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Get the latest code, zoning and compliance news and insights from Metropolis Group.

Company News

A Final Sprint for 2016

By Frank Fortino It amazes me every year how quickly the holiday season rolls around. We look up, and there’s a few weeks left, a final push to finish off the slate of work for 2016. For some people and ...

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Department of Buildings / Industry News / Inspections

Gas Test and Finish Inspection Requirements

By Mario Aurioso All Gas Test and Gas Finish self-certifications will no longer be allowed for work done in the borough of Manhattan. Gas Test and Gas Finish inspections will now require a physical inspection by the DOB. All inspections ...

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Code & Zoning

When Is A Single Means of Egress Accepted?

By Bruno Caligara There are circumstances when the DOB will allow for a building to have a single means of egress, and these generally depend on the occupancy and building height. Most buildings that fit the profile of such requests ...

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Industry News

DOB AEU Service Change

By Renee Sosnowski AEU – the DOB’s Administrative Enforcement Unit – has made some changes to its service and service level agreements, which went into effect on December 5, 2016. AEU will only process same day service Certificates of Correction ...

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Industry News

NYC Parks Updated Forestry Permit Application Process

By Penny Laughlin The Parks Department has implemented new procedure for the required plan review needed for DOB New Building and Major Alteration filings. This new process for tree work permits and plan will streamline a process that has typically ...

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Industry News

Hoping for some Joy and Sanity in 2017

By Austin Regan Back in the days when I was young and had hair, I remember having lunch with  a long time successful contractor who explained to me that he never submitted Change Order requests because “It wasn’t worth the ...

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Industry News

LL84 and LL88 Expand for Greener, Greater Future

By Andrew J. Pisani The City Council recently voted unanimously to expand the reach of LL84 and LL88. LL84 covers annual Benchmarking, and LL 88 covers sub-metering and lighting upgrades. Under both, the compliance threshold size for buildings is dropping ...

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Industry News

FEMA Agrees to Revise NYC Flood Maps

By Brian Lafferty We learned the hard way about the impact of major storms on our City. One of the takeaways of the process was understanding what, exactly FEMA believed to be the flood risks related to NYC. In 2015, ...

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Industry News

421-A Returns with Blockbuster Deal

By Frank Fortino The expiration of the 421-a tax exemption led to a scramble among developers as they completed preliminary work to get their projects filed.  Now, legislators have announced that they are extending the 421-a Affordable Housing Program for ...

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Department of Buildings / Industry News

Change to After Hours Variance Application Submissions

By Garvey Thelemaque Starting on December 5, 2016, After-Hours Variance (AHV) applications will no longer be accepted at borough offices. Instead, applications must be submitted online through the DOB’s eFiling system. To submit an AHV application online, the filer must ...

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Department of Buildings / Industry News

DOB NOW, DOB Anytime – It’s Complicated!

By Austin Regan The DOB’s long touted upgrade of their computer filing is way behind schedule. Mandatory use of the new DOB NOW filing system for limited applications (sprinkler & plumbing only) was supposed to begin in the fall. The ...

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Industry News

A Look Inside Constructing Permits

By Andrew J. Pisani The numbers are in for housing construction permits for September, and the numbers look good. At 2,218 new units approved, we saw the highest monthly volume in all of 2016. Sound good, right? Yes and no. ...

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