Summary#
A-11685 would amend New York’s Executive Law and New York City’s Administrative Code. It requires building departments to give an estimated review time for complete residential or mixed-use permit applications; if that estimate is more than 30 business days, the applicant may pay for a private professional review. The bill’s stated goal is to address permit-review delays, but it does not require the department to make its initial decision within 30 days.
- For applications covered by the bill, the local or county building department, where applicable, must provide an estimated review timeframe once it deems the application complete.
- If the estimate is over 30 business days, the applicant may hire a qualified, appropriately licensed professional to check the plans and specifications for code compliance.
- After receiving that professional’s report, the department must process the application and issue or deny it within 20 business days.
- The private professional’s review does not itself approve the permit. The department still issues or denies the application.
- The bill would take effect 90 days after it becomes law. It is introduced and has not yet been passed.
What it means for you#
- Permit applicants: If the department estimates that review will take more than 30 business days, you may choose to hire a qualified professional. You must pay that professional yourself. The bill does not require you to use this option.
- Building departments: Departments covered by the bill must give an estimated timeframe for a complete residential or mixed-use application. If an applicant submits a private professional’s report, the department must process the application and issue or deny it within 20 business days.
- Residential and mixed-use projects: The bill does not directly change permit requirements or guarantee approval. It creates an option for private review if the department’s estimate exceeds 30 business days.
- Private professionals: The reviewer must be a qualified professional licensed under the specified parts of New York’s Education Law, as appropriate. The bill does not create a new licensing category.
Money#
No publicly available information on the bill’s total public cost.
- Applicants who choose private review must pay for it; the bill gives no fee amount.
- The bill requires departments to provide estimates and, after receiving a private review report, process and decide the application within 20 business days. It gives no staffing or cost estimate for this work.
What is unclear#
- The bill does not set a maximum time for the department’s initial review. The 30-business-day threshold is based on the department’s estimate, not on a missed deadline.
- It does not explain how a professional is selected, how the report must be prepared, or what happens if the department disagrees with the report.
- The bill uses “deemed complete” but does not define that term.
- It does not set out appeal, oversight, or reporting rules for this process.
- The parent laws were not supplied, so the existing permit-review rules and how this proposal would interact with them could not be verified.
Case for#
- The bill appears intended to give applicants another route when a department estimates a long review time.
- A possible argument for the approach is that a private code review could provide the department with useful compliance information while preserving the department’s authority to issue or deny the permit.
- The 20-business-day deadline after the report is submitted could give applicants a defined next step once they use the private-review option.
Case against#
- The bill does not require an initial decision within 30 business days; it only requires an estimate and makes private review an option if that estimate is longer.
- Applicants must pay for private review, so the option may be harder to use for applicants who cannot afford it.
- The bill does not explain how departments should assess a private report or resolve disagreements, which could leave important parts of the process unclear.