Storm contractor rules in West Virginia: 180-day repair price limit, contractor licensing and consumer remedies
West Virginia's price gouging article sets a 10 percent limit on contractors for repair, reconstruction and emergency cleanup services for 180 days after a declared state of emergency, and the Contractor Licensing Act sets a licence trigger by job size. This page restates those sections as the West Virginia Legislature 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 read names tree work. The Contractor Licensing Act sits in Chapter 30, and the earlier Chapter 21 article on contractors shows each section read, 21-11-1 to 21-11-20, as repealed on the Legislature's site.
The sections in one table
| Section | What it says |
|---|---|
| 46A-6J-1, purpose | The Legislature finds that during emergencies and major disasters, including tornadoes, floods and storms, some merchants have taken unfair advantage of consumers by greatly increasing prices, and says the article is to be liberally construed |
| 46A-6J-2(c), disaster | A disaster includes widespread or severe damage that has a natural or man-made cause, with fire, flood, earthquake, wind, snow, storm, blight, drought and infestation among those named |
| 46A-6J-2(j), repair or reconstruction services | Repair work done by anyone on residential, commercial or public property of any kind that a disaster has damaged |
| 46A-6J-3(a), goods | From the declaration of a state of emergency or state of preparedness, for its duration or 30 days, whichever is longer, it is unlawful for any person, contractor or business to sell listed goods and services, including goods used for emergency cleanup, building materials and emergency supplies, for more than 10 percent above the price charged on the 10th day before the declaration, unless the increase is directly attributable to added supplier costs or added labor or material costs |
| 46A-6J-3(b), contractors | For 180 days after the declaration, it is unlawful for any contractor to sell or offer repair or reconstruction services, or any services used in emergency cleanup, in the declared area for more than 10 percent above the price charged for those services on the 10th day before the declaration, unless the increase is directly attributable to added supplier costs or added labor or material costs. Where the exception applies, the price is no more than 10 percent above the contractor's cost plus its customary markup on that tenth day |
| 46A-6J-3(c) to (e) | A business that had an item on sale on the tenth day may use its usual price. For a state of preparedness the article applies only to the items named in the proclamation. On the 15th day after a state of emergency, and every 15th day after, the Governor reviews the scope of goods and may maintain, limit, end or extend the price restrictions |
| 46A-6J-4, registry | The Secretary of State is to make rules for a system where a person, corporation, trade association or partnership may register to be notified that a state of emergency or preparedness has been declared. The rules may require a registration fee |
| 46A-6J-5, penalties | A violation is an unfair or deceptive act or practice under article six of the chapter. A person violating the article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction, is fined not more than US$1,000.00, jailed in a county or regional jail for not more than one year, or both. The remedies are cumulative |
| 30-42-3(d), contractor | A contractor is a person who, for compensation and other than as an employee, undertakes or bids to build, alter, repair, extend, improve, move or tear down a building, highway, road, railroad, structure or excavation, where the cost is US$5,000.00 or more for residential work or US$25,000.00 or more for commercial work. Exclusions include a person who merely furnishes materials, an owner or lessee working on the owner's or lessee's own real property, a licensed pest control operator unless structural repairs exceed US$1,000.00, and "a person who performs landscaping or painting services" |
| 30-42-6(a) and (b), licence | No person may act as a contractor or bid as one without a licence under the article, and a firm may not contract unless an officer holds a licence. The licence number goes in all contracting advertisements and all fully executed contracts, and the licence is posted at every construction site. Missing either is subject, after hearing, to a warning, a reprimand or a fine of not more than US$200.00 |
| 30-42-6(c), exemptions | Exempt from licensure include work done exclusively by government employees, work personally performed by an owner or lessee of agricultural property, repair work contracted by the equipment owner on an emergency basis to maintain or restore operation of the equipment, and work personally performed on a structure by its owner or occupant |
| 46A-6-104, unlawful acts | Section 104 declares unlawful both unfair competition methods and unfair or deceptive acts in trade or commerce |
| 46A-6-106, private action | A person who buys goods or services and suffers an ascertainable loss of money or property from a prohibited practice may sue in circuit court for actual damages or US$200.00, whichever is greater, plus equitable relief, and has the right to demand a jury. Damages need proof of an actual out-of-pocket loss proximately caused by the violation |
Where storm tree work could fall
The 180-day contractor rule applies to repair or reconstruction services and to "any services used in emergency cleanup". The statute does not define emergency cleanup or say whether storm tree removal is one. The licence definition is a building and structure definition with a job-size floor, it excludes landscaping, and it does not mention trees. How a particular storm job fits either rule is a question for the West Virginia Attorney General and the West Virginia Contractor Licensing Board.
What is not on this page
No official page on a door-to-door sales cancellation right was read for this page on October 9, 2026, so none is reported. For how other places 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
- West Virginia Legislature, West Virginia Code sections 46A-6J-1 to 46A-6J-3, Price gouging during a state of emergency, read October 9, 2026
- West Virginia Legislature, West Virginia Code sections 46A-6J-4 and 46A-6J-5, Registry, penalties and enforcement, read October 9, 2026
- West Virginia Legislature, West Virginia Code sections 30-42-3 and 30-42-6, Contractor Licensing Act definitions and necessity for license, read October 9, 2026
- West Virginia Legislature, West Virginia Code sections 46A-6-104 and 46A-6-106, Unlawful acts and private causes of action, read October 9, 2026
- West Virginia Legislature, West Virginia Code section 46A-6J-4, Notification by the Secretary of State and registry, read October 9, 2026
- West Virginia Legislature, West Virginia Code section 30-42-3, Contractor Licensing Act definitions, read October 9, 2026
- West Virginia Legislature, West Virginia Code section 46A-6-104, Unlawful acts or practices, read October 9, 2026
- West Virginia Legislature, West Virginia Code sections 46A-6J-1 and 46A-6J-2, Price gouging purpose and definitions, read October 9, 2026
- West Virginia Legislature, West Virginia Code Chapter 21, Article 11, former Contractor Licensing Act sections, read October 9, 2026