Renovation & Remodeling Companies in New York

Short answer: Exchange lists 9 renovation and remodeling companies in New York. New York State has no statewide home improvement license, so licensing is local: New York City contractors need a Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) Home Improvement Contractor license for residential work over $200, and Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties run their own licenses. Statewide, General Business Law Article 36-A requires a written contract for jobs over $500 with a three-business-day cancellation right. The new NYC Existing Building Code takes effect July 17, 2027.

Licensing is local

New York State has no statewide home improvement license; New York City and counties such as Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester license contractors themselves.

NYC threshold

In New York City a DCWP Home Improvement Contractor license is required for residential home improvement work costing more than $200.

Trust Fund or bond

NYC license applicants either pay $200 to join the Home Improvement Business Trust Fund or file a $20,000 surety bond.

Written contracts

General Business Law Section 770 and 771 require a signed, plain-English contract for home improvement jobs over $500, cancellable until midnight of the third business day.

Lien deadline

Under New York Lien Law Section 10, a lien must be filed within eight months of completion, or four months for a single-family dwelling.

Code changes

The 2025 NYS Uniform Code took effect December 31, 2025 outside the city, and the NYC Existing Building Code takes effect July 17, 2027.

Do renovation contractors need a license in New York?

Not from the state. New York has no statewide home improvement license, so renovation contractors are licensed locally, most notably by New York City DCWP and by Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties.

Inside the five boroughs, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) requires a Home Improvement Contractor license for construction, repair, remodeling and similar work on residential land or buildings, including basements, driveways, fences, garages, patios, porches, sidewalks and terraces. DCWP guidance to homeowners says the license applies to work over $200. Hiring an unlicensed contractor matters to owners in a practical way: only customers of licensed contractors can seek repayment from the city's Home Improvement Business Trust Fund when a job is abandoned or money is owed. Homeowners can confirm a license by calling 311 or searching on nyc.gov/dcwp before any money changes hands.

On Long Island and in the Hudson Valley, counties run their own programs. Nassau County's Department of Consumer Affairs licenses contractors under the county Administrative Code, covering repairs, remodeling and additions to homes used by no more than three families, and requires every licensed home improvement contractor to be fingerprinted through IdentoGO. Suffolk County Consumer Affairs maintains its own Home Improvement License Law and an online search of licensed contractors. Westchester County's Consumer Protection Department licenses home improvement contractors under county law and issues a green rear-bumper sticker showing the license expiration date. A contractor licensed in one jurisdiction is not automatically licensed in another, so a firm working in Queens and Nassau needs both.

How does a contractor get a New York City Home Improvement Contractor license?

A New York City Home Improvement Contractor license is issued by DCWP after the business passes an exam, proves workers compensation coverage, and either joins the Trust Fund or posts a $20,000 bond.

One qualifying person, such as the sole proprietor, a general partner, a corporate officer or a shareholder owning 10 percent or more, must pass the Home Improvement Exam. It has 30 questions and the candidate must answer at least 21 correctly, within 60 days of being entered into the testing system. The business must then choose between paying $200 to join the Home Improvement Business Trust Fund or filing a $20,000 surety bond naming DCWP as certificate holder, paid in full for the whole license term. Business name, DBA and premises address must match exactly across every document.

Workers compensation proof is mandatory: either a certificate naming DCWP at 42 Broadway as certificate holder or a New York State Workers Compensation Board exemption. DCWP states that ACORD forms are not acceptable proof. Licenses run on a two-year cycle that ends February 28 of odd-numbered years, so every current license expires February 28, 2027. Fees are prorated by filing date, from $50 for a short period up to $250 for a 30-month term. Applicants also sign a Contractual Compliance Agreement and are pointed to DCWP's model estimate, contract, notice of cancellation, permit disclosure form and change order form.

Which licenses, permits and registrations apply in New York?

How do I check a renovation contractor in New York before I sign?

7 checks, in order, using the New York registers and rules described on this page:

1. For a job in the five boroughs, confirm the DCWP Home Improvement Contractor license by calling 311 or checking nyc.gov/dcwp, and note that current licenses expire February 28, 2027.
2. Outside the city, verify the county license instead: Nassau's online license lookup, Suffolk's licensed contractor search, or Westchester's Consumer Protection list and green bumper sticker.
3. Check that the contract meets General Business Law Section 771: contractor license number, start and completion dates, materials by make and model, lien notice and the three-business-day cancellation notice.
4. Ask how deposits will be handled under Section 771 and Lien Law Section 71-a, either held in trust or secured by a bond, and keep an NYC upfront payment at or below DCWP's suggested 25 percent.
5. Get the written permit disclosure DCWP requires in New York City, naming each Department of Buildings or trade permit, who files it, estimated fees and how to track its status.
6. For pre-1960 city apartments or any permitted gut renovation, ask for the NYS asbestos survey by a certified inspector and, where a child under six lives, Local Law 1 lead-safe work practices.
7. Collect partial lien waivers with each progress payment, remembering subcontractors on a single-family home have four months after completion to file under Lien Law Section 10.

What must a New York home improvement contract include?

Statewide, New York General Business Law Article 36-A requires a signed, legible, plain-English contract for any home improvement job priced over $500, delivered to the owner before work starts.

Section 770 defines a home improvement contract as one where the aggregate price for labor, services and materials exceeds $500, and it covers homeowners, co-op shareholders and residential tenants. Section 771 then lists what the contract must contain: the contractor's name, address, phone number and license number where applicable; approximate start and substantial-completion dates and whether a completion date is of the essence; a description of the work and materials, including make and model; and the agreed price. It must also carry a bold-face mechanic's lien notice explaining that unpaid subcontractors and suppliers may have a claim against the property.

The owner may cancel until midnight of the third business day after signing, and the contract must say so. The only exception is an owner-initiated bona fide emergency where the owner gives a separate, dated, handwritten waiver. Since April 23, 2022, the contract must also disclose any property or casualty insurance policy covering the work, including the insurer's address and telephone number. In New York City, DCWP adds its own requirements: a separate Notice of Cancellation form, a contract in the language used to negotiate the deal, and written notice of every permit the job needs before the contract is signed.

Which permits and building codes apply to remodeling projects in New York?

Outside New York City, remodeling is governed by the 2025 New York State Uniform Code and Energy Code, effective December 31, 2025. Inside the city, the 2022 NYC Construction Codes and Department of Buildings permits apply.

The Department of State's Division of Building Standards and Codes set December 31, 2025 as the effective date for both the 2025 Uniform Code and the amended State Energy Conservation Construction Code, and says permit applicants from that date must comply with the 2025 Uniform Code. There was no transition period for the energy code. The Department also notes that, as of July 2026, the 2025 provisions restricting fossil-fuel equipment in new buildings remain suspended by court order and are not enforceable. Local building departments in each city, town and village issue the permits and perform inspections.

New York City writes its own codes. The 2022 NYC Construction Codes cover administration, plumbing, mechanical, fuel gas and building work, with the energy and electrical codes in the administrative chapters. Permits for alterations are filed with the Department of Buildings, often by a registered architect or professional engineer, and licensed plumbers or electricians obtain their own trade permits. DCWP requires the home improvement contractor to tell the owner in writing, before signing, which permits are needed, who will obtain them, the estimated fees and how to check permit status, and to make sure the right party files them.

How long do contractors have to file a mechanics lien in New York?

Under New York Lien Law Section 10, a notice of lien must be filed within eight months after the work is completed, or within four months when the project is a single-family dwelling.

The clock runs from completion of the contract or the final performance of work or furnishing of materials, and the notice can also be filed while work is still under way. For retainage, a separate rule allows filing within 90 days after the retainage was due to be released. Renovation contractors who mostly work on houses should treat four months as the practical deadline, because the single-family rule is the one that usually applies to residential remodels. Missing the deadline generally ends the lien remedy, leaving only a contract claim against whoever hired the contractor.

Filing is only the first step. Lien Law Section 11 requires the lienor to serve a copy of the notice on the owner within five days before or 30 days after filing. For owners, Article 36-A provides the other half of the picture: the contract must warn that unpaid subcontractors and suppliers may have lien rights, and that paying the contractor in full before a lien is filed is a defense only to the extent the law allows. Owners on larger jobs commonly ask for partial lien waivers from the general contractor and major subcontractors with each progress payment, and a final waiver before the last check.

What is changing for New York City renovations in 2027?

Two dates matter in New York City in 2027: every DCWP Home Improvement Contractor license expires February 28, 2027, and the new NYC Existing Building Code takes effect July 17, 2027.

The Existing Building Code was passed by the City Council on December 18, 2025, and replaces the 1968 Building Code provisions that still governed many alterations of older buildings. It is based on the International Existing Building Code, adapted for the city. The Department of Buildings says it will govern all building alteration applications in the five boroughs once it takes effect. The biggest change for renovators is that work-area size, rather than project cost, will determine which code provisions apply to an alteration. That should make it easier to predict which upgrades a given renovation will trigger, and reduce reliance on job-specific variances.

The code also creates a Limited Home Improvement Permit for defined work in one- and two-family dwellings, and expands limited alteration application permits to more work types, including window replacement and re-roofing. At the same time, it adds obligations: stronger fire-safety requirements for existing egress stairs when alterations are made, clearer sprinkler rules, accessibility upgrades in residential common areas for qualifying alterations, and structural condition assessments and architectural investigations before larger alterations. Owners planning a major gut renovation that will be filed in 2027 should ask their architect which code the application will be reviewed under and whether it is worth filing before or after July 17, 2027.

What asbestos and lead paint rules apply to renovations in New York?

In New York, an asbestos survey by a state-certified asbestos inspector is generally required before permitted renovation or demolition, and New York City Local Law 1 of 2004 adds lead-safe work rules in older rental housing.

The New York State Department of Labor's guidance for building permit applicants applies the asbestos survey requirement to interior and exterior renovation, remodeling, repair and demolition work, and says the survey must be performed by a certified New York State Asbestos Inspector. There is a narrow homeowner exemption for owner-occupied single-family dwellings where the owner does the work personally; it does not cover a hired contractor. Any asbestos found must be handled under the Department of Labor's Industrial Code Rule 56 before the affected materials are disturbed. Contractors should build survey time and any abatement into the schedule, because permits generally wait on the survey result.

In New York City, Local Law 1 of 2004, enforced by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, covers multiple dwellings of three or more units built before 1960, buildings built from 1960 to 1978 where the owner knows of lead paint, and tenant-occupied units in one- and two-family homes built before 1960. Where a child under six resides and more than two square feet of lead paint or paint of unknown lead content is disturbed, the work must follow prescribed safe work practices by certified firms or workers, pass a clearance dust wipe test, and records must be kept for at least 10 years.

How are deposits and progress payments protected in New York?

New York protects remodeling deposits through General Business Law Section 771, which requires pre-completion payments to be held in trust or secured by a bond, and through New York City's Home Improvement Business Trust Fund.

Section 771 requires the contract to tell the owner that the contractor must deposit all payments received before completion in accordance with Lien Law Section 71-a, or instead post a bond, contract of indemnity or irrevocable letter of credit guaranteeing the return or proper application of those payments. Where the job uses progress payments, the contract must list a dollar schedule tied to specific stages of work or materials, and each payment must reasonably relate to the work done at that point. Payments for hourly work already performed or materials already supplied are not treated as progress payments.

DCWP adds practical guardrails for city homeowners. It advises limiting the upfront payment to no more than 25 percent of the contract price, never paying cash or paying without a signed contract, and writing any negotiated payment schedule into the contract. Contractors may not arrange or offer home improvement loans; owners are told to arrange financing themselves. When a licensed contractor abandons a job or owes money, the homeowner may be eligible for repayment from the Trust Fund, and disputes can be reported through 311 or nyc.gov/dcwp. In Westchester, the Consumer Protection Department similarly tells residents to confirm the license before making any payment.

Where can I verify a license and check the source in New York?

Every figure and rule on this page can be checked against the primary source. These are the offices that publish them. Confirm current requirements directly before you rely on any of them:

Home Improvement Contractor License Application Checklist, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection; Hiring a Home Improvement Contractor Tips, NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection; General Business Law Section 771, Contract provisions, New York State Senate; Lien Law Section 10, Filing of notice of lien, New York State Senate; Notice of Adoption, 2025 Uniform Code and Energy Code, New York Department of State; City Council passes the NYC Existing Building Code, NYC Department of Buildings.

Nearby regions and related trades

Renovation & Remodeling contractors in other regions: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Victoria, Virginia, Washington.

Other trades in New York: Architect, General Contracting, HVAC, Roofing & Waterproofing.

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