Before you hire a contractor on Long Island

Nassau County and Suffolk County each license home improvement contractors, and New York City has its own license. Building permits come from your town, village or city.

"So, use a licensed contractor, get a written contract, and protect yourself," Roger C. Bogsted said in June 2002, when he was Nassau's consumer affairs commissioner. What he wanted homeowners protected from was "poor workmanship, undue delay in work completion, and unnecessary litigation."

Not legal advice. We checked the agencies' guidance and the statutes on October 13, 2026; the links below have the current versions.

In 2019, ABC7's 7 On Your Side asked Nassau's commissioner at the time, Gregory May, about HomeAdvisor recommending a contractor who had never held a Nassau license. "Obviously, we have a problem with it, I would not rely on HomeAdvisor or Angie's List, alone," he said. His department answers at 516-571-2600, the same hotline Bogsted gave out in 2002.

Suffolk's license search is run by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs, at 631-853-4600, and the same call gets you a firm's complaint history. In the city it's DCWP's Check a License page.

"Licensed contractors must carry liability insurance, workers compensation, and we check them for their financial responsibility," Bogsted said in an August 2002 release. Nassau's FAQ today asks for certificates for liability, property damage and workers' compensation. It also wants five years of recent experience and a real place of business in New York State. A license lasts two years, and working without one is a Class A misdemeanor. Plumbers and electricians aren't licensed by the county at all. For them, ask your town or village building department.

Suffolk's fact sheet says it is against the law to run a home improvement business in the county without a license. Every ad there has to carry the license number (County Code ch. 563).

For New York City, DCWP Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga opened a Wall of Shame in September 2024. Making improvements to your home, she said, "should not come with fear that we might lose money if the job isn't completed or completed poorly." The list names contractors with a violation in the past year for working without a license. A licensed city contractor has joined the Home Improvement Business Trust Fund or posted a $20,000 surety bond (DCWP checklist).

Nassau calls it a violation to do business under any name but the licensed one, so the name on the license and the name on your contract should match.

"Unlicensed contractors have no safe haven in Suffolk County," District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said in June 2025. His office had charged a Huntington contractor with handing a customer a forged Town of Islip building permit in 2021. The homeowner kept asking for a copy of the permit, and no application was ever filed for his pool, the DA's office alleged. Tierney said his office and Consumer Affairs tell owners to "always check with the Department before signing a contract."

On Long Island the permit comes from the town or village building department, and they decide which jobs need one. The Town of Hempstead, which includes Levittown, is at 516-538-8500. Oyster Bay is 516-624-6200. North Hempstead's department, at 516-869-7660, covers the unincorporated parts of the town, so if you live in an incorporated village, ask the village hall. Suffolk tells homeowners to "check with your local building and codes office before beginning a project."

Who pulls the permit belongs in the contract. Suffolk's fact sheet puts the owner on the hook "for either getting the permits or seeing that the contractor gets them; provided your contract states the contractor is responsible." Nassau tells contractors they "must be sure that all proper permits have been obtained" before work starts. In the city, the Department of Buildings says "most construction in New York City requires approval and permits."

"License requirements protect both the contractors and the homeowner," Bogsted said in 2002.

New York's General Business Law Article 36-A covers home improvement contracts over $500. Section 771 wants the contract in writing, signed by everyone, "legible, in plain English," with a signed copy in your hands before work starts. The contractor's name, address, phone and license number go in it. So do rough start and finish dates, a description of the work and materials "including make, model number or any other identifying information," and the price. A bold notice about mechanic's liens has to be in there, and one about where your deposit is held. If you pay in stages, the schedule shows each payment in dollars and cents and the stage it covers. Before work begins you also get the name, phone and address of the insurer covering the job.

The contract "and all amendments thereto" must be in writing and signed by all the parties. Suffolk suggests agreeing on the price of a change first, then both sides sign.

You can cancel "until midnight of the third business day" after signing, in writing. Nassau adds that the notice sits in bold next to your signature, that mail, text or email all work, and that your money comes back within 10 business days. In Nassau a contractor can't start work or deliver goods in those three days unless you sign a separate statement describing an emergency and waiving the right.

We put the Nassau, Suffolk and New York City contract checklists side by side in our post Before You Sign a Remodeling Contract.

Attorney General Letitia James announced a four to eight year sentence in 2024 for a Niagara County contractor who, she said, "pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars of his clients' deposits."

Lien Law section 71-a covers that money. Anything you pay before the job is substantially done goes into an escrow account at a New York bank within five business days. Unless the contract names the bank, the contractor tells you in writing where the money is within ten business days. A bond or similar guarantee can take the place of escrow. You'd get that within ten business days of paying.

Too often, Bogsted said in 2002, unlicensed contractors "take full or partial payment for work to be done and then do a partial job or fail to perform any service."

Neither law sets a percentage limit on a deposit. Suffolk's advice is that "a fair down payment would be under 15%," with the final payment held "until all the work is completed and all required inspections and certificates of occupancy are finalized." That's advice, not a legal limit.

"There are no such protections against unlicensed contractors," Bogsted said, talking about Nassau's restitution fund.

That fund pays up to $10,000 to a homeowner who won a court judgment or arbitration award against a licensed contractor and couldn't collect. You file a complaint with the Department of Consumer Affairs before going to court. Its office is at 240 Old Country Road in Mineola. Suffolk investigates every complaint it gets, at no charge, and its fund covers the same kind of uncollected judgment or award. In the city, DCWP takes complaints at nyc.gov/dcwp or through 311.

Suffolk's commissioner, Wayne Rogers, explained to Newsday in 2025 (as reported by Moneywise) that his county's fund only helps with licensed contractors. "If they're not licensed, there's nothing we can do," he said.

Class Remodeling is a family-owned remodeler in Levittown, licensed in Nassau County (203679), Suffolk County (HI-71569) and New York City (2129147-DCWP).