Plumbing permits in New York City

The NYC Plumbing Code covers installation, repair, modification, extension, or alteration of waste, domestic water, gas piping, and fire standpipes. DOB requires a permit, and inspections, for plumbing work that is not a simple repair. Permits for plumbing work are issued to a Licensed Master Plumber. Someone without that license does not pull the plumbing permit.

All plumbing job filings and permit requests go through DOB NOW: Build. Paper filings are no longer accepted. The owner has to approve the filing in the system. The plumber does not have to learn every screen. That is the filing work.

S & M Expediting prepares and expedites these filings. We do not do the plumbing.

Two ways plumbing gets filed

Limited Alteration Application (LAA). DOB uses the LAA for plumbing work that does not include construction. In general it is repair or replacement of existing appliances and piping, plus some new installations, and it does not need a professional engineer or registered architect. A Licensed Master Plumber submits it in DOB NOW. Water plumbing and gas plumbing are separate scopes. DOB’s plumbing permits page says LAA filings in DOB NOW are permitted in real time. That page also describes a cost limit for the repair permits handled by the LAA/Permit Renewal Unit. Use the current DOB page for the dollar limit rather than a number from memory.

Alteration or new building. When the plumbing is part of a larger job, a professional engineer or registered architect files the plans. DOB’s plumbing page still describes this as new buildings and Alterations (ALT1, ALT2). The plumbing itself is filed in DOB NOW and tied back to that application. For those jobs we prepare the application for the design applicant to submit to DOB NOW for review. We track plan review and stay with the job through permit and sign-off.

Our plumbing contractors page already lists LAA preparation, Schedule B review and amendments, permits, inspections, and plumbing sign-off. DOB NOW filings and inspections describes the same path for design-applicant jobs. Permit expediting lists plumbing work permits with the other DOB filings.

Permit life, sign-off, and ordinary repairs

DOB says a permit in DOB NOW expires at the earliest of the insurance expiration, the license expiration, or one year from issuance. If insurance or the license lapses, the permit does not extend itself. We already update plumber insurance filings. See permit management.

When the work is done, the licensed master plumber needs the inspections and tests completed and a final plumbing sign-off. Inspections are requested in DOB NOW: Inspections. After sign-off, the applicant can request a letter of completion where the job calls for one.

DOB also says some minor work is not a permit job. Replacing an existing faucet, toilet, or sink, with no other piping change, is treated as ordinary repair. A lot of ordinary plumbing work still has to be reported. The monthly report is the OP128, filed with DOB’s LAA Unit for work the code lists as ordinary plumbing work that does not require a permit. Our plumbing page already includes OP128 preparation. Filing that report does not replace a DEP permit if the job also opens a water or sewer connection.

Work without a required permit can draw a violation for the owner and for the person who did the work. If that is already on the building, start with the violation, not a new fixture count. See violation research and removal.

We file in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island.

Call

Call 718-833-2333 or use the contact page. Email info@sandmexpediting.com.