How to check a paving contractor's license in Suffolk or Nassau

What New York State and federal rules say

• State law treats replacing or improving a driveway as home improvement, naming driveways in General Business Law section 770.

In Suffolk County

• Suffolk's home improvement law names both driveways and masonry, and running a business doing that work without a county license is unlawful unless an exemption applies.
• Consumer Affairs in Suffolk names driveways, and separately masonry, as areas of home improvement work.

1. 1Step 1The Home Improvement License setting in Suffolk's License and Complaint Violation Look Up is the one that covers driveway and masonry contractors.
2. 2Step 2Driveway and masonry contractors' Suffolk licenses can be verified by telephone with Consumer Affairs at (631) 853-4600.

In Nassau County

• Nassau's Administrative Code puts the installation, construction, replacement or improvement of driveways inside its home improvement definition, so a driveway business needs a county license.
• Nassau's list of trades that need a license from Consumer Affairs names paving and driveway seal coating, and masonry work too.

1. 1Step 1A driveway or masonry contractor can be checked by typing its license number into the License field of Nassau's Valid Business License Search.

Towns with a license of their own

• City of Long Beach: The City issues building permits only to a City of Long Beach licensed contractor or the homeowner, and a licensed contractor must complete an affidavit that they alone are doing the work.
• Town of Southampton: Southampton requires its own Home Improvement Contractor's License for home improvement work, and its licensing covers every village except the Village of Westhampton Dunes. A builder of a new home needs no town license for now, but the builder's subcontractors must be licensed.
• Town of Southampton: A Southampton home improvement license is valid for one year. A new application costs $250.00 by cash or check or $257.50 by credit, and an on-time renewal costs $175.00, or $180.25 by credit.
• Town of Shelter Island: Shelter Island requires home improvements to be performed by a licensed contractor holding a Shelter Island license.
• Town of Shelter Island: Shelter Island's notice to contractors says every contractor or subcontractor working on the island, landscapers included, needs a town license.
• Town of Shelter Island: Shelter Island takes home improvement license applications online, and a new license needs a $250 check to the town, a liability certificate naming the town as certificate holder and, if applicable, a workers' compensation certificate.

Beyond the license

• Ask for a certificate of insurance sent to you by the insurer, naming you as the certificate holder.
• Ask who files the permit and books the inspections, and get it in the contract.
• Get the price, the scope, the start and finish dates and the payment schedule in a written contract.