Buffalo
City of Buffalo Office of Licenses
In short
City of Buffalo Office of Licenses issues 3 permits we publish for Buffalo, last verified 2026-09-05. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant License | City of Buffalo Office of Licenses | $300 flat fee; Food Store is $500, Restaurant Take Out $125, and Caterer $100 | not confirmed in the source consulted | 2026-09-05 |
| Contractor License | City of Buffalo Office of Licenses | $225–$900 by category — Handyman $225, Light Commercial $500, Specialty Trade $450, General Contractor $900 | not confirmed in the source consulted | 2026-09-05 |
| Fire Prevention Code Licenseonly if it applies to you | City of Buffalo Office of Licenses | No published rate — confirmed directly against the full application text: "Applicant will be billed upon approval of all inspections." The amount is set case by case after inspection, not from a fee table. | not confirmed in the source consulted | 2026-09-05 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Restaurant License
This City license sits entirely apart from the county food permit below — Buffalo has no universal general business license, only roughly fifty named categories like this one, and a restaurant needs both this and the Erie County permit to operate legally.
Contractor License
Insurance scales with the license — a Handyman needs $50,000 in general liability, while a General Contractor or any demolition grade needs $2,000,000. A full read of the current Contractor Application confirms no surety bond is required for any category: the document sets out only the General Liability Insurance minimums above plus Workers' Compensation proof (forms C105.2, U-26.3, SI-12 or GSI-105.2, or a CE-200 exemption filing for a solo operator with no employees).
Fire Prevention Code License
This license category, approved by the Chief of the Bureau of Fire Protection, is a checklist of roughly two dozen hazard classes rather than a single trade license — combustible fibers and materials, hazardous chemicals, explosives and blasting agents, welding and compressed-gas storage, liquefied petroleum gas over 300 lb, flammable-finish application, bowling establishments, dry cleaners, service stations, storage warehouses, and both a repair garage under 3,000 square feet and one over 3,000 square feet among them — reaching auto repair shops through fire code licensing rather than a dedicated repair-shop license. The absence of a published fee table was independently re-confirmed by a full read of the six-page official application, not just the earlier partial pass.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Buffalo
- Phone
- (716) 851-6583
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- City of Buffalo — contractor licence application, fees and insurance requirements by categoryCity of Buffalo · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- City of Buffalo — Fire Prevention Code licence application, covering repair garagesCity of Buffalo · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- City of Buffalo — Restaurant business licence application, $300 feeCity of Buffalo · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
Other offices serving Buffalo
The full permit list for this jurisdiction
Industry permit lists that include this agency
New York jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.