How to Complete and Submit the NYC SIA1 Form: Classes and Categories

The NYC SIA1 is the Department of Buildings registration form every Special Inspection Agency must file before performing inspections in the five boroughs, and as of February 23, 2026, new registrations go through the DOB NOW: Licensing portal rather than the paper PDF.¹ To complete it you name a licensed primary director, choose your agency’s class for each inspection category, upload insurance and supporting documents, and pay the licensing fee online.

Before You Start

Every SIA needs a primary director who holds one of six acceptable professional licenses: Professional Engineer (PE), Registered Architect (RA), Oil Burner Installer (OBI), Master Plumber (PL), Fire Suppression Piping Contractor (FSPC), or Licensed Electrician (ELEC).² That person carries legal responsibility for the agency’s work. In DOB NOW, once you enter the director’s email address the system automatically pulls up the licenses they hold.³

You will also declare the agency’s legal structure — sole proprietorship, corporation, or partnership — and its Employer Identification Number. New York business entities must be on file with the NYS Department of State, and a printout from the Corporation and Business Entity Database is accepted as proof. The entity name on that printout has to match the name you use on the SIA registration exactly.⁴

Choose Your Agency Class for Each Category

You register under a specific class for every inspection category you want to perform. The class controls how large and complex a project you can inspect, so pick it deliberately.

Class 1 can inspect any project with no size or scope restriction. It requires accreditation from an approved body that accredits to ISO 17020. That accrediting body, if not a federal agency, must itself operate under ISO 17011 and belong to an internationally recognized cooperation of laboratory and inspection accreditation bodies with a mutual recognition agreement.⁵
Class 2 can inspect any project except new construction or full demolition of a major building, alterations that remove an entire story or more, partial demolition of 20,000 square feet or more (or 20 percent or more of gross floor area), and enlargements over 10,000 square feet.⁵
Class 3 is limited to one-, two-, or three-family dwellings and alterations under 10,000 square feet of gross floor area. Underpinning, mechanical demolition methods, and protection of excavation sides deeper than 10 feet are off-limits to Class 3 agencies entirely.⁵

Class is set per category, not per agency, so an SIA could hold Class 1 for structural steel and Class 2 for another category depending on its qualifications and accreditation.

Documents to Have Ready

Incomplete or incorrect documents are the most common reason SIA1 applications get delayed.⁶ Assemble everything before you open the portal.

ID and Service of Process

The primary director needs a government-issued photo ID: state ID, driver’s license, or passport. For service of process, you have three options: a completed LIC 50 designating an agent, a NYS Department of State filing showing the business entity, or, for agencies with a NYC address, proof of the physical office through a gas, electric, or water utility bill or a properly executed business lease. Post office boxes and virtual office leases will not be accepted.⁴

Insurance

Workers’ Compensation coverage is filed on Form C105.2, U26.3 (for NYS Insurance Fund policies), or GSI 105.2. If the agency has no employees, a CE-200 Certificate of Attestation of Exemption stands in, but it has to be an original with a handwritten signature and date. Copies aren’t accepted.⁴

Professional Liability insurance must carry a minimum of $500,000 in coverage, be claims-based, and run for the full term of the registration. Submit an original signed and notarized broker certification on an Acord 25 certificate of liability insurance.⁴

Accreditation (Class 1 Only)

If you are registering for any Class 1 category, upload an accreditation certificate that covers your intended scope of work and conforms to ASTM E329-07. Class 2 and Class 3 agencies do not need accreditation.⁴

Filing in DOB NOW: Licensing

Do not download and fill out the SIA1 PDF for a new registration. The Department specifically warns against using the PDF form for initial applications.⁶ Sign into DOB NOW at nyc.gov/dobnow with your NYC.ID account and work through the guided application.

Start the application. Hover over the DOB NOW: Licensing module, select New License, then Special Inspection Agency. Indicate whether you’re applying as an individual/sole proprietor, corporation, or partnership.
Enter agency and owner details, then the primary director’s information. Entering the director’s email prompts the system to display their applicable licenses.
Add any technical directors after saving the primary director. Each technical director logs in separately to attest inside the portal.
Enter all insurance policy details. Workers’ Compensation can be waived if you file a CE-200. Then complete the named agent information for service of process.
Add inspection categories one at a time and set your class (1, 2, or 3) for each.
Complete the background investigation tab with the primary director’s licensing history from any city or state. Answering “yes” to any conviction or fine question opens a supplemental affidavit tab that also has to be completed.
Upload every document requested on the Documents tab.
The owner signs electronically on the Statements and Signature tab, and the primary director attests separately. Click Pay Now to pay the fee, then Preview to File to submit.³

The DOB keeps a licensing fees schedule linked from the DOB NOW: Licensing page. Check the current amount for SIA registration there before you begin, so the payment step doesn’t surprise you.¹

Picking Inspection Categories

The categories offered during registration track the special inspections required by Chapter 17 of the New York City Building Code. Common ones include structural steel work (welding under AWS D1.1 for structural steel and AWS D1.4 for reinforcing steel, high-strength bolt installation, cold-formed steel deck welding, and seismic resistance inspections and nondestructive testing), cold-formed steel construction, open-web steel joists and joist girders, and structural stability inspections that cover load-transfer alterations, effects on adjacent structures, and excavation protection.⁷

Only select categories your staff can document competency in. The DOB can disqualify individual inspectors for cause and maintains a public list of disqualified inspectors.⁸

Renewing an Existing Registration

Renewal is a separate process and, unlike the new registration, is not filed in DOB NOW. You use the renewal form accessed through the DOB’s renewal portal (again, not the PDF), update insurance information, and, if the primary director is a PE or RA, provide handwritten Social Security Numbers, complete the fines and convictions section, and sign, seal, and date the form. The owner signs and notarizes as well. The renewal package is then mailed to:

New York City Department of Buildings
Licensing & Exams Unit
Attn: Special Inspection Agency Registration
280 Broadway, 1st Floor
New York, NY 10007⁹

Renewal payments go by check or money order payable to the NYC Department of Buildings, or electronically at nyc.gov/licensepayment. Don’t file a renewal while a change to your registration is still being processed; the DOB won’t allow changes during the renewal window.⁹

Recordkeeping After You’re Registered

Once your agency is registered, keep inspection records on a building-by-building basis for at least six years, or longer if the Commissioner requires. Those records must be available to the Department of Buildings on request.⁸

1
NYC Department of Buildings. DOB NOW: Licensing – Buildings
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New York City Department of Buildings. SIA1: Special Inspection Agency Registration
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NYC Buildings. DOB NOW: Licensing – SIA Presentation
4
NYC Buildings. Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting SIA Supporting Documents
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NYC Buildings. 1 RCNY 101-06 – Special Inspectors and Special Inspection Agencies
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NYC Buildings. Special Inspection Agency (SIA) New Registration
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UpCodes. Chapter 17 Special Inspections and Tests – New York City Building Code
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UpCodes. Special Inspectors – NYC Administrative Provisions
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NYC Buildings. Special Inspection Agency (SIA) Registration Renewal