To check whether a contractor is registered with the New York State Department of Labor, search the business on the DOL Contractor and Subcontractor Registry Dashboard or in the Contractor Registry Certificate dataset on data.ny.gov. Since December 30, 2024, Labor Law Section 220-i requires contractors to hold a certificate before bidding on public work, and subcontractors before starting work on it (DOL Contractor Registry FAQ). The rule also covers private projects under Article 8 of the Labor Law: publicly subsidized projects (Section 224-a), renewable energy systems (224-d), broadband (224-e), and climate-risk, energy-transition and roadway excavation projects (224-f).
The dataset listed 15,022 active certificates on October 24, 2026. Each runs two calendar years, so the first wave of registrations from late 2024 is coming due: 4,806 certificates (32.0%) expire in December 2026 or January 2027. Registrants also answer questions about their compliance history, and 598 (4.0%) said yes to at least one, most often a final determination of safety standard violations.
| Item | What we found |
|---|---|
| Where to search | DOL Registry Dashboard; data.ny.gov Contractor Registry Certificate (updated October 24, 2026) |
| Who must register | Contractors and subcontractors on public work and Article 8 private projects, since December 30, 2024 |
| Fee and term | $200, or $100 for New York State certified MWBEs, plus a $1.97 card fee; valid two calendar years |
| Active certificates | 15,022; 84.1% list a New York address, 6.0% New Jersey |
| Expiring December 2026–January 2027 | 4,806 (32.0%) |
| Any compliance history disclosed | 598 (4.0%): safety determinations 429, labor or tax law determinations 134, outstanding wage assessments 44, past debarment 38 |
| Penalty for working unregistered | Civil penalty up to $1,000 and a possible stop work order |
How to look up a contractor in the New York Contractor Registry
- Get the certificate number from the bid or from the contractor. Numbers look like 24-63H1N-CR, and the first two digits are the year the certificate was issued.
- Search the dashboard, or filter the dataset by certificate number or business name. Use the legal name; the dataset has a separate DBA column.
- Check the expiration date against your bid date or project start. A contractor whose certificate expires mid-project can finish that contracted work, but a new bid needs a current certificate.
- Read the disclosure columns: debarment, outstanding wage assessments, final determinations for labor or tax law and for safety standards, workers’ compensation coverage or exemption, and apprenticeship program.
- Cross-check debarment in the New York State Debarments database. A contractor that is currently debarred is found unfit to register.
- If the business is missing, ask for its certificate and call the DOL Bureau of Public Work at (518) 457-5589. The dataset lists active certificates only.
What New York’s 15,022 active registry certificates show
- Business form: corporations 67.3%, LLCs 29.3%, sole proprietors 1.4%.
- Location: 2,392 (15.9%) list an address outside New York, led by New Jersey (902), Pennsylvania (299), Connecticut (177) and Massachusetts (123).
- MWBE: 2,619 (17.4%) report minority- or women-owned status.
- Apprenticeship: 2,531 (16.8%) report a link to an apprenticeship program, 21.9% of out-of-state registrants against 15.9% of New York ones.
- Workers’ compensation: 859 (5.7%) report an exemption instead of coverage.
- Employer numbers: 2,606 (17.3%) have no NYS DOL employer registration number. The reasons given are sole proprietor (1,044), out of state (913) and other (649).
The December 2026 renewal wave
Registration opened ahead of the December 30, 2024 start date, so 2,816 of today’s certificates were issued in November and December 2024, and 1,993 more in January 2025. With a two-year term, they come due together. DOL asks registrants to renew at least 90 days before expiration and sends reminders through the registry portal.
Renewals show up in the data. Issuances jumped to 1,228 in September 2026 and 826 in the first 24 days of October, after running at roughly 300 to 450 a month earlier in the year. 1,407 certificates now expire in December 2028, two years past the launch-wave dates. In one pair in the data, a certificate issued December 5, 2024 and expiring December 29, 2026 sits beside a renewal issued October 8, 2026 that runs to December 29, 2028.
If a certificate shows a December 2026 or January 2027 expiration, ask for the renewed certificate before you rely on it for a bid or a 2027 project start.
How to read the compliance history columns
The yes or no columns are the contractor’s own disclosures on the application. A yes is a record to ask about. DOL’s grounds for refusing registration are narrower: a current debarment, or a final prevailing wage order that hasn’t been satisfied. All 38 registrants who report a past debarment show an end date on or before September 4, 2026.
- Final determination of safety standard violations: 429 (2.9%), and 11.0% of the 254 publicly traded registrants.
- Final determination for labor or tax law violations: 134 (0.9%).
- Outstanding wage assessments: 44 (0.3%).
- Past debarment: 38 (0.3%).
DOL can suspend or revoke a certificate if a contractor becomes unfit. Before an unfitness finding, the contractor is notified through the portal and has 30 days to request a hearing.
Home renovation jobs and other private work in New York
The registry covers public work and the Article 8 private projects listed above. A typical home renovation sits outside it, so a homeowner’s contractor may have no registry certificate at all. For home jobs, check the license required where the work happens and the specialty licenses DOL issues for mold, asbestos and elevator work; our contractor license lookup guide lists where to look in other states.
Checklist for owners, prime contractors and agencies
- Certificate of registration submitted with the bid, as Section 220-i requires.
- Each subcontractor registered before it starts work; the prime contractor is liable for a sub it knew or should have known was unregistered.
- Expiration date after the bid date, or a renewed certificate.
- State debarment search for every firm on the job.
- Every yes in the disclosure columns explained in writing.
- Owners and developers of covered private projects: a civil penalty of up to $1,000 applies for starting work with a contractor they knew or should have known was unregistered.
More analyses of public licensing and permit data are on our permit data page. The registry’s own pages are on the DOL Contractor Registry home.
Counts are our calculations from the Contractor Registry Certificate data on data.ny.gov, downloaded October 25, 2026 (updated October 24, 2026). DOL pages checked October 25, 2026.