How to Verify a Roofer's License on Long Island (and Vet Them Before You Sign)

Short answer: on Long Island you verify a roofer's license with the county, not the state. For a house in Suffolk, search the contractor on the Suffolk County Consumer Affairs License and Complaint Violation Look Up; for a house in Nassau, use the Nassau County Consumer Affairs contractor lookup. Confirm that the status is active, the expiration date falls after your job ends, the name and address match the contract, and the license category covers roofing. Then check complaint history, confirm workers' compensation with the New York Workers' Compensation Board, and ask your town or village whether it has its own requirements.

Below is a walkthrough of each step, based on the county, state and town sources linked throughout, all checked on October 10, 2026.

Before You Search: Get the Exact License Number and Legal Name

Ask the roofer for the county license number before you search, and write down the legal business name, any "doing business as" name and the owner's name. They should be easy to find:

• Suffolk: the county code requires the home improvement license number in all advertising (section 563-17(D)). Under section 563-15.1, the contract or paid receipt must also show the license number, plus the names and license numbers of any subcontractors.
• Nassau: the county's licensing FAQ says contractors must display the license at their business and keep a copy in each vehicle.
• Everywhere in New York: General Business Law section 771 requires a home improvement contract to list the contractor's name, address, phone number and license number.

A roofer who can't or won't give you a license number has answered the question for you.

Suffolk County: How to Use the DCA License Search

1. Open ca.suffolkcountyny.gov/dcasearch. The page is titled "License and Complaint Violation Look Up."
2. Search by License Number if you have it. Suffolk home improvement licenses appear in the format H- followed by digits, and salesperson IDs as HS-. Without a number, search Business Name. In our tests, name searches matched from the start of the name, so try the legal name, the DBA and the owner's last name.
3. Leave "Search for a Specific License Type/Complaint" set to <None>. The page itself warns that a license-type search shows license data only, with no complaint or violation data.
4. Read each result. The fields are License ID, Name, Business Name, Address, Phone Number, Category, License Status, Date Issued and Date Expire.

What to check:

• License Status: it should say Active. Many old entries show Expired. Suffolk licenses run for two years, and a license not renewed before its expiration date becomes "null and void" on that date (section 563-6).
• Date Expire: if it falls before your job will finish, ask whether the renewal has been filed.
• Category: look for Roofing.
• Name and address match: the business name on the license should match the name on your estimate and contract. The code prohibits a licensee from doing business under a name other than the licensed one (section 563-10(F)).
• Salesperson: results can include a separate "Sales Persons Information" section. Suffolk requires anyone selling for a home improvement contractor (other than the license holder) to carry a county identification card for each contractor they sell for (section 563-18). If someone other than the owner is selling you the job, check that their name appears.

To ask about complaint history directly, the county's Home Improvement Fact Sheet says to call Consumer Affairs at 631-853-4600. The county also publishes a Wall of Shame registry of people fined for working without a license, people whose license was revoked, and people convicted of fraud or theft against a customer.

Nassau County: How to Use the Consumer Affairs Contractor Lookup

1. Go to Nassau County e-Services and click Contractor Lookup, or open the lookup directly. The page is titled "Search Businesses With Valid Licenses."
2. Enter the License number or the Company Name (one field is enough) and click Search.
3. The results table shows Company Name, Assumed Name/DBA, License, Status, Phone, Address, Category and Insurance Coverage.
4. Click the company name. The detail page has four sections: Vendor Information; Licenses (with an Expires date); Complaint and Violation Information, with total and open complaints and violations by year; and Principals, which lists the owners.

What to check:

• Status and Expires: Status should read Licensed, and the expiration date should fall after your project.
• Category: Nassau lists specific trades. In our searches, some companies listed "Roofing" and others only "Roof Repairs." If the category doesn't cover your job, such as a full replacement, ask the contractor and call the county.
• Insurance Coverage notes: many entries carry notes such as "Not Insured for Dormers & Extensions." If your roof job includes building or raising a dormer, that note matters.
• Principals: the owner named here should be the person you're dealing with, or someone who works for them.
• Complaints: step through the year selector. A single resolved complaint isn't unusual for a busy company; several open complaints in recent years is a different story.

The search is labeled as a list of valid licenses, and the disclaimer says the database is being updated daily. If you can't find a contractor, call Consumer Affairs at 516-571-2600 before you conclude anything. The county's consumer checklist gives the same number for checking a contractor's complaint history.

The Two County Lookups Side by Side

Does Your Town or Village Also Require a License?

Usually the county license is the main one, but not always:

• Town of Southampton issues its own one-year home improvement license, with vehicle decals, through its Land Management Licensing Office, 631-702-1807 (town licensing page).
• Town of East Hampton issues a two-year home improvement contractor license through the Town Clerk, 631-324-4142. The town checklist requires liability insurance naming the town, a workers' compensation certificate or CE-200 exemption, and ten hours of continuing education.
• Many Nassau villages don't issue a license but won't issue a permit without paperwork. The Village of Upper Brookville requires a copy of the Nassau County license, a C-105.2 or U-26.3 workers' comp certificate ("Accord Forms not accepted"), a DB-120.1 disability certificate and liability insurance naming the village. It warns that a lapse in insurance or license means a stop-work order. Hewlett Bay Park asks for the Nassau license, liability and workers' comp naming the village, and the insurance of every subcontractor.

If you're not sure whether you live in an incorporated village, your property tax bill will tell you. Call that building department and ask two questions: does it register contractors, and does a roof replacement need a permit? Our guide to roofing permits in Nassau and Suffolk covers the permit side.

Verify Workers' Comp and Disability Coverage

This step protects you more than any other. Suffolk's fact sheet warns that if a worker is injured or property is damaged and the contractor lacks proper insurance, the homeowner could be held liable. Roofing is high-risk work, and a fall from your roof by an uninsured worker is exactly the scenario to avoid.

New York's roofing-contractor law, General Business Law section 771-b, requires a roofer to give you proof of insurance:

• a workers' compensation certificate covering all employees, or, if the roofer has no employees, a CE-200 certificate of exemption from the Workers' Compensation Board
• general liability and property damage certificates of at least $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, and $50,000 for property damage. These minimums apply where the municipality doesn't set its own insurance requirements.

Then confirm the coverage yourself:

1. Open the Workers' Compensation Board's employer coverage search ("Does Employer Have Coverage?").
2. Search by employer name (the Board says results match names that begin with exactly what you type), federal employer ID number or policy number.
3. The Board says the tool covers workers' comp, disability benefits and Paid Family Leave coverage. It's updated daily from insurers' proof-of-coverage filings and can show future cancellation dates, so look for a cancellation date before your job ends.

The paperwork to ask for: New York's workers' comp certificate is the C-105.2 (the State Insurance Fund issues its own version, the U-26.3), and disability and Paid Family Leave coverage is shown on a DB-120.1. The Board states that ACORD forms are not acceptable proof of New York workers' comp for government permits, which is why villages such as Upper Brookville reject them.

Be wary if a roofer tells you the crew are all independent contractors and so don't need coverage. Under New York's Construction Industry Fair Play Act, a worker hurt while doing work for a contractor is presumed to be that contractor's employee for workers' comp purposes unless the contractor can prove otherwise (WCB coverage rules).

Certificate of Insurance Tips

• Have the certificate sent to you directly by the insurance agent or carrier, with you listed as certificate holder, rather than accepting a photocopy.
• Check that the insured name matches the licensed business name in the county lookup.
• Check that the policy dates cover your whole project.
• Call the agent listed on the certificate to confirm the policy is active.
• Section 771-b requires the roofing contract itself to name the insurer, the type of coverage and the policy limits, so compare the contract with the certificate.
• If subcontractors will be on your roof, ask for their certificates too.

Know the Payment Rules for Roofers

Section 771-b, added in 2019 (Chapter 550 of the Laws of 2019), sets rules for roofing, gutter, downspout and siding contractors that are stricter than general home improvement advice:

• No required deposit. A roofer can't require a deposit for work and materials. It may invoice for the materials when they are delivered to your property, but only if the material cost was disclosed to you in writing beforehand, and it may invoice the rest when all the contracted work is complete.
• No deductible deals. A roofer can't advertise or promise to pay or rebate any part of your insurance deductible, whether as a discount, credit, gift or "referral fee."
• A cancellation right on insurance jobs. If the job is to be paid under your property insurance, you can cancel until midnight of the third business day after your insurer tells you in writing that all or part of the claim isn't covered.
• No claim handling. A roofer can't report, adjust or negotiate your claim for you, or take a fee for referring you to someone who does.

The county fact sheets suggest keeping any down payment under 15% for home improvement jobs in general. For a roofing job, section 771-b goes further. Separately, section 771 requires any payments a contractor receives before the job is complete to be deposited in escrow or protected by a bond. For the full clause-by-clause list, see our roofing contract checklist for New York.

Storm-Chaser Red Flags

The New York Attorney General warns that natural disasters and major weather events often attract scam artists, and that out-of-area storm chasers can be hard to track down if the work fails. After a nor'easter or hurricane, watch for:

• someone who knocks on your door unsolicited offering repairs
• no local address or phone number you can verify, or a name you can't find in the county lookup
• a demand for a deposit, especially in cash, before a contract is signed (the AG says never give a cash deposit before signing, and section 771-b bars roofers from requiring one at all)
• an offer to "cover" or "absorb" your deductible: it's barred by section 771-b, and the former state Insurance Department warned in a 2006 opinion that billing an insurer more than the discounted price can be insurance fraud by both the contractor and the homeowner
• "we'll handle your insurance claim for you"
• pressure to sign today, or a contract with blank spaces (the AG says never sign one)
• permanent work starting before your adjuster has approved it, or with no permit where one is required (see the AG's "After the storm" guide)

Suffolk's licensing law also defines taking unfair advantage of a declared disaster, with prices grossly out of line with normal ones, as an unconscionable trade practice that the county investigates. If you need temporary protection first, our storm damage and insurance claim guide explains documenting damage and working with your adjuster.

Don't Rely on Third-Party License Data

Contractor directories and aggregator sites often show license information, but it may be old. On October 10, 2026, one BuildZoom profile for a Nassau contractor said the site had last verified the Nassau license as active in November 2025, almost a year earlier, and the page itself recommends double-checking with the license board. A license can expire, lapse or be revoked after the aggregator's last check, so treat these sites as a lead and the county lookup as the answer.

Where to Report Problems

• Suffolk: Consumer Affairs complaint form. The fact sheet says complaints are investigated at no charge and mentions a restitution fund for homeowners holding an unpaid judgment against a licensed contractor.
• Nassau: Consumer Complaint Form. The county's FAQ says its restitution fund can pay up to $10,000, but you must file a complaint with Consumer Affairs before going to court.
• Statewide: the Attorney General's complaint page.
• Missing workers' comp: the Workers' Compensation Board accepts employer whistleblower reports through its coverage-search page.

Quick Checklist

1. Get the county license number, legal business name and owner's name.
2. Run the Suffolk or Nassau lookup: status active, expiration after your job, Roofing in the category, names match.
3. Check complaints online (Suffolk with License Type at <None>; Nassau on the detail page) or by phone.
4. Ask your town or village about its own license or registration (Southampton and East Hampton have one) and about the permit.
5. Get a C-105.2 or U-26.3 (or a CE-200 if there are no employees), a DB-120.1 and a liability certificate sent by the agent, and confirm workers' comp on the WCB search.
6. Confirm the contract names the insurer, coverage type and limits, and that no deposit is required.
7. Compare at least two or three written, itemized quotes for the same scope. Our roof replacement cost guide covers what drives the price.

Want quotes from local roofers? Request free quotes; we'll connect you with independent contractors.