What Virginia requires of your website, phone lines and texts

Federal rules reach Virginia like every other state: the TCPA for texts and autodialed calls, and CAN-SPAM for email. Our TCPA guide and call recording guide cover those. The sections below cover Virginia's own additions. Read them as general information for October 2026, not as legal advice.

What changed for marketing texts and calls in Virginia?

The Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act is the state's own telemarketing law. It applies to a call or text that offers goods or services for sale and is sent to a Virginia residence, or to a phone with a Virginia area code or registered to a Virginia resident (Va. Code § 59.1-510). Its restrictions used to be written around calls. A 2025 amendment, Chapter 626 of the 2025 acts (Senate Bill 1339), made them apply to texts too. The Legislative Information System lists it as Chapter 626, effective January 1, 2026, so the text rules are now in force.

The practical rules for a service business are these:

• Hours. No solicitation before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time where the person is, unless you have their prior consent (§ 59.1-511). Your texting tool should hold messages until the window opens.
• Opt-out. You may not call or text a number after someone there has said they do not want solicitations. For texts, a reply of STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE counts, and you must honor it for at least 10 years (§ 59.1-514).
• Sending number. The number you send from must let people opt out. For texts, a reply-based opt-out is enough (§ 59.1-513).
• Live person or recorded notice. If nobody answers within two seconds of the person's greeting, the call must play a message naming the business and a number for opt-outs (§ 59.1-513.1).

Two exemptions matter to a contractor. A call or text is not a "telephone solicitation" if the person gave prior permission in a signed written agreement that lists the number, or if you have an established business relationship. The statute defines that as a purchase or transaction in the 18 months before the message, or an inquiry or application about the offered service in the 3 months before. Neither exemption holds if the person has already opted out (§ 59.1-514(D)).

The liability is shared. A seller and the person who sends the message are jointly responsible, and a message offering your services is presumed to be sent on your behalf (§ 59.1-514.1). So a marketing vendor's mistake can land on you. Under § 59.1-515, a person who receives a violating call or text can sue for $500 for a first violation, $1,000 for a second and $5,000 for each later one, with the court able to raise first and second awards to $5,000 for willful violations, plus attorney fees. The identification rule in § 59.1-512 is written for calls: the caller gives a first and last name and the business name promptly. Virginia keeps no separate state registry in these sections; the rule points to the federal National Do Not Call Registry, and a defense exists if you used a registry copy no more than 31 days old.

Can you record customer calls in Virginia?

Yes, for calls you are part of. Va. Code § 19.2-62(B)(2) says it is not a criminal offense to intercept a call when you are a party to it or one party has given prior consent. A recorded line, a call-tracking number or an AI receptionist that records on your behalf is a participant recording under that rule. The risk comes from the other end of the call: a caller in an all-party consent state is covered by that state's law. A short notice at the start ("this call may be recorded for quality and scheduling") removes the question. Our state-by-state recording table shows which states need the notice.

Does Virginia's mandatory fee law touch your pricing page?

It can. Chapter 58 of Title 59.1 bars a supplier from advertising or displaying a price without clearly showing the total price, which includes all mandatory fees or surcharges (§ 59.1-608). A mandatory fee is any extra fee that must be paid to buy the advertised good or service. Government taxes and fees and reasonable postage or shipping are excluded (§ 59.1-607). The chapter is enforced as a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act (§ 59.1-610), and the statute text does not set a dollar penalty of its own.

For a website, this reaches any flat-rate page that lists a price and then adds a fuel charge, trip fee, disposal fee or fixed service fee at checkout. Fold fees that every customer pays into the displayed price. The statute has a lane for suppliers whose total depends on customer choices, distance or time: they can disclose the factors that set the price, any mandatory fees, and that the total may vary (§ 59.1-608(D)). A per-mile trip charge or an hourly rate is that kind of price, and the page should say so. Whether a fee that only card payers pay is "mandatory" is not answered in the statute text we read. Ask the Attorney General's consumer protection section before you add a card surcharge to an advertised price. Our sales tax guide covers how taxes sit on top.

What must a Virginia quote or contract say?

If you hold a Virginia contractor license, the Board for Contractors regulation 18VAC50-22-260 sets the contract. Working without a legible written contract signed by the consumer and the licensee before work begins or money changes hands is a prohibited act. The residential contract must list, among other items:

• the start date and estimated completion date, and a total cost statement;
• the progress payment schedule, including any down payment;
• the materials and work the customer asked for;
• a plain-language clause that events beyond your control do not make delay abandonment;
• a disclosure of the parties' cancellation rights and the consumer's signed acknowledgment of the DPOR consumer protection statement;
• your name, address, license number, class of license and specialty classifications;
• a notice about the Contractor Transaction Recovery Fund.

You must also deliver a fully executed copy to the customer before work starts, and change orders must be in writing. An online quote form can collect the request, but the signed contract has to carry these items. Work that stays under the threshold for a license, covered in our Virginia licensing guide, does not use this regulation, but the home solicitation rule can still apply.

That rule is the Home Solicitation Sales Act. It covers a sale where the seller solicits personally at a residence, or by phone or electronic means at a residence without a prior invitation. Sales made entirely by phone or electronic means at the buyer's initiation are excluded, as are cash sales under $25 (§ 59.1-21.2). The buyer may cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing a compliant agreement, by any written statement of intent to cancel (§ 59.1-21.3). Emergency work is the narrow exception: the buyer must request urgent service, you must have started in good faith, and the request must be a dated, personally signed writing acknowledging the waiver. A customer who finds you on a website and calls you is the buyer initiating the contact. An uninvited knock at the door followed by a contract signed on the porch fits the definition.

Do Virginia's privacy and sales tax rules reach a small service business?

The Consumer Data Protection Act applies to businesses that operate in Virginia or target Virginia residents and either control or process personal data of at least 100,000 consumers in a calendar year, or handle data of at least 25,000 consumers and earn more than half of gross revenue from selling personal data (§ 59.1-576). A contractor with a few thousand customers on a mailing list sits far below both lines. If your site or ad tools collect visitor data at scale, check the count with a lawyer.

Sales tax is a quieter point. Virginia Tax describes the retail sales and use tax as covering tangible personal property, accommodations and certain taxable services. Most home services are not on that short list, but parts and materials you sell can be taxable, at 5.3% in most of the state and higher combined rates in regions such as Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads (Virginia Tax, October 2026). If you sell taxable items you register as a dealer and display the Certificate of Registration at your registered location. Your invoice template should be able to split labor from parts.

What this means for your setup

Put your license number, class and specialty on the website if you hold a Virginia contractor license, and keep the pricing pages free of fees that appear later. Give your business phone line a recorded greeting that announces recording, and make sure your texting platform enforces the 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window by the recipient's location and honors STOP for a decade. An AI receptionist that texts back inquiries is working under the 3-month inquiry rule; one that sends promotions to old lists needs the 18-month purchase test or a signed consent. For email, store consent and unsubscribe records with the same discipline, and see our email guide. Our Virginia startup guide covers the formation side. Confirm anything with the agencies listed below, because Virginia changed this area as recently as 2026.

Frequently asked questions