New York City Contractor License Lookup
69,884 license records from the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), refreshed daily. 26,455 of them are not valid right now.
Type at least three characters. Searching New York City only.
How licensing works in New York City
New York State does not license home improvement contractors statewide; licensing is done by the city. This covers New York City's register, which is the large public one, and it is limited to the five boroughs.
The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection publishes its licensee file as public record, and we reload it every day. A license belongs to a named individual or company and stops being valid when it lapses, is suspended, or is not renewed. The record usually stays in the published file after that, which is exactly why lapsed licenses are visible here rather than quietly disappearing.
New York City contractor license questions
How do I check if a contractor is licensed in New York City?
Search the name or license number in the box on this page, or open the trade you need below. Every record comes from the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) file and shows whether the license is active, expiring, expired or suspended today. Confirm anything important directly with DCWP before you sign.
How do I look up a DCWP license number?
Type the number straight into the search box. DCWP license numbers are indexed here alongside business and owner names, so a partial number works too. The result links to the full record, including the county, the trade and the expiry date.
Which trades does DCWP license in New York City?
The trades tracked on this site are home improvement contractors. New York State does not license home improvement contractors statewide; licensing is done by the city. This covers New York City's register, which is the large public one, and it is limited to the five boroughs.
What happens if I hire a contractor whose license has expired?
An expired license can invalidate the permit for your job and complicate an insurance claim if the work goes wrong, and it removes whatever recourse the licensing board would otherwise give you. 26,455 of the 69,884 New York City records on this site are not valid today, so it is worth the thirty seconds.
Does a New York City contractor license mean the contractor is insured?
No. Licensing and insurance are separate. DCWP licensing does not certify that a contractor carries liability coverage or workers' compensation, so ask for a certificate of insurance as well as the license number.
How current is this New York City license data?
The DCWP file is reloaded every day and each page shows the date its statuses were computed. Records are not deleted when a license lapses, which is why expired licenses stay visible here instead of quietly disappearing.
Official DCWP verification: DCWP license search · file a complaint