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Nassau County

Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs

In short

Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs issues 8 permits we publish for Nassau County, last verified 2026-09-28. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Salon and Cosmetology Licensing — State License Applies (Nassau County)only if it applies to youNassau County Department of Consumer AffairsNo feenot applicable — cosmetology and salon licensure is issued by the New York State Department of State2026-09-28
Other Nassau County Consumer Affairs License Categories (Locksmiths, Pet Grooming, Scrap Metal/Vehicle Dismantlers/Junk Dealers, and more)only if it applies to youNassau County Department of Consumer AffairsEach of the department's other licensed categories carries its own fee under the same consolidated fee schedule (effective January 1, 2020) that sets the Home Improvement ($650 + $50 restitution fund) and Health Club Operator ($1,300) fees recorded separately for Nassau County. The department's current public list names Automated Teller Machines (§21-22), Dry Cleaners/Laundromats (§21-30), Electronic/Home Appliance Repair (§21-28), Environmental Hazard Remediation Providers & Technicians (§21-31), Home Services (§21-25), Locksmiths (§21-12.1), Pet Grooming Business & Pet Groomers (§21-33), Scrap Metal Processors/Vehicle Dismantlers/Junk Dealers (§21-29), and Storage Warehouses (§21-26); the department's own audit of its Licensing Division adds Sign Hangers and School Bus Companies to the same fee schedule.varies by category; most Consumer Affairs licenses in this list run 2 years, matching the Home Improvement and Health Club pattern2026-09-28
Home Improvement Contractor LicenseNassau County Department of Consumer Affairs$700 for a new 2-year license: $650 license fee plus a one-time $50 Home Improvement Restitution Fund contribution, $700 total; confirm the renewal-year fee with Consumer Affairs2 years (biennial)2026-09-28
Health Club Operator LicenseNassau County Department of Consumer Affairs$130,000 new-application fee for a 2-year license2 years (biennial)2026-09-28
Weights and Measures Device Registration and Inspectiononly if it applies to youNassau County Department of Consumer AffairsNo feeongoing registration, reverified at unannounced annual inspections2026-09-28
Liquor Licensing — New York State Liquor Authority (Nassau County)only if it applies to youNassau County Department of Consumer AffairsNo feenot applicable — liquor licensing is issued by the New York State Liquor Authority2026-09-28
General Business License — Nassau County Consumer Affairs Positiononly if it applies to youNassau County Department of Consumer AffairsNo feenot applicable — the Department of Consumer Affairs licenses only the named categories on its Licensing & Registrations page2026-09-28
Auto Repair Shop Registration — State DMV Applies (Nassau County)only if it applies to youNassau County Department of Consumer AffairsNo feenot applicable — repair shop registration is issued by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles2026-09-28

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

Salon and Cosmetology Licensing — State License Applies (Nassau County)

Cosmetology, barbering, nail, waxing and esthetics licenses — for both the individual practitioner and the shop owner or operator — are issued by the New York State Department of State through its Appearance Enhancement and Barber Licensing System, and the Department of Consumer Affairs' Licensing & Registrations page lists no salon or barbershop category, so there is no county salon license fee. The Department of Consumer Affairs' 'Pet Grooming Business & Pet Groomers' category (§21-33) is unrelated: it licenses animal grooming, not human hair or beauty services, and should not be confused with a salon license. A salon that offers indoor tanning still needs the county's Indoor Tanning Facility permit recorded separately for Nassau County, and a salon that offers baths, saunas or massage outside a cosmetologist's authorized scope of practice may reach other county programs, but the department's list has no category for ordinary hair, nail and skin services.

Other Nassau County Consumer Affairs License Categories (Locksmiths, Pet Grooming, Scrap Metal/Vehicle Dismantlers/Junk Dealers, and more)

A locksmith needs a Locksmith license (§21-12.1); a business grooming animals commercially needs a Pet Grooming Business & Pet Groomers license (§21-33) — a license for animal grooming, distinct from a human hair or nail salon; and a business buying, processing or dismantling scrap metal, vehicles or other junk needs a Scrap Metal Processors/Vehicle Dismantlers/Junk Dealers license (§21-29) on top of any New York State DMV salvage registration that also applies. A separate category, Second-Hand Precious Metal & Gem Dealer, appears in the department's own audit of its Licensing Division but does not appear on the department's current public list of licensed categories at nassaucountyny.gov/1563 — a business buying or selling used precious metals or gems should contact Consumer Affairs at 516-571-3200 to confirm whether that category is currently active before applying under it. None of these categories apply to a business outside the trade they name; an ordinary restaurant, salon or fitness studio with no locksmith, pet-grooming, scrap-metal or precious-metal activity has no obligation under this record.

Home Improvement Contractor License

Anyone conducting a home-improvement contracting business in Nassau County — general contractors and nearly all specialty or service contractors, including roofing, masonry, pool service and HVAC — needs a Home Improvement Contractor license from the Department of Consumer Affairs, and nearly every subcontractor besides plumbers and electricians (who are licensed separately) also needs one. The current fee, confirmed directly on the department's own fee schedule ('effective January 1, 2020') and its FAQ page, is $650 for the 2-year license plus a separate, mandatory one-time $50 contribution to the Home Improvement Restitution Fund, paid by certified check or money order with each new application — $700 total. An earlier $500 figure for this license is stale, from an archived version of the same county page; the current live pages consistently show $650. Other requirements include proof of liability insurance and workers' compensation, fingerprinting through IDENTOGO, and EPA Lead Safety for Renovation, Repair & Paint (RRP) certification where the work may disturb lead-paint-era surfaces. Home Improvement is the large majority of the department's active licenses.

Health Club Operator License

A fitness studio, gym or health club operating in Nassau County needs a Health Club Operator license from the Department of Consumer Affairs. The fee is $1,300.00 for a new application covering a 2-year license, matching the biennial pattern also used for the Home Improvement Contractor license, and a bond or surety is required alongside the license application. The governing Administrative Code section is §21-32.1. The fee appears in the department's own consolidated fee schedule ('effective January 1, 2020'), which also sets the Home Improvement fee, and the department's current licensed-categories page cites §21-32.1. The license is separate from any Public Health water-recreation permit a club needs if it operates a pool, spa or hot tub — recorded as its own entry under Swimming Pools & Bathing Beaches.

Weights and Measures Device Registration and Inspection

There is no filing fee for the Weights and Measures Notification Form itself; the program is inspection-based rather than permit-fee based. A retail store using regulated scales — a deli counter, jewelry scale or pharmacy scale, for example — or an auto-repair operation with a co-located fuel pump or fuel-oil delivery vehicle must submit a Weights and Measures Notification Form registering those devices with the Department of Consumer Affairs. The department then conducts unannounced annual inspections of retail scales, gasoline pumps and fuel-oil delivery vehicles under New York State Weights and Measures Law, Article 16, sealing devices once they are adjusted to standard. This is a compliance and inspection program rather than a license: an ordinary retail store or repair shop with no regulated scale or measuring device on-site has no obligation under this record.

Liquor Licensing — New York State Liquor Authority (Nassau County)

A restaurant or coffee shop in Nassau County pursuing a beer, wine or full liquor license applies to the New York State Liquor Authority, and the Department of Consumer Affairs' Licensing & Registrations page lists no liquor category, so there is no county liquor license fee. The Liquor Authority's '500-foot rule' hearing-notice process, which applies in municipalities of population 20,000 or more, routes through the village, town or city clerk where the premises sits, not through any county office. Zoning and certificate-of-occupancy compliance for a licensed premises is likewise a town, city or village matter, consistent with the County's Building and Zoning Permits page, which refers building-permit applicants to their city, town or village.

General Business License — Nassau County Consumer Affairs Position

The Department of Consumer Affairs' Licensing and Registrations page enumerates the businesses it licenses under the Nassau County Administrative Code — from automated teller machines and dry cleaners to locksmiths, pet groomers and storage warehouses — so county-level licensing is category-specific, not a general business license. The department does maintain a notarized 'Business License Application' intake form — proof of residence, proof of business location, and for out-of-state applicants a Certificate of Authority to do business in New York, an in-state contact person and a Disclosure Form — but that form is how an applicant enters one of the department's named licensed categories (Home Improvement, Health Club Operator, Pet Grooming, Locksmith and the rest), not a standalone license every business needs regardless of trade. Because the department's page lists only those named categories, there is no county business-license fee for a restaurant, coffee shop, retail store, salon or veterinary practice outside them; such a business's county obligations come from the Department of Health, the Fire Marshal's Office, or whichever of the specific Consumer Affairs categories its trade falls into, each recorded separately for Nassau County.

Auto Repair Shop Registration — State DMV Applies (Nassau County)

The Department of Consumer Affairs' Licensing & Registrations page lists no auto repair category, so there is no county fee for the repair trade itself; a plain mechanical-repair-only shop registers with the New York State DMV's Bureau of Consumer and Facility Services and needs no DMV salvage registration. A shop that also deals in junk, salvage or vehicle dismantling is different: it needs the state DMV's junk/salvage registration (Form VS-1JS) at the state level, AND, separately, the Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs' Scrap Metal Processors, Vehicle Dismantlers, and Junk Dealers license (§21-29) recorded separately for Nassau County — a salvage-adjacent auto operation can need both a state registration and a county license at once, where a plain repair-only shop needs neither the county license nor the state salvage registration. Vehicle safety and emissions inspection station licensing, where a shop performs inspections, is also a state DMV function, not a county one.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Nassau County
Phone
516-571-3200

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.

  1. Business License ApplicationsNassau County Department of Consumer Affairs · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  2. Certificate of Registration — Junk or Salvage Dealer (Form VS-1JS)New York State Department of Motor Vehicles · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  3. Consumer AffairsNassau County Department of Consumer Affairs · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  4. Consumer Affairs fee schedule, effective January 1, 2020 (Home Improvement $650; Health Club Operator $1,300)Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  5. Cosmetology LicensingNew York State Department of State, Division of Licensing Services · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  6. FAQ — Home Improvement License fee ($650 for the 2-year license, plus a one-time $50 Restitution Fund contribution)Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  7. Frequently Asked Questions — the 500-foot rule and restaurant/tavern licensingNew York State Liquor Authority · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  8. Laws EnforcedNassau County Department of Consumer Affairs · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  9. Licensing & Registrations — current licensed-category list, §21-32.1 Health Club Operators, §21-11 Home ImprovementNassau County Department of Consumer Affairs · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  10. Obtaining a Home Improvement LicenseNassau County Department of Consumer Affairs · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  11. Repair Shop RegistrationNew York State Department of Motor Vehicles · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29
  12. Weights & MeasuresNassau County Department of Consumer Affairs · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-29

Other offices serving Nassau County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

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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.