To check a Connecticut home improvement contractor, search the state’s eLicense lookup by name or registration number and confirm the Home Improvement Contractor (HIC) registration reads Active. The Department of Consumer Protection says contractors must be registered before advertising or beginning home improvement work, and that registration is what gives you access to the state’s Home Improvement Guaranty Fund if a job goes wrong.
The date on the record matters. In the state’s State Licenses and Credentials data (refreshed October 22, 2026), 24,065 HIC registrations were active and all but eight expire on March 31, 2027. By our count, 14.7% of them were first issued in the past 12 months, and about one in seven registrations that came up for renewal on March 31, 2026 went inactive because it was not renewed.
At a glance: the HIC registration rules from DCP and what the state data showed in October 2026.
| Item | Connecticut HIC registration |
|---|---|
| Issued by | Department of Consumer Protection (registration, no trade exam) |
| Fee and term | $220 new and at each yearly renewal; every registration expires March 31 |
| Active registrations | 24,065 (24,057 expire March 31, 2027) |
| Guaranty Fund | Up to $25,000 per claim on an unpaid court judgment; apply within two years of the judgment |
| Lapsed at the March 2026 renewal | About 14.5% of those up for renewal (our estimate) |
| First issued in the past 12 months | 14.7% |
| Flagged “returned by post office” | 0.8% (194) |
How to check a Connecticut contractor in eLicense
- Open the eLicense license lookup and search by the registration number on the bid, or by business name. HIC numbers start with “HIC.”
- Confirm the credential type is Home Improvement Contractor and the status is Active.
- Check the expiration date. Registrations expire every March 31, so a job that runs past that date should still show an active registration after renewal.
- Match the business name and type to your contract. An HIC registration held by an individual is a separate credential from one held by that person’s LLC.
- For new house construction, look for a New Home Construction Contractor (NHC) registration instead; that is a separate credential.
- If a salesperson signs you up, check that person too. Connecticut registers home improvement salespersons as a separate credential.
DCP’s consumer page says any home improvement worker you hire should be actively registered and links to the same lookup.
What an HIC registration covers, and what it leaves to you
- Fee and term: DCP’s application page lists a $220 fee for a new registration and the same amount each year at renewal. Registrations expire annually on March 31; the date moved from November 30 under Public Act 21-137.
- No trade exam: HIC is a registration, not a skills license. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC work also need a state trade license, which shows up in the same lookup under its own credential type.
- Guaranty Fund: part of each contractor’s fee ($100 a year) goes to the Home Improvement Guaranty Fund, which can pay homeowners up to $25,000 per claim on an unpaid court judgment, according to the legislature’s 2023 OLR report. The limit rose from $15,000 on July 1, 2022.
- Insurance: DCP’s contractor guide says new home construction registrants must carry liability insurance. For a remodel, ask the contractor for a certificate of insurance and check its dates against your schedule.
What 24,065 active Connecticut HIC registrations show
We downloaded every Home Improvement Contractor record from the state’s open data on October 24, 2026 and counted the 24,065 with an Active status. These are our calculations; the state data shows registration status, not complaints or work quality.
- One renewal date for everyone: 24,057 of the 24,065 active registrations expire March 31, 2027. A registration that is active today but ends before your job does needs to be renewed before then.
- About 1 in 7 lapsed at the last renewal: 3,616 registrations that expired March 31, 2026 are now inactive as not renewed, compared with 21,377 active registrations first issued before March 2026. That is roughly 14.5% of the registrations up for renewal, by our estimate.
- Many are new: 3,544 active registrations (14.7%) were first issued in the past 12 months, and about half (49.4%) were first issued in 2021 or later. 1,689 (7.0%) carry a first issue date of 1999 or earlier.
- Mostly companies: 66.4% are held by LLCs, 22.4% by individuals and 10.7% by corporations.
- Out-of-state addresses: 9.9% list an address outside Connecticut, led by New York (1,186), Massachusetts (528) and Rhode Island (229).
- Mail returned: 194 active registrations (0.8%) are flagged “registration returned by post office,” which means the state could not reach the address on file. Ask for a current address before you sign.
- Suspensions are rare: 93 HIC registrations were suspended. The data gives a reason for 43: bad check (27) and Guaranty Fund delinquency (16).
For comparison, the same data lists 3,016 active New Home Construction Contractor registrations and 3,451 active home improvement salespersons.
If a job goes wrong: the Home Improvement Guaranty Fund
- Get a court judgment (or order) against the registered contractor for your loss.
- If the contractor does not pay it, apply to DCP within two years of the judgment, as the Guaranty Fund page explains.
- The fund can cover actual damages, court costs and attorney fees ordered in the judgment, up to $25,000. Attorney fees count only if the judgment includes them.
- The fund covers home improvement work by registered contractors. New home construction has its own guaranty fund and application.
The fund pays out regularly but not in large numbers. Over the five fiscal years in the OLR report, it paid 587 restitutions totaling $5.08 million, an average of $8,652 each.
Checklist before you sign with a Connecticut contractor
- HIC registration Active in eLicense, in the same business name that is on your contract.
- Expiration date (March 31) compared with your project end date.
- No “returned by post office” flag, and a current mailing address.
- A trade license for electrical, plumbing or HVAC work, if the job includes it.
- A certificate of insurance with dates that cover your job.
- A written contract, and the building permit pulled with your town before work starts.
For other states, see our contractor license lookup guide and our analysis of Oregon CCB licenses. For the permit side in Connecticut, our New Haven permit records guide shows how one city’s records work.
Counts are our calculations from the State Licenses and Credentials data on data.ct.gov (records refreshed October 22, 2026, downloaded October 24, 2026). The renewal figure compares two groups in the current data and is an estimate. DCP and OLR pages checked October 24, 2026.