How to check a flooring installer's license in Suffolk or Nassau

What New York State and federal rules say

• Floor and ceiling tiles appear on the state Department of Labor's list of building materials that might contain asbestos. Without an asbestos handling license, no construction trade may disturb or remove asbestos materials.
• The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule reaches flooring jobs: anyone paid to disturb painted surfaces in homes, childcare facilities or preschools built before 1978 must be certified.

In Suffolk County

• Suffolk's home improvement law names flooring, along with carpentry, fencing, driveways and exterminating. A business the law regulates must get a license from the county's Office of Consumer Affairs unless it is exempt.
• The list of home improvement work posted by Suffolk Consumer Affairs includes flooring.

1. 1Step 1In Suffolk's License and Complaint Violation Look Up, search the Home Improvement License type for a flooring installer's business name or license number.
2. 2Step 2Flooring installers' Suffolk licenses are confirmed by phone through Consumer Affairs at (631) 853-4600.

In Nassau County

• Nassau's Who Must Be Licensed list from Consumer Affairs includes floor installation and refinishing, sub-floors among them.
• Nassau's Administrative Code names floor refinishing and carpet installation in its definition of home improvement.
• Nassau's home improvement license application has a Carpet Installation category and a Carpentry/Painting/Insulation/Flooring category.

1. 1Step 1Nassau's Valid Business License Search takes a flooring company's name, license number or street address and returns businesses with valid licenses.

Towns with a license of their own

• 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.