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How to verify a contractor license in New York City, New York

Check any New York City contractor license — status and expiration — through one normalized API, or look it up by hand on the city licensing portal. New York City licenses trades at the city level, not just the New York state board.

What you can verify

Data source: Official New York City licensing portal

Jurisdiction: New York City (municipal), New York

Trade types

Looking for the New York state board instead? See the New York contractor license guide.

One call. State and city licenses, same schema.

The /verify response is identical in shape whether the license is issued by a state board or a city — add the city parameter and your integration code stays the same:

{
  "valid": true,
  "name": "SAMPLE CONTRACTING LLC",
  "license_number": "SAMPLE-12345",
  "trade": "electrical",
  "expiration": "05/12/2027",
  "status": "Active",
  "state": "NY",
  "disciplinary_actions": [],
  "source_url": "https://www.nyc.gov/site/buildings/business/licensed-applicants.page",
  "cached": false,
  "checked_at": "2026-06-22T05:14:00Z"
}

Example response showing the normalized schema. Wire it up against deterministic fixtures in the sandbox — no credit cost.

Verify New York City licenses programmatically

# Verify a New York City contractor license with one API call
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
  "https://www.tradesapi.com/verify?state=NY&city=nyc&license=SAMPLE-12345&trade=electrical"

The official New York City licensing portal is at https://www.nyc.gov/site/buildings/business/licensed-applicants.page — free to search by hand. TradesAPI wraps it in the same /verify call you use for every state, so city and state licenses come back in one normalized schema.

Frequently asked questions

Does New York City issue its own contractor licenses?

Yes. New York City licenses certain trades at the city level rather than (or in addition to) the New York state board. TradesAPI verifies New York City municipal licenses through the same GET /verify endpoint, passing city=nyc alongside the state.

How do I verify a New York City contractor license?

Call TradesAPI's GET /verify with state=NY, city=nyc, and the license number to get a normalized result — valid/invalid, status, and expiration — in one request, or search the city portal by hand.

What New York City trades can I verify?

TradesAPI covers these New York City trade types today: Electrical, General Contractor, Plumbing.