Louisiana marketing rules for contractors: license claims, calls, texts and card fees

Louisiana regulates contractors more closely than most states, and the rules reach into marketing. The state's contractor board can fine a company for what a web page claims, not only for what a crew builds. This page covers the Louisiana statutes that touch a service business's website, phones and inbox, read on the Legislature's and agencies' own sites in October 2026.

What your website may claim about your license

The Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors publishes its laws and rules in a compilation updated August 1, 2026 (the board's "blue book"). Three rules in it matter for a website.

First, false claims. R.S. 37:2163(A)(2) makes it unlawful for any contractor, licensed or unlicensed, to publish, transmit, distribute or otherwise publicly circulate a misleading or false claim about a person's license or classification in any medium, including digital platforms. A page that says "licensed general contractor" when you hold only a home improvement registration is the example to avoid. The same section makes working as a contractor without an active license unlawful, a misdemeanor.

Second, a project that starts at a quote. For residential roofing, R.S. 37:2156.4 says that on and after January 1, 2026, anyone who advertises, solicits, undertakes, or submits a price, bid, quote or estimate for roofing work on a residence with a project value of $7,500 or more must hold the Residential Roofing or Residential Construction classification. Notice the verbs. Posting an ad or an online estimate form counts before any shingle is touched. The board's definition of home improvement covers projects from $7,500 up to but not including $50,000 and bars home improvement contractors from structural work, including roofing systems.

Third, penalties. Under R.S. 37:2164, a violation can bring a board fine of up to ten percent of the contract or bid value, or up to $10,000 where no value applies, plus costs and attorney fees. Our Louisiana contractor license guide lists who needs which license.

Contractors cannot advertise insurance claim services

After storms, roofing and restoration sites love to say "we handle your insurance claim." In Louisiana, R.S. 37:2159.1 lists prohibited acts for contractors. They cannot interpret a property insurance policy's coverage or advertise or solicit that service. They cannot adjust a claim as a public adjuster, or advertise or solicit it, or advertise or solicit as insurance claims specialists. They also cannot give an insured an agreement authorizing repairs before providing a good faith itemized estimate. Soliciting or accepting an assignment of post-loss insurance benefits is against public policy and void.

The statute says a contractor is considered to have violated these paragraphs when a person working on its behalf, including a paid nonemployee such as a marketing vendor, does so. If an agency writes your landing pages, the wording is still yours. Describe the repair and the estimate. Leave out claims-handling promises. Roofers should also read our roofing license guide.

Your contract and your quote form must carry specific terms

R.S. 37:2159(A) lists what every agreement requiring a license or registration must include: the complete agreement and any documents incorporated, the contractor's full name, address and license number, a description of the work, the total price (or an approximation for cost-plus and time-and-materials jobs), the signature of all parties, and current certificates of insurance showing workers' compensation and liability coverage where insurance is required. All parties get a copy at signing, and no work begins before everyone has signed. A contract that fails the section is not invalid for that reason alone. A contractor who is required to hold a license but does not cannot file a statement of claim or a lien for the money owed.

Under R.S. 37:2158(A)(15), a residential, home improvement or mold contractor who fails to give its name, license number, classification and insurance certificates in writing when requested is open to discipline. If your online booking flow produces the contract, put the license number in the template once, so every document carries it.

Residential work has one more paper. Under R.S. 9:4852, before or when entering a contract for residential home improvements under that subpart, the contractor delivers a written "Notice of Lien Rights" for the owner's signature. It warns that people who work on or supply the home can file a lien and recover from the owner personally even if the contractor was paid. The notice is not a condition of the construction contract. A contract-signing page can hold it as a second signature line.

Recording calls in Louisiana: one-party consent

La. R.S. 15:1303(C)(4) allows a person who is a party to a call, or someone a party has consented to in advance, to record it, unless the purpose is criminal, tortious or otherwise injurious. A Louisiana company can record its own sales and service calls, and a recording AI receptionist is covered when the company is a party. The text is on the Legislature's site. Out-of-state callers can bring their own rules, which the business call recording guide walks through. A spoken notice at the start settles them.

Louisiana's own Do Not Call law, run by the Public Service Commission

The Telephone Solicitation Relief Act of 2001, now R.S. 45:844.11 to 844.15, creates a state list kept by the Louisiana Public Service Commission. The statute also bars solicitations to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, where applicable. Key points from the statute text:

• A telephonic solicitation is a voice or data communication to a residential subscriber to encourage a sale of goods or services or to gather information used for a sale. Because it says "data communication," texts can fall inside it. Confirm that with the Commission.
• Calls the person requested, calls about an unfinished contract, and calls to someone with an existing business relationship, or one that ended within the past six months, are excluded.
• Solicitors doing business in Louisiana must register with the Commission to get the list, and may maintain a $20,000 bond to guarantee penalties.
• A listing lasts five years. Calling a number on the Commission's list or the National Do Not Call Registry is prohibited unless the Act or federal law allows it.
• The Commission can impose an administrative penalty up to $1,500 per violation, and up to $3,000 where the subscriber is over 65, under R.S. 45:844.15.

A separate section, R.S. 45:844.2, requires solicitors calling residential or mobile subscribers to transmit an identification code that shows a true name and a number reachable in business hours, and bars devices that block or misrepresent caller ID. The federal TCPA stacks on top; see our TCPA guide. The six-month window is shorter than the 18 months some other states allow, so a lead that went cold last winter may be off limits for cold calls this spring.

Debit card surcharges became illegal on August 1, 2026

Senate Bill 254 of the 2026 session became Act 751 after the Governor signed it on June 2, with an effective date of August 1, 2026, according to the Legislature's bill page. The Act adds R.S. 51:3081 and 3082. In the enrolled text, a retail business, defined as any person or entity selling goods or services, may not add a surcharge for using a debit card. A cardholder owes actual damages if the business violates it, but must send written notice before suing, and a business that stops the surcharge and reimburses the cardholder within 30 days of that notice avoids a private suit. The private right of action reaches only willful, repeated or uncured violations. The Attorney General can sue a violator and recover fees and costs, and a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation applies to anyone who breaks an administrative or court order issued under the Act.

If your invoice software or online payment link adds a percentage for cards, check whether it applies to debit. If your processor cannot tell debit from credit at checkout, a flat card fee could land on debit cardholders, so ask the processor how it handles this before you keep the fee. The Act addresses debit cards. We did not find an enacted Louisiana statute on credit card surcharges, so check with your processor and the card network rules.

Sales tax shapes what online quotes show

Louisiana's state rate is 5% since January 1, 2025, with local taxes on top, per the Department of Revenue. Its list of taxable services names ten categories, including laundry, cleaning, pressing, alteration, repair and dyeing services, and repairs and maintenance of tangible personal property and digital products. A company that repairs equipment or appliances needs to register through geauxBIZ or LaTAP before it charges tax. Work on buildings and land is a case to confirm with the department before you publish a price. See our sales tax table.

What this means for your setup

• Website. Match every license claim to what the board's records show, and keep roofing pages free of insurance-claim promises. Put the license number in your contract templates. A site you own lets you change claims everywhere at once.
• Business phone line. Record with one party's consent, add the notice anyway, and use a number whose caller ID shows your business name. See phone systems.
• AI receptionist. Answering inbound calls is outside the solicitation law. Outbound callbacks to cold leads are inside it. See AI reception.
• Email. CAN-SPAM applies, and no separate Louisiana commercial email statute turned up while we researched this page.

General information only, not legal advice. Laws move, so confirm with the Licensing Board, the Public Service Commission, the Department of Revenue or a Louisiana attorney. Our Louisiana startup guide covers filings and fees.

Frequently asked questions