  • a felony of the third degree when the amount involved exceeds $2,000;
  • a misdemeanor of the first degree at $2,000 or less, or when the amount cannot be ascertained;
  • a felony of the second degree for a second or subsequent offense after a first conviction, regardless of amount;
  • one grade higher when the victim is 60 years of age or older.

Change orders.

Section 517.9(6) is the operative rule. You may not deviate from the plans or specifications in any material respect without a written change order that is dated, signed by both you and the owner, and states the price change for each deviation.

So the change order is not a text message. It is a dated sheet, priced line by line and signed twice, before the changed work starts:

CHANGE ORDER No. [__]  to the contract dated [__/__/____] for [job address]
Change: [what is added, removed or substituted]     Price change: [+ / -] $[______]     New total: $[______]
Owner: ____________________  Date: ________     Contractor: ____________________  Date: ________

The sales tax line.

Pennsylvania treats you as the consumer of the materials you install. Under 61 Pa. Code 31.12, a contractor pays sales tax to the supplier on all property furnished and installed in construction activities, and the regulation's own example has the contractor charging the customer no sales tax.

You may include the tax you paid in your bid proposal, but not as a separately stated item. Roll it into the material cost.

A construction-only contractor needs no sales tax license. The exception is anything that stays personal property once installed. Section 31.11 presumes these are sales, not construction:

  • window air conditioners;
  • appliances that are not built in, such as ranges, refrigerators, washers and dryers;
  • above-ground swimming pools.

Sell and install those and 31.12 deems you a vendor: you need a sales tax license, and you collect tax on the full price, labor and delivery included. The Business One-Stop Hub guide (revised April 10, 2026) says the license comes through myPATH at no fee.

The Berks permit lines your customer will ask about.

Section 12 of the act lets a municipality require building permits and charge a reasonable fee, so the line can change at a township boundary. Six Berks offices, checked September 2, 2026. Our roof replacement cost post shows how these land on a reroof.

Office Residential permit fee (checked September 2, 2026) Who applies
City of Reading, Building and Trades Division, (610) 655-6284 Per the city's permit cost estimator: $50 to $250; $70 to $500; $150 to $1,000; then $20 per $1,000 or fraction plus $130; plus $4.50 state fee. Owner/representative or contractor; a contractor enters city trades license and business privilege license numbers.
Exeter Township, (610) 779-5660 Reroofing over 25 percent (UCC): $250, plus $15 issuance, plus $4.50 state fee; the three lines on the 2026 application add to $269.50. Owner, or an agent with the owner's written authorization; a contractor brings proof of workers' compensation insurance.
West Reading Borough, Code Enforcement Under $5,000: $150 plus $4.50 state fee. $5,001 to $50,000: 3 percent per $1,000 or fraction, plus $50 administration and $4.50. Homeowner or contractor; a contractor files a certificate of insurance before issuance.
Muhlenberg Township, (610) 929-4727 Residential repairs and alterations: $50 plus $10 per $1,000 of cost or fraction (2026 schedule). Owner/representative and contractor both sign; the form asks for a contractor license number and a certificate of insurance.
Wyomissing Borough, Kraft Municipal Group, (610) 777-1311 Resolution 2026-19: $84 per required inspection, count set at plan review; rough and final groups $200 each; $4.50 state fee; $50 certificate of occupancy; $100 deposit at application. Owner, lessee, an agent of either, or the design professional; no online submissions.
Spring Township No residential building permit for replacing shingles, siding, painting or same-size windows and doors; a roof over a deck or porch still needs one. Owner or authorized agent; in person, by mail or by fax.

Every one of these offices takes the application from the owner or an authorized agent, so you can be the applicant under your business name (block 9).

What your customer has been told to check.

The homeowner across the table may be reading our guide to verifying a contractor license in Berks County. It gives them six checks to run while your estimate sits there; each has a block that answers it.

  1. The PA registration number on the estimate, active, name and address matching. The header block, as the Attorney General's search shows it.
  2. A certificate of insurance naming the general liability and workers' compensation carriers. Block 8 states the coverage and attaches the certificate.
  3. The written contract test: over $500, the work, dates, total price and cancellation notice; over $5,000, a deposit within the cap. Blocks 1 through 5 and block 11.
  4. The permit, and who pulls it, in the contractor's own name. Block 9.
  5. The court search on the business name and the owner's name. No block answers a docket search, but your header should carry the exact registered name they will type.
  6. References and a second bid: two or three written proposals for the same job. Blocks 1 and 2, materials named by brand and grade, make yours the one that compares line for line.

That last check is where the estimate earns its keep.

One reviewer of KMB Homes put it plainly: "They quoted a price and that is what I paid. No surprises!"

Your BerksConnect page is the public place a homeowner checks the header of your estimate against. Claim or add your free business page on BerksConnect, then make sure the page and the paper match to the letter.

Frequently asked questions.

Does an estimate need my registration number?

Yes. Section 517.6 requires it on estimates and proposals, not only on contracts. Print it as PA plus your number, in the form PA123456; the Attorney General says leading zeroes are optional.

How much deposit can I take?

Over $5,000, no more than one-third of the contract price, or one-third plus the cost of special order materials designated in the written contract (517.9(10)). Nothing before the contract is signed (517.9(9)).

Do I charge sales tax on a kitchen remodel?

Not on the remodel. Attached cabinets and built-in dishwashers are presumed to become a permanent part of the property, so you pay tax to your supplier and charge the customer none. A free-standing range sold alongside is a sale at retail: sales tax license, tax on the full price.

What happens if the customer cancels within three days?

They may. Section 517.7(b) allows rescission without penalty within three business days of signing, wherever it was signed; the one exception is emergency work under Section 7 of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. The Attorney General adds that a missing cancellation notice can leave the whole contract voidable after the three days.

Sources