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Job Check: permit, license and sales tax for a job

By Yossi Grunwald, founder of Workeey · Updated

Pick the job and the place, answer a few questions, and get one card: does it need a permit, who may do it, is the labor taxed, which official forms, and the sources, each with the date it was checked. 19 jobs in New York City in full; anywhere else in the US, the state's license and sales tax answers.

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Check a job

Find the job, pick where it is, then answer the questions that change the answer. The card under the questions changes as you go, and its link opens that same answer, so you can send it to a client or keep it.

A few questions about the job

Replace a gas water heater

New York City · checked on November 6, 2026

Permit needed?

It depends on the job

It turns on what the job is:

  • What kind of building: Residential, 5 families or fewer; Is the new heater 350,000 BTU or less: Yes; Will the gas shut-off valve stay where it is: Yes: No permit (ordinary plumbing work), provided the plumber inspects the chimney and finds it in good condition. The licensed master plumber reports it on the OP128: Heat & Hot Water form with a chimney affidavit.
  • In any other case: Permit needed: Limited Alteration Application (in-kind replacement of gas-fired appliances up to 3 million Btu/h) filed by a licensed master plumber in DOB NOW: Build.
  • Is it an emergency replacement between October 1 and May 31: Yes: If it requires a permit, the work may start as emergency work; the permit application is due within 2 business days after the work starts.

Only when:

  • Existing appliance shutoff valve not moved
  • Chimney inspected and in good operational condition

Filing: OP128: HHW monthly report (no permit) or Limited Alteration Application in DOB NOW: Build.

Confirm with the NYC Department of Buildings before you start.

The city's own words on the permit (7 quotes)

License needed?

Licensed master plumber; helpers doing gas work need a gas work qualification and must work under the plumber's direct and continuing supervision.

DCWP's home improvement contractor license: not needed. DCWP lists plumbing as work not requiring a Home Improvement Contractor license; its exam guide exempts plumbers acting within their licensed craft. A contractor who also does non-plumbing home improvement work over the threshold needs the HIC license for that part.

Confirm with the NYC Department of Buildings for trade licenses, and NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection for the home improvement license.

The city's own words on the license (5 quotes)
  • “1. To perform plumbing work unless such person is a licensed master plumber or working under the direct and continuing supervision of a licensed master plumber” — NYC Administrative Code Title 28, Chapter 4 Licensing and Registration (DOB-hosted PDF), page date: Edition includes Local Law 128 of 2024 (effective 2025-12-21) and Local Law 142 of 2025
  • “It shall be unlawful to perform gas work unless such work is performed by: 1. A licensed master plumber; or 2. A person working under the direct and continuing supervision of a licensed master plumber if such person:” — NYC Administrative Code Title 28, Chapter 4 Licensing and Registration (DOB-hosted PDF), page date: Edition includes Local Law 128 of 2024 (effective 2025-12-21) and Local Law 142 of 2025
  • “For permits issued for plumbing work, fire protection and suppression work, electrical work, and oil-burning appliance work, the applicant for such permits shall be the licensed master plumber, licensed master fire suppression piping contractor, licensed master electrician, licensed special electrician, or licensed oil-burning equipment installer, respectively, who performs the work.” — NYC Administrative Code Title 28, Chapter 1 Administration (2022 NYC Construction Codes, as amended; DOB-hosted PDF), page date: Edition includes Local Law 128 of 2024 (effective 2025-12-21) and Local Law 142 of 2025 (effective 2026-02-24)
  • “Work Not Requiring a DCWP License Architectural plans Burglar alarm systems Carpet or linoleum installation Claims for loss of time or money not related to the contract Electrical work Floor sanding Furniture refinishing Handyman work costing less than $250 Interior design work New home construction Painting Plumbing” — Home Improvement Contractor License (NYC311, official City portal), no date on the page
  • “A person performing a home improvement job, which is less than $200 • Plumbers and electricians acting within the scope of their licensed craft” — Home Improvement Examination Guide (NYC DCWP, PDF), page date: Updated 2021-06-24

Sales tax on the invoice?

New York State's answer, from its tax department's pages. The sales tax rate, with any local share, was not checked here.

It depends on the kind of work, so here is each answer, side by side:

Repairing a thing
Taxed
Repairing a home or building
Taxed
Installing
Depends
New build
Not taxed · see the caveat

Installing: Installing something that becomes a permanent part of the building (water heater, kitchen cabinets) is a capital improvement and not taxable. Installing things that do not become part of the building (freestanding appliances, above-ground pools, canvas awnings, weather stripping) is taxable.

New build: The contractor pays sales tax on the materials.

Worth knowing: The certificate the customer gives for capital-improvement work (Form ST-124) is not quoted here.

Confirm with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Every answer for New York: sales tax on labor in New York.

New York's own words on the tax (8 quotes)
  • “Installing, maintaining, servicing, or repairing tangible personal property that is not held for sale by the purchaser of the service in the regular course of business (for example, servicing automobiles, repairing appliances, and repairing radio and television sets).” — Publication 750: A Guide to Sales Tax in New York State, page date: Pub 750 (11/15)
  • “A contractor or subcontractor must charge sales tax to its customers if the work performed is repair, maintenance, or installation work.” — Tax Bulletin ST-129: Repair, Maintenance, and Installation Services to Real Property (NYS Dept. of Taxation and Finance), page date: Issue Date: March 17, 2016
  • “For example, building a deck, installing a hot water heater, or installing kitchen cabinets are all capital improvement projects. Repairing a broken step, replacing a thermostat on a hot water heater, or painting existing cabinets are all examples of taxable repair and maintenance work.” — Tax Bulletin ST-104: Capital Improvements, page date: Issue Date: July 27, 2012
  • “The service of installing items that do not become part of the real property is taxable. This includes the installation of items such as: freestanding appliances above-ground swimming pools canvas awnings weather stripping” — TB-ST-129 (installation of items that do not become real property), page date: Issue Date: March 17, 2016
  • “Building materials and other tangible personal property purchased for capital improvement work are taxable, whether purchased by a contractor, subcontractor, repairman (hereafter contractor), or homeowner.” — TB-ST-104 (materials), page date: Issue Date: July 27, 2012

Paperwork

The official forms for this job:

The city's own pages give two answers

Emergency replacement window for heating/hot-water equipment

Effective date of the Local Law 142 ordinary-plumbing changes

Can gas work go on the ordinary plumbing (OPW) report?

Where to take the waste

What this job leaves, the rules for a business, then places that take it from one. Call ahead before you go.

Water heaters, boilers, old ranges, panels, pipe and other metal

The rules for a business, in the official words, and every place that takes it.

Not for contractors: household-only routes, never a place to take a job's waste.

  • DSNY's residential garbage collection: not for construction and demolition waste generated by professional contractors. “Construction and demolition waste generated by professional contractors cannot be discarded as residential garbage.” — Construction Debris — DSNY

Places that take it from a business:

The first 3 of 79 places

For every place below: from a business: Depends · source: Issued Licenses (DCWP), active Scrap Metal Processor licenses — NYC Open Data · checked on: November 6, 2026 · call ahead.

  • Alpha Recycling, Inc. · 4199 Boston Road, Bronx, NY 10466 · 7189442300 · “2021512-DCA”
  • Alpha Recycling, Inc. · 1641 E 233Rd St, Bronx, NY 10466 · 7189442300 · “1350511-DCA”
  • American Scrap Metal Inc. · 1791 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10457 · 7182948400 · “2078086-DCA”

Every place for water heaters, boilers, old ranges, panels, pipe and other metal, by borough (79)

Confirm with each place before you go: call ahead.

Sources

Every page quoted (13 pages)

Where our data comes from

This is a plain-words summary of official city and state pages as of November 6, 2026, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and have exceptions: confirm with the departments named on this card before you start or bill.

Every New York City job, on its own page

Each answer is also a plain page with the whole card on it, every quote from the city's own pages, checked November 6, 2026. 11 of the 19 answers are marked "not fully confirmed", and their pages say which part the city's pages leave open.

Anywhere else in the US

Pick "Somewhere in" your state and the card gives two answers from the state's own pages: its license answer for that kind of work, and whether the labor is taxed. The permit part says plainly that the place has not been researched yet, and who to ask: the building department of the city or county where the job is.

Each state's full answers have their own pages: contractor license limits by state and sales tax on labor by state.

How Job Check works

Every answer comes from official pages only: New York City's Department of Buildings and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and each state's own licensing and revenue pages. Each card quotes them and gives the date they were checked (November 6, 2026). Nothing is worked out by AI: the card only looks up what was researched and shows the parts your answers make true. The city-wide rules behind the New York City answers are in the data file too, each with its quotes.

Where the official pages disagree, the card shows both quotes; where they do not settle something, it says so; and where the answer turns on something about the job, it asks. For sales tax, it never decides for you whether the work is a repair, an installation or new construction: pick one, or see all four.

The whole data set is one file anyone can read: job-check.json, with its description.

This is a plain-words summary of official city and state pages as of November 6, 2026, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and have exceptions: confirm with the departments named on this card before you start or bill.

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