Key takeaways
- Since February 2, 2026, the Condo/Co-op Board is a Stakeholder on the job filing in DOB NOW when the Owner Type is Condo Unit Owner or Co-op Tenant-Shareholder.
- The board's representative must attest that the board has authorized the applicant to file the application.
- The attestation happens inside DOB NOW, by a named person. An alteration agreement signed last year does not satisfy it.
- Boards meet on their own schedule. That schedule is now inside your filing's.
Apartment renovations in New York have always had two approvals: the building's and the city's. They used to run in parallel. Now one sits inside the other.
What changed
The notice is dated January 8, 2026 and took effect on February 2: Condo/Co-Op Board Added as a Stakeholder in DOB NOW: Build. It is one sentence long and worth reading slowly. Beginning February 2, 2026, Condo/Co-op Board is a Stakeholder on the job filing in DOB NOW when the Owner Type is Condo Unit Owner or Co-op Tenant-Shareholder. The board's representative is required to attest that the board has authorized the applicant to file the application.
"Stakeholder" is a role in DOB NOW with a named person attached to it, who signs for what they are responsible for. The board is now one of those roles.
Why it is more than paperwork
A condo or co-op board is a volunteer body that meets on a cycle — monthly in many buildings, less often in small ones. Until now, the board's consent lived in an alteration agreement between the unit owner and the building, and the filing at the Department did not depend on it.
Now the filing cannot be completed until a specific person, acting for the board, goes into DOB NOW and attests. That person has to exist, be identified, and be willing. In a building between board elections, or with a managing agent in transition, "willing" is not the hard part — "identified" is.
| Who | What they do now |
|---|---|
| Unit owner | Files, or has a professional file, as before |
| Board | Named as a Stakeholder on the filing |
| Board's representative | Attests in DOB NOW that the board authorized the application |
What to do
- Ask who the board's representative will be before you file, by name, not by role. "The board" cannot attest; a person can.
- Find out when the board next meets. If authorization needs a vote, that date is the real start of your filing.
- Make sure the representative has a DOB NOW account and can be added as a stakeholder. First-time users lose days to registration.
- Keep the alteration agreement separate in your head. It governs the owner and the building; the attestation governs the filing. One does not replace the other.
- On a small building, expect this to be the long pole. A three-unit co-op may not have thought about any of this.
The inspection side is unchanged. Who pays for the special inspections on a unit alteration is still a matter between the parties — a question we go through in who pays for special inspections — and the categories come from the permit, not from the board.
This is the second filing type where a second body now sits in the approval path. The other is covered in on a Loft Law building, your filing waits on the Loft Board.
Frequently asked questions
Does this apply to every apartment renovation?
It applies when the Owner Type on the filing is Condo Unit Owner or Co-op Tenant-Shareholder.
Is our alteration agreement enough?
No. The attestation is made in DOB NOW by the board's representative, on the filing itself.
Who can be the board's representative?
A person acting for the board, identified on the filing as a stakeholder.
What if the board will not attest?
Then the application does not proceed. The board's authorization is what is being attested to.
Where can I read the notice?
On the Department's service updates page, and the link is in the first section of this article. It took effect on February 2, 2026.
Conclusion
Nothing here is unreasonable — the city is asking the building to confirm, in the record, something the building was always supposed to have agreed. But it converts a private understanding into a dated step by a named person, and a volunteer board's calendar is now part of the construction schedule. Ask who signs, and when they meet, before anyone promises a start date.
Written by the engineers and laboratory technicians of Metric Consulting and Inspection, a Class 1 special inspection agency with a DOB-licensed concrete testing laboratory in Hicksville, New York, serving NYC construction since 2003.