How to check a handyman's license in Suffolk or Nassau

What New York State and federal rules say

• New York's General Business Law defines home improvement as the repairing, remodeling, altering, converting or modernizing of residential property, or adding to it.

In Suffolk County

• A handyman business in Suffolk falls under the county's home improvement law whenever it repairs, remodels, alters or adds to a home, unless one of the law's exemptions applies.
• Suffolk Consumer Affairs calls home improvement a very broad term that is not limited to the areas of work it lists.
• Suffolk's law exempts an employee, other than a salesman, who performs labor or services for wages or salary for a licensed home improvement contractor.

1. 1Step 1Suffolk's License and Complaint Violation Look Up shows whether a handyman holds a Home Improvement License, though a license type search returns no complaint or violation data.
2. 2Step 2A handyman's Suffolk license status is available by phone from Consumer Affairs at (631) 853-4600.

In Nassau County

• Nassau's home improvement definition opens with the repair, maintenance, replacement, remodeling or alteration of land or buildings, and a home improvement business in the county must be licensed.
• Someone who performs labor or services for a Nassau licensee as an employee is among the exceptions to the county's home improvement licensing.
• Nassau separately licenses home service businesses, whose work includes window treatment, gutter cleaning, window cleaning and general cleaning, but work done by licensed home improvement contractors is not a home service.
• Subcontractors on a Nassau home improvement job, other than plumbers and electricians, must hold a valid Consumer Affairs license, the county's application says.

1. 1Step 1Nassau's Valid Business License Search searches businesses with valid licenses, so a handyman's home improvement license can be checked there by name or number.

Towns with a license of their own

• City of Long Beach: In Long Beach, only a contractor licensed by the City or the homeowner can obtain a building permit for any construction or building project.
• 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.