Storm contractor rules in North Dakota: contractor licence classes, personal solicitation sales and unlawful sales practices
North Dakota licenses contractors through the Secretary of State under chapter 43-07 of the Century Code, with four classes and a US$4,000 per-job threshold, and gives buyers three business days to cancel a personal solicitation sale. This page restates those chapters and the unlawful sales practices chapter 51-15 as the Legislative Branch publishes them, read on October 9, 2026.
Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 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 is statute text. None of the sections names tree work or storms, and no official page on a North Dakota price gouging rule was read for this page on October 9, 2026.
The sections in one table
| Section | What it says |
|---|---|
| 43-07-01, contractor | Any person who does construction, repair, alteration, dismantling or demolition work on structures such as bridges, highways, buildings, airports, dams, ditches, sewers, mains, tanks, towers and pipelines, and on any other structure, project, development or improvement within real or personal property. It includes subcontractors, public contractors and nonresident contractors. The registrar is the Secretary of State |
| 43-07-02, licence required | No one acts as a contractor when the cost, value or price per job exceeds US$4,000, or maintains a court action related to that business, without a licence. Acting without one is a class A misdemeanor, and the registrar may also assess a civil penalty of up to three times the licence fee in 43-07-07 |
| 43-07-02, construction fraud | Receiving payment by deception, failing to pay suppliers for materials paid for, or willfully abandoning a project after payment. Abandonment arises when work does not start within sixty days of an agreed written start date, or within ninety days of the contract date without one, or is not finished within ninety days of an agreed written completion date or 180 days of the contract date. The grade runs from class C felony for under US$10,000 to class A felony for more than US$50,000 |
| 43-07-04, application | An applicant of eighteen or older files an application under oath stating experience and qualifications, a certificate of liability insurance, and a statement from North Dakota workforce safety and insurance of coverage. The registrar may require criminal history information. The licence is classed not in good standing when liability insurance or a business registration lapses |
| 43-07-07, classes and fees | Class A has no project value limit and costs US$450, class B is limited to US$500,000 per project and costs US$300, class C to US$300,000 and US$225, class D to US$100,000 and US$100. Renewals cost US$90, US$60, US$45 and US$30 |
| 43-07-09 and 43-07-10, term | A licence runs to the end of the contractor year, which is March second through March first. Renewal lists each project over US$50,000 completed in the prior calendar year and a liability insurance certificate. A late renewal by June first carries a US$50 penalty fee |
| 43-07-14 and 43-07-15, complaints | Grounds include abandoning a contract after a deposit, diverting funds, and fraudulent or deceptive conduct injuring persons by more than US$3,000. The registrar may suspend or revoke, order a civil penalty of not more than US$1,000 and restitution of not more than US$5,000. The Attorney General may also act under chapter 51-15 against a licensee or an unlicensed contractor |
| 51-18-01, personal solicitation sale | A sale of consumer goods or services where the seller solicits by telephone or in person and the buyer's agreement is made away from the seller's place of business. A transaction after prior negotiations at a fixed business location is not one |
| 51-18-02 and 51-18-04 | The buyer may cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, and the seller tells the buyer orally of the right. A buyer sixty-five or older may cancel a sale of a product over US$50 until midnight of the fifteenth business day. Notice may be delivered, mailed or sent by email. No agreement is enforceable unless it is in writing, dated, signed and carries the conspicuous NOTICE TO BUYER and a duplicate NOTICE OF CANCELLATION form |
| 51-15-02, unlawful practices | Deceptive acts, fraud, false pretense, false promise or misrepresentation intended to be relied on, in the sale or advertisement of merchandise, are unlawful whether or not anyone was misled. So is any unconscionable act, or one likely to cause substantial injury that is not reasonably avoidable and not outweighed by benefits |
| 51-15-11, civil penalty | A court may assess a civil penalty of not more than US$5,000 for each violation of chapter 51-15 or of chapter 51-18, in addition to other remedies |
What licensing involves
North Dakota runs a licence with insurance proof and project-value classes, not an examination in the text read. The contractor definition ends with a catch-all for any structure, project, development or improvement within real or personal property and does not name trees, so whether a tree company is a contractor under it is a question for the Secretary of State's licensing office. The US$4,000 per-job threshold is in section 43-07-02, and the exceptions in section 43-07-08 cover government representatives and sellers of products that are not affixed to real property.
Personal solicitation sales and storm work
Chapter 51-18 covers telephone and in-person solicitation of consumer goods or services and has an extended period for buyers of sixty-five or older. How a storm-damaged tree fits is a question for the North Dakota Attorney General. For how other states treat tree work, see contractor licences for tree work. The scam warnings that attorneys general issue after storms are on the storm tree scams page.
Sources
- North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code chapter 43-07, Contractors, read October 9, 2026
- North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code chapter 51-18, Regulation of Home Solicitation Sales, read October 9, 2026
- North Dakota Legislative Branch, North Dakota Century Code chapter 51-15, Unlawful Sales or Advertising Practices, read October 9, 2026