NYC Building Code Changes Announced

By Brian J Pape, AIA

Communities are formed to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its people.

You might think in this great city of millions of people and billions of building square footage, that the city leaders would be very thorough with their construction codes, having instituted one of the first codes in 1867. To their credit, city leaders made regular updates to the city’s building codes since, but have been paying a lot of attention to our current building codes in the last few years. Based on the International Building Codes (IBC), originally written decades ago (2008) by experts across the nation, and which is commonly used in most other municipalities across the country, the New York City codes are getting big changes.

The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) is in charge of implementing the new codes. Ahmed Tigani, the 27th commissioner at the New York City DOB, has goals of improved safety, greater innovation, and continued growth in our shared city. In 2025, the city saw a major decline in building construction-related incidents and worker injuries, compared to the previous year. New regs require construction superintendents to direct their full undivided attention to a single site, rather than several locations.

Going forward, the department is currently working on the development of a Waterfront Code (WFC) to regulate coastal structures on its 520 miles of waterfront, including the 4 miles of the Hudson River Park shoreline. The WFC will be the product of years of research, analysis, and committee work, started in 2022. Led by Deputy Commissioner Gus Sirakis, Lucas Vata, and the staff of Code Development and Technical Affairs at DOB, alongside 50 volunteer industry experts, with notable contributions by Brian Johnson at Port Authority of NY & NJ, Earl Baim at the Department of Transportation (DOT), Meenakshi Varandani at Small Business Services (SBS), and Manuel A. Santiago, Architect. This writer, Brian Pape, is among them, representing this Village community.

The scope of this new code will apply to the construction, alteration, movement, addition, replacement, repair, equipment, use and occupancy, location, maintenance, removal, and demolition of structures, and any appurtenances connected or attached to such structures, situated on waterfront property as defined in the New York City Charter, and within the right-of-way of any designated marginal street, wharf, or place, or on parcels fronting on non-tidal waters in the City of New York, as may be designated by the commissioner. Where applicable, the provisions of this code will supplement the other NYC Construction Codes, and where provisions conflict, the provisions of this code shall prevail. The provisions of this code must deal especially with accessibility of ramps and other passageways, considering the extreme variables of the high and low tides, plus heavy wave action from passing boats.

Although the code considers the challenges of possible flooding, the resiliency measures are beyond this scope. How the waterfront will change in response to resiliency construction is being debated by many communities, and some piecemeal improvements have already been made in NYC, such as the East River Park rebuild and the Wagner Park rebuild. The new code will prescribe the standards of the construction used.

The Waterfront Code Committee expects to wrap up its recommendations to City Council in the next few months.

In December 2025, City Council passed new regulations, including Intros 1321 and 1422, which represent the first time the city has ever established an Existing Building Code (EBC), a move celebrated by (then) Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo. NYC’s EBC is also the product of years of research, analysis, and committee work led by DOB alongside the work of hundreds of volunteer industry experts. Among other major changes, the NYC EBC will:

• Officially repeal the 1968 Building Code and replace it with a modern framework tailored to existing buildings;
• Streamline regulations related to changing occupancy;
• Include clear and consistent tenant and occupant protection plan requirements;
• Replace project cost thresholds with work area size to determine applicability of certain code provisions;
• Simplify the path for buildings to comply with the NYS Multiple Dwelling Law;
• Introduce limited alteration application (LAA) permits for additional types of work, including window replacements and re-roofing;.
• Improve fire safety requirements for existing egress stairways when alterations are made;
• Advance accessibility upgrades in common areas of residential buildings when qualifying alterations are made;
• Introduce targeted structural condition assessments and architectural investigations of buildings planning larger alterations; and
• Facilitate energy conservation upgrades when alterations are made.The new EBC will go into effect in 2027.
  On December 31, 2025, the city’s new Energy Conservation Code amendments went into effect, and many Electrical Code amendments have also been put into effect. These changes will protect our resources save customers money with lower electric bills, and make our systems safer for everyone.