On Long Island, the license that matters for a remodel is the county home improvement license. New York State does not issue one. Nassau and Suffolk each license their own contractors, and according to the Attorney General’s office, anyone doing home improvement work in either county must hold that county’s license. Look up the license for the county where your house is.
Which jobs need a county license
Nassau. The county’s FAQ says contractors who do remodeling on residential homes must be licensed. Contractors who work only on commercial buildings do not need one. Plumbers, electricians, architects and engineers are exempt only while they work in their own licensed field. The county’s checklist adds that new home construction and sales of materials only are outside the law.
Suffolk. Section 563-16 of the Suffolk County Code, as quoted by a New York appeals court in 2015, defines home improvement as any repair, remodeling, alteration, conversion or modernization of, or improvement or addition to, residential property. It includes painting, and it does not include building a new home.
Read plainly, both counties’ wording covers kitchens, bathrooms, basements and additions on a house that already exists.
Looking up a Nassau license
- Open the Nassau County license lookup. It covers home improvement contractors and other county licenses.
- Search by the company name or the license number from the estimate.
- If nothing comes up, call Consumer Affairs at (516) 571-2600. The county’s checklist says the office can confirm a license and the company’s complaint history.
Every licensed Nassau home improvement contractor has been fingerprinted, and the license requires certificates of liability, property damage and workers’ compensation coverage on file.
Looking up a Suffolk license
- Open Suffolk’s Search Licensed Contractors page.
- Search by name or license number.
- For help, call Suffolk Consumer Affairs at (631) 853-4600. The offices are at 725 Veterans Memorial Highway in Smithtown and 300 Center Drive South in Riverhead, Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 4:00.
What a license does not prove
A license is a minimum. Nassau’s checklist says it offers some protection against fly-by-night operators and makes it more likely the company carries liability insurance. It does not grade anyone’s work. The Attorney General also tells homeowners to get references and call past customers themselves before signing.
Two other checks sit outside the county license:
- Trade licenses. In Nassau, the towns, cities and villages license plumbers and electricians. The remodeler’s county license does not cover the person doing that work.
- Lead-safe certification. For homes built before 1978, the EPA requires any paid firm that disturbs painted surfaces to be certified. Nassau Consumer Affairs only accepts lead certificates from EPA-accredited training programs. The EPA’s firm locator lists certified firms.
If the contractor is not licensed
In a 2015 Suffolk case, an appeals court upheld the dismissal of an unlicensed contractor’s lawsuit for payment, applying the county code section that bars unlicensed contractors from recovering on their contracts. Nassau keeps a form to report suspected unlicensed activity.
A license matters again if the job goes bad. Nassau’s Home Improvement Restitution Fund may pay homeowners who won a court judgment or arbitration award against a licensed contractor and could not collect, but only after a complaint has been filed with Consumer Affairs first.