Home improvement is a regulated trade in New York City. Any residential job costing more than $200 must be performed by a contractor holding a NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) license, and larger work needs a Department of Buildings permit. This page explains what that license covers, how to verify ours before you sign, when a permit is required, and which jobs route to our dedicated service pages.
Anajur is a New York City DCWP-licensed Home Improvement Contractor. Under one license we handle residential renovation, repair, remodeling, and additions across all of Staten Island. "Home improvement" is not a loose marketing word here — it is a legally defined license class under the New York City Administrative Code, and the work it covers is specific.
Some of what we do has its own dedicated page on this site — emergency water damage restoration, post-loss reconstruction, and kitchen and bathroom remodels. The rest — whole-home interior renovation, additions, drywall and plaster, painting, finish carpentry, masonry, and tile — we self-perform and describe below. Electrical, plumbing, and HVAC we coordinate through separately licensed trades. The point is one accountable contractor for the whole job, not a lead-gen handoff to a rotating list of subcontractors.
Under New York City Administrative Code §20-386, "home improvement" covers the construction, repair, replacement, remodeling, alteration, renovation, modernization, or addition to a residence — including basements, garages, patios, driveways, porches, and fences. A DCWP license is required for any such work costing more than $200 in combined labor and materials. To hold the license, a contractor must post a $20,000 surety bond or enroll in the DCWP Trust Fund, carry workers' compensation, hold EPA lead-safe (RRP) certification where it applies, and pass the Home Improvement exam.
Remodeling, alterations, additions, and repairs to one-, two-, and three-family homes and residential units — the core of the §20-386 definition.
Purely plumbing or electrical work requires a separate NYC Department of Buildings trade license — a Licensed Master Plumber, or a Master or Special Electrician. A home improvement license does not authorize it, which is why we coordinate those trades rather than claim them.
Building a new house from the ground up is outside the home-improvement license class and requires DOB General Contractor registration and full plan filings.
Because licensed contractors fund it, eligible homeowners who used a licensed contractor can recover up to $20,000 through the Home Improvement Contractor Trust Fund claim process (as of July 18, 2025). Hiring unlicensed forfeits that recourse.
You should never take a contractor's license number on faith — including ours. New York City and New York State both publish free, public lookups, and checking takes about a minute.
Use the NYC DCWP Instant License Check at nyc.gov/dcwp and search our license number, HIC #1220350-DCA. Confirm the status reads "Active" — an expired or suspended license is the single most important thing to catch. To confirm the corporation itself, search NY DOS #2160072 in the New York State Corporation and Business Entity Database at apps.dos.ny.gov. The Department of Buildings tells homeowners to do exactly this before hiring.
It depends on the work. Cosmetic and "ordinary repair" work — painting, plastering, cabinet installation, flooring, fixture swaps — is permit-exempt under NYC Administrative Code §28-105.4.2 and 1 RCNY §101-14, though it still must be done by a licensed contractor. Anything that touches structure, egress, occupancy, or new plumbing and electrical lines needs a NYC Department of Buildings filing through DOB NOW: Build. Skipping a required permit is the most common DOB violation in the city — roughly 41% of all violations in 2024 — and the penalty for a one- or two-family home runs six times the permit fee.
Use, egress, or occupancy changes — converting an attic to living space, or adding a unit. Filed by a registered architect or engineer; plan approval typically runs three to six months.
The common path for full kitchen, bath, and interior remodels that involve more than one trade. Roughly one to three months through DOB NOW: Build.
One trade, no occupancy or egress impact. The lightest filing — often two to six weeks.
These are the trades our own crews handle directly, with craftsmen who have worked Staten Island homes for years. For work that has its own dedicated page — water damage, kitchens, baths, flooring, roofing — see the service links further down.
Full-gut and room-by-room renovation, common in older North Shore homes that need plaster, wiring, and plumbing brought current. Larger scopes file as an ALT-2.
Rear extensions, dormers, and floor-area additions. Enlargements that change floor area or occupancy file as an ALT-1 with architect or engineer plans.
New drywall, patching, and traditional plaster repair — the latter still common in pre-war Staten Island stock.
Interior and exterior painting. On homes built before 1978, exterior repaints fall under EPA RRP lead-safe rules, which we follow.
Baseboards, casing, crown, built-ins, and millwork restoration in Victorian and Colonial homes.
Driveways, patios, steps, stoops, and foundation work.
Kitchen, bath, and floor tile. Cosmetic tile is permit-exempt but still licensed work.
A home improvement license does not authorize plumbing or electrical work — New York City requires a separate Licensed Master Plumber and a Master or Special Electrician for those trades, and HVAC and fire-suppression work the same way. Any contractor who claims to "self-perform" licensed plumbing or electrical under a home-improvement license is misrepresenting what the license allows.
On whole-home projects we coordinate those licensed trades directly, so the work stays on one schedule with one point of accountability — you are not left managing four separate companies. The permits those trades pull are filed under their own licenses, as the code requires.
The borough is not one housing market. What a renovation involves depends heavily on where the home is and when it was built — and that shapes the permits, the surprises behind the walls, and the budget.
St. George, Stapleton, New Brighton, Randall Manor — Victorian, Colonial Revival, and Queen Anne homes, many pre-1900. Expect knob-and-tube wiring, cast-iron plumbing stacks, plaster-and-lath, and pre-1978 lead paint that triggers EPA RRP work practices. Highest co-op and condo density near the ferry.
Westerleigh, Todt Hill, Clove Lakes — Cape Cods, Colonials, and Ranches from the postwar build-out. Generally more straightforward systems than the North Shore.
South Beach, Midland Beach, Ocean Breeze, New Dorp — the areas hit hardest in the 2012 flooding. Many homes sit in FEMA AE/VE zones, and renovation often runs alongside elevation and flood-resistant detailing under post-2012 building-code changes. See flood cleanup and basement flooding.
Tottenville, Great Kills, Annadale, Prince's Bay — mostly detached and semi-detached Colonials and Ranches from the 1960s and 70s. This is our own back yard; our shop sits in the 10309 ZIP.
Travis, Bloomfield, Mariners Harbor — more industrial land use with older, smaller residential pockets.
Several of the most common home improvement jobs have a full page of their own. If your project is one of these, start there — each page goes deep on scope, code, and what to expect.
Emergency mitigation, extraction, and structural drying when water gets in.
The rebuild phase — drywall, flooring, and framing — once the structure is dry.
Tell us what you’re planning — a repair, a remodel, an addition, or a whole-home renovation. We’ll walk the job on-site or by photo and video, explain whether it needs a permit, and write you an itemized estimate. One licensed contractor, accountable from the first call to the final coat.
We'll follow up to schedule a visit and write an itemized estimate. If your situation is urgent and standing water is still active, please call directly.