NYC DOB General Contractor License: LIC6 Form and DOB NOW Filing

To work as a general contractor in New York City, you need a general contractor registration issued by the NYC Department of Buildings. It costs $300, lasts three years, and the entire application runs through the DOB NOW online portal.¹ Operating without it is unlawful under NYC Administrative Code § 28-418.1 and can trigger fines and stop-work orders on your job sites.²

The registration lets you pull permits and manage construction, alteration, and renovation projects as the primary contractor. Trade work such as electrical, plumbing, and fire suppression still requires its own separate license.

Who Qualifies

The Administrative Code sets the baseline. You must be at least 18, able to read and write English, and of good moral character.³ The moral character standard gives DOB room to deny applicants with relevant convictions or a history of building code violations. The LIC6 form asks directly about any conviction or guilty plea (violation, misdemeanor, or felony) and about any outstanding penalties owed to the City of New York.⁴

There is also a financial threshold that catches first-time applicants: the form asks whether your business has at least $25,000 in operating capital. If it doesn’t, your application will have problems before the background investigation even starts.⁴

If you apply as a corporation, partnership, or LLC, those qualifications apply to the primary principal listed on the application. You also have to disclose all corporate officers, partners, and any stakeholder who owns 10 percent or more of the business.

Insurance and Business Documents You’ll Need

Insurance is where most applications get bogged down, because DOB wants specific state-issued forms rather than standard insurance cards or generic certificates.

General liability: a commercial general liability policy with a minimum of $1,000,000 per occurrence, uploaded as the original certificate.⁵⁶
Workers’ compensation: Form C-105.2 from a private carrier, or Form U-26.3 if you are insured through the New York State Insurance Fund. Only your insurer or licensed agent can issue these.⁷
Disability insurance: Form DB-120.1, which covers your employees for non-occupational injuries.

Corporate entities include filing receipts from the state; sole proprietors submit a business certificate from the county clerk. Coverage has to stay active for the full registration term, and any lapse or change in policy must be reported to DOB.⁵

Filling Out the LIC6

The LIC6 is the dedicated form for general contractor registration. It collects your personal information (name, Social Security number, date of birth), business details (name, address, phone, EIN), and a five-year business history showing where you’ve worked as a general contractor.⁴

You will also list any existing DOB tracking numbers tied to your work, all licenses and certifications issued to you by any city or state (including your driver’s license), and whether any license you have held has ever been suspended or revoked. DOB wants convictions disclosed regardless of whether they were construction-related. The form must be fully typed and notarized before you submit it.⁶

Submitting Through DOB NOW

Since September 2021, all new license and registration applications go through DOB NOW. In-person submissions are no longer accepted.⁶ Create a DOB NOW profile if you don’t already have one, then go to the BIS Options section to start a new license application.

Upload clear PDFs of the following, each to its designated slot in the portal:

The completed, typed, and notarized LIC6.
Your general liability certificate showing at least $1,000,000 in coverage.
Workers’ compensation Form C-105.2 or U-26.3.
Disability insurance Form DB-120.1.

The $300 fee covers the three-year term and is paid through the portal.¹

What Happens After You Submit

DOB’s Investigation and Discipline Unit reviews your materials, runs a background check, and verifies your insurance filings. DOB’s own FAQ page states that background investigations currently average three to five months, with the timeline depending on how complex your application is.⁸ Prior building code violations, outstanding fines, or a complicated business history push you toward the longer end.

DOB notifies you by email when a decision is made or if it needs additional documentation. Approval comes with a physical registration card that serves as your official proof of authorization. You cannot legally pull permits as a general contractor until that card is in hand, so plan your project timeline around the wait.

Renewing the Registration

The registration lasts three years, and the renewal window opens 90 days before expiration. Filing at least 30 days before expiration avoids a $50 late fee.⁹

The renewal fee is $240 on time, or $290 late (which includes the $50 penalty). If your registration has been expired for more than a year, you can’t renew. You reapply from scratch, which means a fresh $300 application fee and a new background investigation.⁹

For a renewal you submit an updated, notarized LIC6 along with a notarized statement on company letterhead disclosing any changes to your business since the last registration. Changes to your company’s address, phone number, or business name need supporting documentation such as a utility bill, lease, or bank statement. If your business now has an entirely new EIN, DOB treats it as a new entity, and you have to reapply rather than renew.⁹ For renewals you only need to report convictions that occurred since your last renewal.

Other Credentials You May Still Need

The DOB registration is not always the only credential the work requires. If you perform residential renovation, repair, or remodeling in NYC, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection requires a separate Home Improvement Contractor license with its own bonding and insurance requirements. The two come from different agencies, cover different legal obligations, and each carries its own penalties for working without it.

Lead paint is the other trap. Most NYC residential buildings were built before 1978, and any firm doing renovation in pre-1978 housing must be EPA-certified under the Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, with at least one certified renovator on site.¹⁰¹¹¹² Doing residential renovation in NYC without both the DOB registration and the EPA lead-safe certification leaves you exposed on two separate regulatory fronts.

1
NYC Buildings. General Contractor Registration
2
American Legal Publishing Corporation. New York City Administrative Code 28-418.1 – Requirement of Registration
3
American Legal Publishing Corporation. New York City Administrative Code 28-401.6 – Qualifications of Applicant
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New York City Department of Buildings. LIC6 General Contractor Registration Form
5
American Legal Publishing Corporation. New York City Administrative Code 28-401.9 – Insurance
6
NYC Buildings. Obtain a General Contractor Registration
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New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Obtaining a C-105.2 Certificate of NYS Workers’ Compensation Insurance
8
NYC Buildings. Licensing Frequently Asked Questions
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NYC Buildings. General Contractor Registration Renewal
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eCFR. 40 CFR Part 745 Subpart E – Residential Property Renovation
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NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Lead-Based Paint
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Renovation, Repair and Painting Program Renovator Training