Learn NYC property · Building systems and inspections

Certificate of Occupancy, temporary CO, Letter of No Objection and Letter of Completion

What a New York City Certificate of Occupancy says, when a building needs one, how temporary COs are renewed until the final one, and what a Letter of No Objection or a Letter of Completion is for.

A Certificate of Occupancy, almost always called a CO or C of O, is the document in which New York City's Department of Buildings (DOB) states what a building may legally be used for and how it may be occupied — homes, offices, a store, a school — floor by floor, with how many people each space is designed for. Nobody may legally live in or use a building that needs one until DOB has issued it, or a temporary one. DOB keeps a building's certificates of occupancy on the public record, so anyone can look them up.

For an owner, buyer or lender the CO is the answer to a basic question: is the way this building is used the way the City approved? A building whose use does not match its CO can draw violations and penalties, and New York State law adds harsher consequences for apartment buildings occupied without one.

What a CO says

The City's Construction Codes list what a CO must contain: the building's address and block and lot, the permit it was issued under, the use and occupancy of each part under both the building code and the Zoning Resolution, the type of construction, how many people each floor or space is designed to hold, the fire alarm and sprinkler systems, the loads floors may carry, the number of parking spaces and any special conditions. DOB adds that it describes the building's legal occupancy limits, layout and allowable use.

The floor-by-floor part is the Schedule of Occupancy — called Schedule A in the older system. DOB NOW keeps one for each building, and at any moment a building has one CO. A CO does not expire.

When a building needs one

Every new building, before anyone moves in.
An existing building whose use, exits or occupancy change — an office floor turned into apartments, a house divided into more units, a store becoming a restaurant with a larger crowd. Such work is filed as an Alteration-CO (the older system's A1) and ends in a new or amended CO.
Not a building that stood before January 1, 1938 and has been used the same way since. The City did not require COs before then, so many older buildings have none, and that is lawful while their use does not change.

A CO is issued for a building, not for an apartment: a co-op or condominium unit does not have its own. For a condominium, New York's Multiple Dwelling Law treats the building's certificate as issued for each unit.

How a CO is issued

From finished work to the final Certificate of Occupancy.

Before DOB issues a CO, the work must be signed off — construction, plumbing, electrical and elevators — the paperwork and fees complete, the relevant violations resolved, and other agencies' approvals in hand: the Fire Department's fire protection plan, the Department of Environmental Protection's sewer connection, the sidewalk plan. The application is due within six months of the final construction inspection, and DOB must decide a complete one within ten calendar days. DOB may also hold a CO until fines and penalties are paid.

By BlockLot Intelligence's count of DOB NOW's records for the last 12 months, a final CO was issued a median 36 days after it was requested, and a first temporary CO 28 days.

From request to certificate, last 12 months

Certificates of Occupancy issued in DOB NOW in the last 365 days: days from the request to the certificate. The bar ends at the median; the pale band covers the middle half. BlockLot Intelligence, computed October 9, 2026.

Temporary Certificate of Occupancy

A Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO, or temporary CO) lets people move into a building that is safe to occupy while items remain open before the final CO — a last inspection, an agency's sign-off, a punch list on a lower floor. It typically lasts 90 days and may be renewed. DOB's page lists what a TCO needs: temporary or final sign-offs for the construction, plumbing and electrical work, a temporary elevator sign-off where there is one, an approved Schedule of Occupancy and a $130 fee. A space left unoccupied for more than 30 days needs a new TCO before it is used again.

Renewals come in two kinds in DOB NOW: with change, when more of the building is opened, and without change. DOB said in 2021 that renewals without change were being processed in about two business days on average; by BlockLot Intelligence's count, last year's renewals were issued a median 1 day after the request.

The final CO ends the cycle: issued once every item is closed, it replaces the temporary certificates for good. How long a building lives on temporary certificates varies widely.

BlockLot Intelligence followed every job whose first TCO was issued in DOB NOW between October 11, 2022 and October 10, 2024: 75.6% of the new buildings have since received a final CO, a median 162 days after the first TCO, and 24.4% are still on temporary certificates.

From the first temporary CO to the final CO

Jobs whose first temporary Certificate of Occupancy was issued in DOB NOW 2 to 4 years ago and that have since received their final CO: days from the first temporary CO to the final one. Jobs still on temporary certificates are not in the bars. The bar ends at the median; the pale band covers the middle half. BlockLot Intelligence, computed October 10, 2026.

For an apartment building, State law caps the renewals of a temporary certificate at two years from the first one. An expired TCO is a real problem for an owner: DOB's own tool kit warns that it can make a property hard or impossible to insure, sell or refinance, and advises buyers to consider closing on a final CO rather than a TCO. In January 2025 the City Comptroller counted 3,546 buildings with no active TCO; DOB told the Comptroller that a lapsed TCO alone is not grounds to order a building vacated.

Since 2021 a larger sprinklered building of non-combustible construction can also take an interim CO for finished floors, which stays in force until the final CO and needs no renewal (Local Law 6 of 2021).

A worked example: 258 Eighth Avenue

A new 190-apartment building at 258 Eighth Avenue in Chelsea, owned by a company, shows the whole path. Its first temporary CO was issued on March 21, 2024. It was then renewed 13 times — 6 times with a change as more of the building opened, 7 times without one — and the final CO came on November 21, 2025, about 20 months after the first.

Letter of No Objection

A Letter of No Objection (LNO) is DOB's written statement that it does not object to a particular use of a building that has no CO — typically one built before 1938 — or whose use differs from what its records show. It is not a substitute for a CO, but banks, courts and licensing agencies such as the State Liquor Authority accept it as the statement of a building's legal use. DOB issues one only when the use stays in the same zoning use group and building-code occupancy group, with the number of occupants and the exits substantially unchanged; a change of use needs an alteration and a new CO. Where a CO exists but needs confirming, DOB issues a Letter of Verification instead.

An LNO is requested from the DOB borough office where the building stands. DOB says requests take about three weeks; the fee is $25 for a one-, two- or three-family home and $130 for any other building (since December 4, 2023).

Letter of Completion

A Letter of Completion (LOC) is DOB's confirmation that permitted work is finished and has passed its final inspection, for work that did not need a new CO — a renovation that left the building's use and exits unchanged. DOB's codes call either document a sign-off. In DOB NOW the applicant requests the LOC once every permit on the job is signed off and the final cost and technical reports are in; once approved, it can be viewed on DOB NOW's public portal. Jobs from the older BIS system use the PW7 form.

Penalties

Occupying a building without a valid CO, or contrary to it, is a Class 1 violation in DOB's penalty schedule (as amended December 21, 2025): a standard penalty of $2,500 and up to $25,000 for an aggravated case. Under State law, an owner of an apartment building occupied without a certificate may not collect rent for that time, and the mortgage lender may call the loan due.

Where you see this in BlockLot

A building's page shows the Certificates of occupancy under Records → Construction: every CO and TCO DOB's datasets list for the lot, with its kind and date. The BIN row links to the official CO documents on DOB's older system, which also holds scans from before 2012 that no dataset carries. Area pages count the certificates issued in the last 12 and 36 months.

Every certificate DOB issued for one building: the final CO, and the temporary certificates before it.
Final or temporary
When DOB issued it

Where to look up a CO

Certificates requested before March 1, 2021 are in DOB's older system, BIS, under the building's property profile; later ones are in DOB NOW, whose public portal shows the CO and its floor-by-floor records. NYC Open Data publishes both as datasets.

Questions people ask

Does every building in New York have a Certificate of Occupancy? No. Buildings that stood before 1938 and have kept the same use never needed one. A Letter of No Objection can confirm their legal use when a bank or an agency asks.

Does a CO expire? A final CO does not. A temporary CO usually lasts 90 days and has to be renewed until the final one is issued.

Does my apartment have its own CO? No. The CO covers the whole building; a co-op or condominium unit is covered by the building's certificate.

What is the difference between a CO and a Letter of Completion? A CO is issued when work creates a building or changes its use, exits or occupancy. A Letter of Completion closes out work that did not.

Can I buy a building that only has a temporary CO? People do, but DOB itself warns that an expired TCO can make a building hard to insure, sell or refinance, and suggests buyers consider closing on a final CO.

How long does a final CO take? By BlockLot Intelligence's count, last year's final COs were issued a median 36 days after the request — but a new building often spends months on temporary certificates first.

Department of Buildings (DOB) — What New York City's Department of Buildings does, how a building permit works from filing to sign-off, what a Certificate of Occupancy is, and how DOB violations and stop work orders are issued and cleared.
DOB violations and ECB summonses: classes, cures and penalties — DOB violations and ECB summonses explained: Class 1, 2 and 3, cures, penalties and defaults, and why paying a fine does not close a violation.
Building class codes and land use: what A1, C6, D4, O4 and R4 mean — How the Department of Finance's two-character building class describes every property in New York City, the 25 letter families from A to Z, the codes beginners meet most, how a building class relates to the tax class, and City Planning's eleven land-use categories built from it.
BBL, block and lot: how New York numbers its land and buildings — What a BBL is, how borough, block and lot make up its ten digits, why condominiums have billing lots and unit lots, how lots are merged and split, and how the BIN that identifies a building differs.
Facade inspections (FISP, Local Law 11) and sidewalk sheds — How New York City's Facade Inspection & Safety Program works — which buildings, who inspects, the Safe, SWARMP and Unsafe ratings, the cycles and their 2025 changes, penalties, and why sidewalk sheds stay up.
Elevator inspections: CAT1 and CAT5 tests, periodic inspections and penalties — How New York City inspects elevators, escalators and lifts — the yearly periodic inspection, the Category 1 no-load test, the five-year Category 5 full-load test, the filing deadlines, the penalties and the retrofit deadlines.

Sources

By BlockLot. Reviewed October 9, 2026. Figures by BlockLot Intelligence, computed from public data on October 10, 2026. This page explains the rules in general; it is not legal or tax advice. For a decision about a specific property, check the official source or ask a professional. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.