773. Violations.
774. Action by the attorney general.
775. Applicability.
776. Severability.
§ 770. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms, unless the context requires otherwise ,
shall have the following meanings:
1. "Person" means a natural person.
2. "Owner" means any homeowner, co-operative shareholder owner, or residential tenant, or any person who
purchases a custom home as defined in this section.
3. "Home improvement" means the repairing, remodeling, altering, converting, or modernizing of, or adding to,
residential property and shall include, but not be limited to, the construction, erection, replacement, or
improvement of driveways, swimming pools, siding, insulation, roofing, windows, terraces, patios, landscaping,
fences, porches, garages, solar energy systems, flooring, basements, and other improvements of the residential
property and all structures or land adjacent to it. "Home improvement" shall also mean the construction of a
custom home, the installation of home improvement goods or the furnishing of home improvement services.
"Home improvement" shall not include:
(a) the sale or construction of a new home, other than a custom home as defined in this section;
(b) the sale of goods by a seller who neither arranges to perform nor performs, directly or indirectly, any work
or labor in connection with the installation or application of the goods;
(c) the sale or installation of appliances, such as stoves, refrigerators, freezers, room air conditioners,
dishwashers, clothes washers or dryers, which are designed to be removable from the premises without
material alteration thereof;
(d) the sale or installation of decorative goods or services, such as draperies and carpets; or
(e) the performance of repairs, replacements, or other services pursuant to an express or implied warranty, or
a maintenance agreement as defined in section three hundred ninety-five-a of this chapter.
4. "Home improvement goods or services" means goods and services which are bought in connection with
home improvement. Such home improvement goods and services include burglar alarms, texture coating,
fencing, air conditioning, heating equipment, and any other goods which, at the time of sale or subsequently, are
to be so affixed to real property by the home improvement contractor as to become a part of real property
whether or not severable therefrom.
5. "Home improvement contractor" means a person, firm or corporation which owns or operates a home
improvement business or who undertakes, offers to undertake or agrees to perform any home improvement for
a fee and for whom the total cash price of all of his home improvement contracts with all his customers exceeds
one thousand five hundred dollars during any period of twelve consecutive months. Home improvement
contractor does not include a person, firm, corporation, landlord, cooperative corporation, condominium board of
managers, joint tenant or co-tenant that owns, in whole or in part, the property to be improved.
6. "Home improvement contract" means an agreement for the performance of home improvement, between a
home improvement contractor and an owner, and where the aggregate contract price specified in one or more
home improvement contracts, including all labor, services and materials to be furnished by the home
improvement contractor, exceeds five hundred dollars.
7. "Custom home" means a new single family residence to be constructed on premises owned of record by
the purchaser at the time of contract, provided that such residence is intended for residential occupancy by such
purchaser and the contract of sale is entered into on or after the first day of March, nineteen hundred ninety.
§ 771. Contract provisions. 1. Every home improvement contract subject to the provisions of this article, and all
amendments thereto, shall be evidenced by a writing and shall be signed by all the parties to the contract. The
writing shall contain the following:
(a) The name, address, telephone number and license number, if applicable, of the contractor.
(b) The approximate dates, or estimated dates, when the work will begin and be substantially completed,
including a statement of any contingencies that would materially change the approximate or estimated
completion date. In addition to the estimated or approximate dates, the contract shall also specify whether or not
the contractor and the owner have determined a definite completion date to be of the essence.
(c) A description of the work to be performed, the materials to be provided to the owner, including make,
model number or any other identifying information, and the agreed upon consideration for the work and
materials.
(d) A notice to the owner purchasing the home improvement that the contractor or subcontractor who
performs on the contract or the materialman who provides home improvement goods or services and is not