The NYC Tenant Protection Plan is a site-specific safety filing that a licensed architect or professional engineer must prepare, and that the Department of Buildings must approve, before any work permit will be issued for construction, alteration, or partial demolition in a building where at least one dwelling unit stays occupied during the work.1New York City Administrative Code. New York City Administrative Code 28-120.1 – Tenant Protection Plan The plan spells out how residents will be protected from the hazards of the project, from blocked exits to lost heat, and it is submitted as a request inside DOB NOW: Build rather than as a paper form.
When a Tenant Protection Plan Is Required
A TPP is mandatory for any alteration, construction, or partial demolition where at least one dwelling unit will be occupied during the work.1New York City Administrative Code. New York City Administrative Code 28-120.1 – Tenant Protection Plan The building’s overall use does not matter. Residential, commercial, and mixed-use buildings all trigger the requirement if someone is living there while work happens. The rule also reaches newly constructed buildings that are partially occupied while work continues on other units.2New York City Council. New York City Local Law 106 of 2019
The filing must identify which specific units are or may be occupied during construction.3NYC Buildings. TPP Info for Owners If the owner section of the PW1 work application shows occupied dwelling units, the TPP cannot be waived.4NYC Department of Buildings. TPP Frequently Asked Questions The Department will not issue a permit for work that requires a TPP until the plan is on file and approved, so skipping it does not just risk a fine. It stops the project.
What the Plan Must Cover
The TPP is site-specific. Boilerplate language is not acceptable; the registered design professional must tailor every section to the building’s actual conditions and the actual scope of work.5New York City Department of Buildings. NYC Tenant Protection Plan TPP1 Form Each of the following categories has to be addressed:
- Egress. How corridors, stairways, and exits will stay clear, and what alternate routes residents will use (and how they will be marked) if an exit must be temporarily blocked.
- Fire safety. How alarms, sprinklers, and fire-rated separations will keep functioning. If a system has to go offline, the plan must state when, for how long, and what interim protection is in place.
- Health requirements for lead and asbestos. When the work will disturb lead-based paint, paint of unknown lead content, or asbestos-containing materials, the plan must include a statement of compliance with all applicable city, state, and federal regulations, including NYC Local Law 1 of 2004 for lead.6NYC Housing Preservation and Development. Guide to Local Law 1 of 2004 Work Practices
- Compliance with housing standards. Confirmation that lighting, entry-door locks, pest control, and the other basics of the housing maintenance code will keep working through the project.
- Structural safety. How load-bearing elements stay secure during the work, including shoring or bracing where walls, floors, or structural components are being removed.
- Noise restrictions. The specific methods that will keep noise within the NYC Noise Control Code. Residential construction is generally allowed from 7 AM to 6 PM on weekdays; weekend work is limited to 10 AM to 4 PM and only for alterations or repairs to owner-occupied one- or two-family homes, convents, or rectories. Anything outside those windows requires a construction variance.7NYC311. Noise from Construction
- Maintaining essential services. How heat, hot water, cold water, gas, electricity, and other utilities will stay on under the NYC Housing Maintenance Code, plus duration and advance notice for any unavoidable interruption.
- Other requirements. Any additional protections the design professional judges necessary for the site, such as dust barriers next to work zones, pest mitigation during demolition, or vibration monitoring near sensitive structural elements.
Who Prepares and Signs the Plan
Only a registered design professional, meaning a licensed architect (R.A.) or professional engineer (P.E.), can prepare the TPP. That professional applies their seal and signs the plan, and the building owner signs as well.8NYC Department of Buildings. Tenant Protection Plan Revised TPP1 Form By signing, the professional certifies that they have exercised a professional standard of care and that the plan complies with all applicable laws, including the Department of Buildings’ rules.5New York City Department of Buildings. NYC Tenant Protection Plan TPP1 Form Falsifying any statement on the form is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both.
The design professional who submits the TPP does not have to be a stakeholder on the PW1 job filing itself.4NYC Department of Buildings. TPP Frequently Asked Questions If the TPP applicant is different from the applicant of record on the PW1, a DPL-1 form with their seal and signature has to be uploaded with the submission.
How to File the TPP in DOB NOW
The TPP is submitted as a request inside DOB NOW: Build. The old TPP1 PDF should not be uploaded as a document.4NYC Department of Buildings. TPP Frequently Asked Questions The TPP request is created only after the associated PW1 job filing has been approved. From the DOB NOW dashboard, hover over +Requests and pick “Tenant Protection Plan,” or use the Select Action drop-down next to the job filing and choose “Request TPP.”9NYC Department of Buildings. DOB NOW Build – Tenant Protection Plan and Site Safety Plan
The request has four tabs. General Information carries over the location and owner data from the job filing and asks the applicant for their own contact and license details. The Tenant Protection Plan tab is where every required category from the list above is written out. The Documents tab is for optional supporting plans and drawings, and for the DPL-1 if the TPP applicant is different from the applicant on the PW1. The Statements and Signatures tab requires both the applicant and the building owner to log in and electronically certify that the information is correct.
Once submitted, the plan is assigned a TPP request number tied to the job filing. The current review timeline is three business days or less.10NYC Department of Buildings. DOB NOW Build Frequently Asked Questions No work permit will issue until the TPP is approved. If something changes later, such as a new occupied unit or a revised scope of work, the applicant picks “Update/Supersede” from the TPP dashboard, makes the revisions, and resubmits for review.
Notifying and Posting After Approval
Once the Department issues the work permit, the owner must notify the Department at least 72 hours before construction starts.5New York City Department of Buildings. NYC Tenant Protection Plan TPP1 Form A TPP Notice to Occupants, on the standardized form the Department publishes, must be distributed to each occupied dwelling unit and posted in the lobby and within ten feet of the elevator on each floor. In a building without an elevator, the notice is posted within ten feet of, or inside, the main stairwell on each floor.11NYC Buildings. TPP Requirements A paper copy of the full Tenant Protection Plan has to be provided to any tenant who asks for one.12New York City Department of Buildings. TPP Posting Requirements
Penalties for Skipping or Falsifying the Plan
Civil penalties for failing to submit a required Tenant Protection Plan start at $10,000 for a first offense and at least $25,000 for each subsequent offense.13American Legal Publishing. New York City Administrative Code 28-202.1 – Civil Penalties Those minimums apply where a TPP was required under ยง 28-120.1 and was never submitted. Related construction code violations on the same project can add more. Immediately hazardous violations start at $2,500 per violation, with up to $1,000 per day until corrected; major violations start at $1,000 per violation, with up to $250 per month.
Falsifying any statement on the TPP is a misdemeanor under the NYC Administrative Code, punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both.5New York City Department of Buildings. NYC Tenant Protection Plan TPP1 Form If the current deed holder, or a co-op or condo board, writes to the Department stating that the applicant lacked authority to file, the Department can revoke approval of the construction documents entirely.2New York City Council. New York City Local Law 106 of 2019
If You Are a Tenant in a Building Under Construction
Tenants have a dedicated channel at the Department of Buildings. The Office of the Tenant Advocate, created by Local Law 161 of 2017, handles questions and complaints about construction work, the TPP itself, and suspected tenant harassment, including situations where an owner appears to be using construction to push residents out.14NYC Department of Buildings. Office of the Tenant Advocate
If the TPP notice was never posted or distributed, or if the contractor is ignoring the protections in the plan, the complaint goes through 311 (or 212-639-9675 from outside the city).15NYC311. Safe Construction for Tenants Work that is unsafe, unpermitted, done after hours, or performed outside approved plans should be reported as a building construction complaint through the same service. Suspected construction-related harassment has its own separate reporting path. Department inspectors can visit the site to verify that the protections are being followed.