What New Hampshire law says about home improvement contractors
New Hampshire built a specific enforcement framework around home improvement work, and it is one of the stronger consumer-side statutes in New England. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 21:34-a requires that any contractor performing home improvement work for compensation hold a valid license issued by the New Hampshire Home Improvement Board. The contractor must also provide a written contract before work begins. That contract must include the contractor's name, address, and license number; a complete scope of work; the materials to be used; the total price; a payment schedule; and the anticipated start and completion dates.
Every one of those elements is a legal requirement, not a courtesy. A contractor who skips the license number, leaves the payment schedule vague, or never produces a written contract at all has violated the statute. Under N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 358-A:2, that violation is an unfair or deceptive act, which triggers the Consumer Protection Act and every remedy that comes with it. You also have a three-day right to cancel any home improvement contract after signing it. That window exists regardless of whether the contractor told you about it.
The practical effect for a consumer with a bad contractor: you may not need to prove fraud or negligence. Proving that the contractor skipped required disclosures, or was never licensed to begin with, is enough to open the CPA door.
How long you have to file
The clock depends on whether you have a written contract. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 556:15 sets the statute of limitations at six years for written contracts and three years for oral agreements. Most home improvement jobs should have a written contract, so most contractor disputes in New Hampshire carry the six-year window. Count from the date the contractor last performed work, walked off the job, or breached the agreement, whichever happened most recently.
Three years sounds like a long time for an oral contract dispute, but disputes over work quality, incomplete jobs, and withheld refunds tend to drag. Do not assume you have time. The longer you wait, the more your physical evidence degrades. Photos fade, witnesses forget details, and estimates from competing contractors become harder to obtain. The case you can build today is stronger than the one you can build in eighteen months.
If your contractor filed a mechanics' lien against your property, note that N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 504:1-601 requires lien filings within 90 days of the last work performed. That lien deadline is separate from your litigation deadline, but the two often run in parallel. A contractor who threatens a lien has a narrow window to follow through.
What you can actually recover
Your recoverable damages in a New Hampshire contractor case fall into three categories.
The first is your actual economic loss. That includes money you paid the contractor for work that was never done, work done wrong that had to be redone at your expense, materials you paid for that were never installed, and the difference between what a completed job should have cost and what you paid a second contractor to finish the work.
The second is the Consumer Protection Act civil penalty. If the contractor violated § 21:34-a (missing disclosures, unlicensed work), each violation can carry a penalty of up to $10,000 under § 358-A:10. A contractor who performed work without a license and also failed to provide a written contract may have committed two separate violations. The penalty is per violation, not per case.
The third is attorney's fees and court costs. New Hampshire's CPA is fee-shifting, meaning that if you prevail, the court can order the contractor to pay your legal costs. In small claims court, that typically means your filing fee and any documented service costs.
New Hampshire's small claims cap is $10,000. For most residential contractor disputes, the combination of actual damages and CPA penalties fits within that ceiling, which is why Circuit Court District Division handles the vast majority of these cases without the expense and formality of a full civil trial.
Evidence that moves the needle in court
New Hampshire small claims judges hear contractor cases regularly. The filings that succeed are organized around documents, not emotion. Gather the following before you file.
The contract itself comes first. If you have a written agreement, bring the original and two copies. If the contractor never provided one (which is a violation), write down everything you remember agreeing to, when, and how, and be prepared to explain why no written contract exists.
Payment records are non-negotiable. Bank statements, check images, credit card statements, Venmo or Zelle records: every dollar you paid needs a paper trail. If you paid in cash, document it as specifically as you can with dates and amounts.
Photos and video establish the condition of the work. Date-stamped photos taken before, during, and after the job are the most useful evidence you can have. "Shoddy work" is an argument. Photos of an unfinished roof, a cracked tile installation, or exposed wiring are facts.
A competing contractor's written estimate or invoice shows the court what it actually cost to complete or repair what the first contractor left behind. Get at least one written estimate from a licensed contractor on letterhead, with a line-item breakdown.
Correspondence covers everything you sent the contractor after the dispute started: texts, emails, voicemails, and the demand letter if you sent one. Print the full thread, not just selected messages. Judges look at the whole conversation.
Finally, check the contractor's license status on the New Hampshire Home Improvement Board website before your hearing. A screenshot showing the contractor is unlicensed or had a lapsed license at the time of the job is strong independent corroboration that does not require you to argue credibility.
Filing your case in Circuit Court District Division
New Hampshire small claims cases are filed in the Circuit Court, District Division covering the town or city where the dispute arose. For a contractor dispute, that is typically the district court for the town where the property is located, not where you or the contractor live.
Start by downloading the small claims complaint form from the New Hampshire Judicial Branch website. The form asks for the plaintiff and defendant's names and addresses, the amount claimed, and a brief statement of the basis for the claim. Keep the statement factual: "Defendant accepted $4,200 for a deck installation, completed only 40% of the contracted work, and has not responded to written demand. Defendant was unlicensed at the time of performance in violation of N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 21:34-a:4."
The filing fee in New Hampshire is modest, typically around $90 to $125 depending on the claim amount, paid to the clerk at the time of filing. Once you file, the court assigns a hearing date, generally within 30 to 60 days. The clerk issues a summons that you are responsible for serving on the defendant.
Service on an individual contractor can be accomplished by a sheriff's deputy or a licensed process server. Service on a business entity goes to the registered agent on file with the New Hampshire Secretary of State. Confirm the service deadline, which is usually at least seven days before the hearing, and file your proof of service with the clerk before the hearing date. A missed service deadline will reset your hearing.
On hearing day, check in with the clerk, wait for your case to be called, and present your evidence in the order of the statutory violation: what the contractor was required to do under § 21:34-a, what they actually did, what you paid, what you got, and what it cost to fix. Keep it short. Judges in New Hampshire District Division move through small claims dockets quickly. A well-organized folder with tabbed exhibits makes a better impression than a long narrative.
If you haven't sent a demand letter yet
Filing in small claims court without first sending a written demand is a legal option in New Hampshire, but it is often not the fastest one. Many contractors pay when they receive a formal letter citing § 21:34-a and § 358-A:10 by name, with a specific dollar demand and a court filing deadline. If you skipped that step, consider whether sending a New Hampshire demand letter against a contractor first might resolve the dispute before you spend time in court. About 85% of properly drafted demand letters produce payment without a filing. Court is the escalation, not the opening move.
If you did send a letter and the deadline passed without response or the contractor disputed the amount in bad faith, you are in the right place. The letter also becomes a piece of evidence at your hearing. A contractor who ignored a written demand citing the statute has a harder time claiming good faith.
What happens after the hearing
New Hampshire Circuit Court judges either rule from the bench at the end of the hearing or take the matter under advisement and issue a written decision by mail. Most small claims decisions arrive within two to four weeks of the hearing.
If the judgment is in your favor, the contractor has 30 days to pay voluntarily. Many do, because a recorded judgment becomes a public record and affects their ability to bond and license. If they don't pay, you have several collection tools available under New Hampshire law.
An attachment or wage garnishment can be obtained by filing a motion with the same court after the judgment. New Hampshire also allows you to file a certified copy of the judgment in any county where the contractor owns real property, creating a lien against that property. If the contractor is operating under a business name, the judgment runs against the business entity and can attach to business bank accounts through a trustee process filing.
Judgments in New Hampshire earn interest from the date of the award. The rate is set by statute and is currently around 6% annually, which gives the contractor a financial reason to settle quickly rather than ignore the order.
If the contractor appeals, the appeal goes to the Superior Court, and they will need to post a bond or surety to stay enforcement. Appeals of small claims judgments in contractor disputes are uncommon, particularly where the statutory violation (unlicensed work, missing contract disclosures) is well-documented.