HICMAY 02, 2026

MA HIC renewal — what changes in 2026

Massachusetts Home Improvement Contractor registration is moving from OCABR's legacy portal to contractorhub.mass.gov. What that means for renewals due this year.

Contractor Renewal Desk6 MIN READ

Massachusetts is in the middle of a multi-year migration of Home Improvement Contractor registrations from the legacy OCABR portal at services.oca.state.ma.us to a new system at contractorhub.mass.gov. The legacy system still works for renewals — but only until the official cutover, which the Office of Consumer Affairs has signaled will land sometime in 2026.

What's actually changing

The registration requirements themselves are not changing in this rollout. What is changing is the portal you use, the credentials you log in with, and the format of your renewal notice. If you currently log in with a legacy OCABR username, you will be prompted to migrate to a Mass.gov SSO account on your next renewal.

What you need to do, in order

Log in to the legacy portal at services.oca.state.ma.us and confirm your registration is current. Note your HIC number and expiration date.

Create a Mass.gov account at the contractor hub if you don't already have one. The migration won't fail you if you don't pre-register — but it will fail you if you try to migrate during your renewal week.

On renewal: pay through whichever portal still routes you. Both currently accept payment. Keep the receipt.

What it costs if you miss

An expired HIC registration exposes the contractor to administrative penalties up to $5,000 per offense per OCABR enforcement procedures, plus a referral to the Attorney General's office for any work performed while unregistered. The penalty stacks on each individual unregistered job.