Kentucky marketing rules for contractors: license numbers in ads, calls and privacy

Kentucky has fewer website-specific rules than many states, but the ones it has are firm. This page walks through what a Kentucky service business should know about advertising, recorded calls, outbound calling, in-home sales, sales tax and data privacy. Each point comes from the Kentucky Legislature's own statute pages or the Department of Revenue, read in October 2026.

HVAC license numbers must appear in all advertising

The clearest Kentucky rule for a website is in KRS 198B.670. No one may advertise as or claim to be a master heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractor unless licensed by the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction. The next sentence is the one that catches websites: the license number shall appear in all advertising and on all vehicles the licensee uses for HVAC work.

The statute does not carve out the web. A homepage, a Google Business Profile description you control, a service page, a paid ad and a social post are all advertising in plain terms, so put the number in the footer of every page and in the text of your ads. If you do HVAC and also do plumbing or electrical, the vehicle rule is wider. 815 KAR 2:030 requires each vehicle in an HVAC, electrical or plumbing business to show the master HVAC contractor's license number, the electrical contractor's license number or the master plumber's license number, in letters and numbers at least three inches high, visible on the outside of the vehicle.

We read only the HVAC advertising sentence in the statute. We did not find a matching advertising sentence for plumbers or electricians in the sources we checked, so treat that as unconfirmed and ask the department. For the licensing routes themselves, see our Kentucky contractor license guide.

Recording calls: Kentucky needs only one party to agree

KRS 526.010 defines eavesdropping as overhearing or recording a wire or oral communication of others without the consent of at least one party. If you are on the call, you are a party, so a Kentucky company can record its own calls. That covers a recorded office line, call tracking and an AI receptionist that stores audio. Read the text at the Kentucky Legislature.

The complication is the other end of the line. A Kentucky roofing company that takes storm calls from neighboring states, or a Louisville plumber whose customer is across the river in Indiana, may reach someone protected by a different rule. Start every recorded call with a short notice and you remove the question. Details by state are in our guides on recording business calls and the state-by-state recording table.

Telemarketing: a 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. window for calls to homes

Kentucky's telephone solicitation statutes run from KRS 367.46951 to 367.46999. KRS 367.46951 defines a telephone solicitation as a live or recorded communication to a residential, mobile or paging number to sell consumer goods or services, or to gather information for that sale. It then lists calls that fall outside the definition. Those include a call the person asked for, a call about an unfinished contract, and a call to anyone with whom the caller has a prior or existing business relationship. The statute's own example of that last category is soliciting maintenance or repair contracts for items previously purchased from the caller. Calls from one merchant to another are also outside it.

KRS 367.46955 then lists prohibited acts. A few apply directly to a home-service business that does outbound calling:

• Calling a residence at any time other than between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m., local time where the person is.
• Calling a residential number on the FTC's national Do Not Call Registry, or calling someone who told that seller not to call.
• Using an artificial or prerecorded voice on a residential line without the called party's prior express consent.
• Letting a solicitation call ring more than 30 seconds, or sending misleading caller ID information.
• Selling information gathered in a solicitation call without the consumer's express written consent.

The definition covers communications to mobile numbers, but the statute's wording is about calls and fax messages, and it does not name text messages. Whether a marketing text falls under the state statute is a question for the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection. The federal rules clearly cover texts, so read our TCPA guide before any campaign. Note that the 10 to 9 window is stricter at the start than the federal 8 a.m. window, so a Kentucky team that calls at 8:30 a.m. is inside the federal rule and outside the state rule.

In practice, a follow-up call to someone who just asked you for an estimate is not a telephone solicitation under the statute, and a reminder call to a past customer sits inside the existing-relationship exclusion. A cold-calling program to residential lists does not.

Selling at the customer's home: three business days to cancel

Kentucky's home solicitation sales statutes are KRS 367.410 to 367.450. KRS 367.410 defines the sale: the seller personally solicits at the buyer's residence and the buyer's offer is given there. A sale made after prior negotiations, by a telephone call the buyer started, or at a fixed business location is not a home solicitation sale.

KRS 367.420 lets the buyer cancel up to midnight ending the third business day following signature, by written notice to the seller at the address in the agreement. The notice does not need a particular form. The buyer cannot cancel if they asked for goods or services without delay because of an emergency, the seller in good faith made a substantial beginning of performance before the notice, and, for goods, the goods cannot be returned in substantially as good condition. Sellers must also give a conspicuous "BUYER'S RIGHT TO CANCEL" notice, per KRS 367.430, which sits in the same part of the code.

For a website, this draws a useful line. A customer who finds you online, calls you and asks for a visit has started the contact, and the sale is likely outside the definition. A door-knocking crew that signs people up on the porch is inside it. Quote copy that says "no obligation" should match the contract, and any reps who sell in homes need the cancellation notice in their paperwork.

Kentucky taxes a long list of home services, so your quote needs a tax line

The 6% sales tax applies to services listed in KRS 139.200. The list reaches landscaping, defined to cover lawn care and maintenance, tree trimming, pruning or removal, planting design and installation, and snow plowing or removal. It reaches janitorial services, including residential and commercial cleaning and carpet, upholstery and window cleaning. It also covers pet care and security system monitoring. Register with the Department of Revenue for a sales and use tax permit before you invoice a listed service.

For a website, that means online price calculators, instant quotes and payment links for these trades should add the tax. A quote that shows a mowing price with no tax and an invoice that adds it afterward invites complaints. Our sales tax table compares Kentucky to other states.

The Kentucky privacy act reaches only large data holders

Kentucky enacted a comprehensive consumer data privacy law, codified at KRS 367.3611 to 367.3629. Under KRS 367.3613, it applies to persons that do business in Kentucky or target Kentucky residents and that, in a calendar year, control or process personal data of at least 100,000 consumers, or at least 25,000 consumers while deriving over 50% of gross revenue from selling personal data. The act's definition of consumer excludes people acting in a commercial or employment context.

A single-market contractor with a few thousand past customers is nowhere near 100,000 Kentucky consumers. For most local service companies the law does not apply, and the Legislature's list of exempt entities also includes nonprofits and financial institutions. A 2026 amendment, 2026 Kentucky Acts chapter 118 (HB 692), changes definitions and privacy notice provisions, and takes effect July 1, 2027. A company that does grow past the threshold, for example a franchise network or a lead-selling website, should plan for access, correction and deletion requests. Everyone else still benefits from a plain privacy page that says what the site collects.

Card fees: no state rule found

We looked for a Kentucky statute on credit card surcharges and found only unenacted bills from 2013. We found no enacted rule. Check with your card processor and the card networks before adding a fee.

What this means for your setup

• Website. HVAC contractors put the license number in the footer and in ads. Add the tax line for listed services. Run it on a site you own so footers and notices change in one place.
• Business phone line. Recording needs one party's consent, so announce it for the callers from other states. Set the greeting and recording notice in your phone system.
• AI receptionist. Inbound answering is not a solicitation. If the assistant is set to call people back, make sure it stays inside 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and the existing-customer exclusion. See AI reception.
• Email. Federal CAN-SPAM rules apply, and we found no separate Kentucky statute on commercial email.

This is general information, not legal advice. Statutes get amended, so confirm with the Kentucky Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, the Department of Revenue and the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection. Our Kentucky startup guide covers filings and fees.

Frequently asked questions