What California Law Requires in a Window Replacement Contract

California treats a window replacement as a home improvement, and a home improvement contract is one of the most tightly specified consumer contracts in state law. That works in your favor. You do not have to judge a contractor's paperwork by feel. You can check it against a list.

This page is part of our California window guide. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute over a specific contract, talk to the Contractors State License Board or an attorney.

When the rules apply

Business and Professions Code section 7159 defines a home improvement contract as an agreement between a contractor and an owner or tenant for home improvement work, including labor, services and materials, where the total price exceeds $500. Almost every window job crosses that line.

The same section covers an agreement made with a salesperson for the sale, installation or furnishing of home improvement goods. So it does not matter whether you sign with the owner of the company at your kitchen table or with a sales representative from a national brand. The paper has to meet the same standard.

What has to be in the contract

Section 7159 requires the contract to be in writing, legible, and signed by both of you before any work starts. You are entitled to a completely filled-in copy, signed and dated by both parties, before work begins. The contract has to say so in bold type.

The required contents, in the order you will usually find them:

The description is where window contracts go wrong

The law asks for a description of the significant materials. On a window job that is the whole purchase, and "14 vinyl windows, white, Low-E" does not describe it.

A description you can hold a contractor to names the manufacturer and product line, the frame material and color, the operating style of each opening, the glass package, and the certified U-factor and SHGC for that configuration. It also says whether the installation is retrofit or full-frame, because those are different jobs. Our guide to comparing window replacement quotes covers each of those lines, and how to read an NFRC label explains the two numbers.

The energy figures matter for a legal reason as well as a practical one. Replacement windows have to meet the current energy code for your climate zone, and that is checked at permit. See what Title 24 requires of replacement windows for the numbers, and ask that the contract state the quoted product's figures rather than the words "Title 24 compliant".

The down payment limit

Section 7159.5(a)(3) says the down payment may not exceed $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract amount, whichever is less. The contract has to print that limit in capital letters under the "Downpayment" heading.

"Whichever is less" is the part people miss. Ten percent of a full-house window contract is well over $1,000, so the cap on that job is $1,000. Ten percent only becomes the limit on a contract under $10,000.

Taking more than the limit is not a paperwork slip. Under section 7159.5 it is a misdemeanor, and it is cause for discipline against the license.

Progress payments

If the contract calls for payments before the job is finished, section 7159.5 requires a schedule that states each payment in dollars and cents and ties it to work, materials or equipment. The contract has to carry this sentence in bold: "It is against the law for a contractor to collect payment for work not yet completed."

Apart from the down payment, the contractor may not request or accept a payment that exceeds the value of the work performed or the material delivered.

Window contractors feel this rule more than most trades, because custom windows are ordered weeks before anyone touches your house. The statute has no carve-out for that. A schedule that fits the law looks like a down payment within the limit, a payment when the windows are delivered, and the balance when installation is complete and the final inspection is signed off. A schedule that asks for half at signing "to place the order" does not fit it.

Lien releases on each payment

Section 7159.5(a)(6) gives you a tool to use with that schedule. After any payment, and before you make the next one, the contractor must give you on request a full and unconditional release from anyone who could file a lien for the portion of work you have paid for. You may withhold further payments until you have it. Our page on mechanics liens and window replacement explains why this matters and which form to ask for.

Your right to cancel

Most window contracts are signed at the homeowner's house, which makes them home solicitation contracts under Civil Code section 1689.5. That brings a cancellation right the contractor cannot write out of the contract.

• Three business days. Under Civil Code section 1689.6, you may cancel a home improvement contract until midnight of the third business day after you receive a signed and dated copy of a contract that complies with the law.
• Five business days if you are 65 or older. The same section extends the period to the fifth business day for a senior citizen, which section 1689.5 defines as a person 65 or older. This applies to contracts entered into on or after 1 January 2021.
• Seven business days after a declared disaster. A contract to repair or restore a home damaged by a sudden or catastrophic event covered by a state or local emergency declaration carries a seven-day right.

Section 7159 requires the contract to print the notice, titled "Three-Day Right to Cancel" or "Five-Day Right to Cancel", in bold type next to the space for your signature. You sign and date it to acknowledge it. The contract must come with a detachable "Notice of Cancellation" form in duplicate, and the first page must show the name, address and email address the notice goes to.

To cancel, send written notice to that address by mail or email. Under section 1689.6 the notice does not need any particular wording. It is effective if it shows you do not intend to be bound, and a mailed notice counts from when you put it in the mail with postage paid.

Two limits are worth knowing. The contract does not have to carry the three-day notice if it was negotiated at the contractor's place of business. And the clock starts when you receive a compliant copy, so a contractor who never gives you one has not started it.

The notices that must be printed

Section 7159(e) requires a set of notices. If a contract is missing them, the contractor is either using a form that predates the law or does not know the law.

• Commercial general liability insurance. A statement of whether the contractor carries it. State law does not require every contractor to carry general liability, which is exactly why you are told.
• Workers' compensation insurance. A statement that the contractor either has no employees or covers all of them.
• Mechanics Lien Warning. A prescribed notice explaining that unpaid subcontractors and suppliers can lien your home, and how to protect yourself.
• Information about the Contractors State License Board. A prescribed notice with CSLB's website and phone number.
• Extra work and change orders. A notice that changes are not enforceable against you unless they are in writing and signed before the extra work begins.
• Performance and payment bond. A notice that you have the right to require one.

The contract must also say whether a subcontractor will be used, with a yes-or-no checkbox. Ask about it on a window job. Many window companies sell the job with their own staff and send a subcontracted crew to install it. That is legal, and you are entitled to know.

The salesperson has to be registered

Business and Professions Code section 7152 defines a home improvement salesperson as someone who solicits, sells, negotiates or executes home improvement contracts on behalf of a licensed contractor, and it requires that person to be registered with CSLB. Before selling, the salesperson must tell you the contractor's business name and license number.

Owners and officers listed on the license, and the license's qualifying person, do not need a separate registration. Neither does someone whose only job is to call and set an appointment.

Under section 7153, selling without a current registration is a misdemeanor. The contract has to show the salesperson's name and registration number, so you can look it up. See our page on window sales red flags for what in-home sales pressure looks like and what to do about it.

Check the license before you sign

CSLB's online license check takes two minutes and shows whether the license is active, its classification, the bond, the workers' compensation status, and any public disciplinary history. It also looks up home improvement salesperson registrations.

A contractor's license is required for work like this. Section 7048 exempts only minor jobs with a total price under $1,000 that need no building permit and are done by someone with no employees. Replacement windows generally need a permit in California, so a window job rarely fits that exemption at any price. Our page on permits for retrofit windows covers that side, and licensing and insurance requirements for California contractors goes deeper on the license itself.

A short checklist before you sign

1. License number on the contract matches an active license on the CSLB lookup.
2. Salesperson's registration number is on the contract and checks out.
3. Every window is described by product line, material, style, glass, and certified U-factor and SHGC.
4. Installation method is stated for each opening.
5. Down payment is $1,000 or 10 percent, whichever is less.
6. Progress payments follow delivery and completed work.
7. The right-to-cancel notice is next to your signature, with the detachable cancellation form attached.
8. The insurance, lien, CSLB and change-order notices are all there.
9. The permit is named as the contractor's responsibility.
10. You have a complete copy, signed and dated by both of you.

Sources

• Business and Professions Code section 7159 (home improvement contract contents and notices)
• Business and Professions Code section 7159.5 (down payment, progress payments, lien releases, penalties)
• Civil Code section 1689.5 and section 1689.6 (home solicitation contracts and cancellation periods)
• Business and Professions Code section 7152 and section 7153 (home improvement salesperson registration)
• Business and Professions Code section 7048 (minor work exemption)
• CSLB license and salesperson registration check

Working with Heritage Exteriors

Our window contracts name each product with its certified performance figures, keep the down payment inside the legal limit, and tie payments to delivery and completed work. We are glad to walk through the contract with you line by line before you sign, and you keep the cancellation right the law gives you either way. Licensed in California, CSLB #1055919. Call (916) 546-2991.