Garage door rules & licensing in New York

New York State Department of State, Division of Building Standards and Codes (building code); home improvement contractor licensing is local — official site

No state contractor licence. The New York State Attorney General states that in the state of New York, home-improvement contractors must be licensed in New York City, Suffolk, Nassau, Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland counties. Outside those jurisdictions any licence requirement comes from the local city, town or village.

Building permits are issued and the code enforced at the local level. Executive Law section 381 provides that every local government shall administer and enforce the uniform fire prevention and building code and the state energy conservation construction code on and after the first day of January, nineteen hundred eighty-four, though a local government may opt out by local law enacted before July 1 of any year, in which case the county takes over enforcement. New York City is permitted to retain its own code.

New York Department of State Technical Bulletin TB-1009-RCNYS (code effective date May 12, 2020; source documents 19 NYCRR Part 1220 - Residential Construction and 19 NYCRR Part 1240) sets out how wind design criteria are established under the 2020 Residential Code of New York State. "According to Figure R301.2(5)B, there are no regions within NYS that require wind design so the wind provisions of the 2020 RCNYS are applicable to all construction." The Authority Having Jurisdiction takes the ultimate design wind speed from Figure R301.2(5)A and enters it in Table R301.2(1), choosing the more restrictive value near map lines; wind exposure category "shall be determined on a site-specific basis in accordance with Section R301.2.1.4." For the windborne debris entry: "AHJs should enter a value of 'YES' for 'windborne debris zone' if their jurisdiction meets the definition of windborne debris region provided in Chapter 2 of the 2020 RCNYS: Areas within hurricane-prone regions located in accordance with one of the following: 1. Within 1 mile (1.61 km) of the coastal mean high-water line where the ultimate design wind speed, Vult, is 130 mph (58 m/s) or greater. 2. In areas where the ultimate design wind speed, Vult, is 140 mph (63.6 m/s) or greater; or Hawaii." "An entry of 'YES' triggers applicants and designers to comply with Section R301.2.1.2 of the 2020 RCNYS for the protection of openings from windborne debris." Ask the local code enforcement official for the municipality’s completed Table R301.2(1) - that table, not a statewide number, fixes the design pressure a garage door must carry.