NYC Construction Permits Report 2026

NYC permit filings break out into five primary categories. Each tells a different story about what is being built or modified across the city.

• New Building (NB) — ground-up construction, the leading indicator for development pipeline.
• Alteration Type 1 (Alt 1) — major changes that require a new or amended Certificate of Occupancy.
• Alteration Type 2 (Alt 2) — work that does not change occupancy, use, or egress (most renovations).
• Alteration Type 3 (Alt 3) — minor work (signage, simple curb cuts, interior demo).
• Demolition (DM) — full demolition filings, often paired with subsequent NB filings.

NB filings are the cleanest signal of where new construction is concentrated. Brooklyn has led NYC in NB filings every year since 2014, with the Bronx accelerating most quickly. Staten Island NB activity is dominated by 1–3 family residential. Manhattan NB filings are the lowest in absolute terms but highest in dollar value.

DOB NOW (the electronic filing system) has now superseded BIS for nearly all job types. Plumbing, sprinklers, mechanical, structural, façade (FISP Cycle 10), and elevator filings are now DOB NOW only. Legacy BIS data is read-only.

Buildings with no recent permit filings are statistically more likely to surface DOB illegal-work violations because owners have been making changes without filings. This is one of the strongest signals our underwriting and diligence customers ask us to surface — the absence of permits in a building with obvious changes is itself a red flag.