Permits & licensing in New York.

New York writes one building code for every municipality outside New York City. The Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code took effect January 1, 1984 under Article 18 of the Executive Law; the State Energy Conservation Construction Code, under Article 11 of the Energy Law, reaches New York City as well. Neither waits on local adoption — both are in force by directive of the Legislature, and no city, town or village can exclude itself. The State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council, chaired by the Secretary of State, develops and amends both; the 2025 editions of the New York State code books took effect December 31, 2025.

Enforcement belongs to the smallest general-purpose government. Executive Law § 381 makes each city, town and village responsible for the Uniform Code and the Energy Code inside its own line — a town only outside its incorporated villages — through a code enforcement program that meets 19 NYCRR Part 1203: named enforcement officials, building permits, construction inspections, stop work orders, certificates of occupancy or compliance, operating permits, and periodic fire safety and property maintenance inspections. A municipality may contract for support services, but no agreement lets a building permit or a certificate of occupancy issue from anyone other than its own public officers.

Above the counter sits the Department of State's Division of Building Standards and Codes. It serves as secretariat to the Code Council and to the regional boards of review that decide Uniform Code variances under 19 NYCRR Part 1205, trains and certifies code enforcement officials, and oversees local enforcement practice. The opt-out chain ends with it: a city, town or village that declines enforcement by local law adopted before July 1 hands it to its county the following January 1, and a county that declines hands it at once to the Department of State. Licensing stays local — the Department of State does not license home improvement contractors, while New York City, Buffalo and the counties of Suffolk, Nassau, Westchester, Putnam and Rockland do.