Storm contractor rules in Nevada: price gouging, door-to-door sales and contractor licensing
Nevada licenses contractors through the Nevada State Contractors Board under NRS chapter 624, with a penalty ladder for unlicensed contracting, advertising rules and a cap on down payments. This page restates four pages of the Board, read on October 10, 2026.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 10, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.
This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The wider picture is on the storm contractor rules page. Every row comes from a page of the Nevada State Contractors Board. No emergency price rule and no door-to-door sales rule was read for this page on October 10, 2026, so the table says "Not published" for them.
The rules in one table
| Topic | What the source says |
|---|---|
| Who must be licensed, NRS 624.700 | It is unlawful for any person to engage in the business or act in the capacity of a contractor in Nevada, or to submit a bid on a job in the state, without an active licence |
| Penalties, NRS 624.700 | The first offence is a misdemeanor, the second a gross misdemeanor and the third a Class E felony |
| Advertising, NRS 624.720 | Anyone, including a person exempt under NRS 624.031, who advertises as a contractor needs a licence in the right classification. An unlicensed person advertising construction work or a work of improvement must say in the advertisement that he or she is not licensed. A licensed contractor's advertising must carry the company name and licence number |
| Advertising, orders | After notice and a hearing the Board may order unlawful advertising to stop and the telephone number in it to be disconnected. If the person does not comply within 5 days, the Board may ask the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada to order the telephone provider to disconnect the number |
| Down payment, Board checklist | A down payment cannot exceed US$1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less. It may exceed that only if the contractor posts a US$100,000 Consumer Protection Bond with the Board or was granted relief from the licence bond requirement |
| Written contract, Board checklist | The checklist lists a written contract and three bids among its ten tips. It gives no dollar line for when a contract must be written |
| Classifications | Classification A is general engineering (A-1 to A-25), B is general building (B-1 to B-7), AB needs qualification in both, and C has 42 subclassifications set out in Chapter 624 of the Nevada Administrative Code. The A and B lists include wrecking buildings, excavating and grading, and residential remodeling. They do not name tree work |
| Price gouging | Not published on the pages read |
| Door-to-door sales | Not published on the pages read |
What the Board's pages leave open
The Board's classification page lists the A and B classifications by name and points to the administrative code for the 42 C subclassifications, so whether a C subclassification covers tree removal is not stated on the pages read.
The advertising section applies to anyone who advertises as a contractor, licensed or exempt, and it reaches telephone numbers. The Board states that it is funded from fees collected from licensees and not from the State General Fund. For how other states treat tree work, see contractor licences for tree work. The warnings that attorneys general issue after storms are on the storm tree scams page.
Sources
- Nevada State Contractors Board, Unlicensed Contracting: Penalties and Law, read October 10, 2026
- Nevada State Contractors Board, Unlawful Advertising, NRS 624.720, read October 10, 2026
- Nevada State Contractors Board, Consumer Checklist, read October 10, 2026
- Nevada State Contractors Board, License Classifications, read October 10, 2026