For The N.Y.C. Guy's

Jason Whipple

Just wondering if you can help shorten the learning curve for being a licensed Contractor in New York City, what it all involves, and how long it takes.

I've recently been asked by a customer if I could do some work on a Townhouse on the West side of NYC. This is a Historical area and I'll need to get things approved along with being able to work with the local Historic Society.

I'd love to do this work but I'm wondering how much of a PITA it is to get licensed in NYC for renovation work.

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Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
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rbsremodeling

First things first You need a brown paper bag with 10k in it preferably hundreds then we can talk some more.

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Jason Whipple

Where should we meet?

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Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
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neolitic

Why don't you just go out to your
truck, get a hammer, and pound
on your hand til the urge goes away?

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(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

Jason Whipple

LMFAO!

I know it's kinda strange to go all that way for this work but they are great clients and I don't have to deal with a tight budget. All I have to do is agree to do it and comply with the code. Why not? My passion is for Historic Preservation and that type of work doesn't pop up in your back yard every day. (unless you live where RBS does)

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Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
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genecarp

Jason, i have done a fair amount of work in NYC, it is a real pain in the Ass. first off each building has different start and stop times, depends on the board, usually if insurance are up to date they will let you in to work. the building super should be your best friend, so should the freight elevator operator. they decide who goes up first in the morning, you will spend entire days just moving material, and be preparred to have 1 guy sitting in the truck all day. also pray that you dont end up working next door to MRS JONES who will come out at the end of each workday with a magnifying glass to see if you left a piece of lint in the hallway!!!

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Jason Whipple

Gene,

Are you licensed? Do you need one? I saw on another thread that it was required for anything over $200.

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Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
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Mellison

As of right now what you will need is a Home Improvement Contractors license from the Dep. of Consumer Affairs. There is not much involved in getting that: There is a test that must be taken, proof of general liability insurance and a few hundred dollars in fees.
Once you have a license you can hire an expeditor to pull proper permits.
All and all a painless procedure which takes no more than a day or two.

Now, as of Nov 1st in order to have a permit pulled for work being done in a 1,2 or 3 family homes (the town house in question sounds as though this will be necessary) you will also need a License from the Department of Buildings and that I am afraid, this is a completely different animal. You can Google NYC DOB and find out exactly what you need as it is quite a long list.
Hope this helps,
Mike

genecarp

Jason, i am licensed in two neighboring counties, nassau, and suffolk, we have done some large jobs in NYC, and that was acceptable, technically you probably do need a seperate nyc licence, it would just be a fee involved, however each building has it own set of regulations, my experiance has been that they are pretty flexable!!G

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neolitic

Indianapolis is a very small city,
but working downtown is still a
royal PITA.
And that is without the big city
politics and attendant BS.
Every time I'm in Chicago I look
around at on going construction,
and "Thank God I'm a country boy!"

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Put your location in your profile!
(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

Jason Whipple

That helps a lot! Thanks Mike

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Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
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Mellison

No Problemo!

Jason Whipple

Thanks G

BTW, I may have an order for one of your tops. I sent your link to this customer and they like it. Probably two kitchens worth. We'll talk soon. Enjoy your wedding day and the honeymoon.

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Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
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rbsremodeling

Just an idea

Have an architect/draftsman do plans and pull permits.

Sign a contract with the homeowner acting as their own GC with you being a construction Supervisor or what ever and do the work??

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Jason Whipple

Plans are done and stamped and the H/O is far to busy to pull their own permit but the Archi may have done so already. I'll look into that, thanks.

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Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
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eastend

depends on the kind of work you'll be doing. we , for instance, restore historic finishes, and don't need an HP license in NYC. For construction, you'll need a license, and permits. Also, I think, to pull permits, you now need the 10 Osha training course.
Most buildings want at least 2 million liability , with naming everyone also insured, and worker's comp certs before starting work.
Very hard to park on the UWS- maybe you can feed meters on the avenues. lots of guys double park, and just eat the tickets.
As was mentioned, be prepared for finicky elevator operators, and supers. Don't ring the entry bell, or the elevator call bell more than once, because - believe it or not- that can pi s s them off, and when you're on their bad side it means playing all sorts of games.
And don't forget the traffic, if you're traveling from outside of Manhattan. It can be brutal( like 1/2 hour to go one block)
On the flip side, you can get prices in NYC that are much higher than elsewhere.

Mellison

Jason,
After you get your license, I would suggest you hire the expeditor working with the architect to provide you with a tracking #(should be about $150.00) . This will be kept on file at the DOB and help in the future for pulling permits. Hopefully you will have a need for it.


Good Luck,

Greg Di

Jason,

I can tell you this about NYC:

Whatever you think the job will cost worst case, you must triple it. At least.

Parking is impossible. Loading/unloading is impossible. The buildings have terrible access/rules/regs. Simple things like getting drywall can take all day. You have to pay off/tip everybody. You'll need one person dedicated to staying with your truck all day.

Permits, inspections, city BS....

You really have to be setup specifically to work in NYC in terms of staff and subs.

Unless you are a glutton for punishment, I would seriously reconsider your zeal for working in NYC. I'm 15 miles away, and you could not pay me three times my rate to deal with the headaches and heartaches of NYC work.

My close friend from Long Island lost his shirt on several "easy" remodels not because of doing anything wrong, but because he just could never compensate for the astronomical, zany costs of working in NYC.

YMMV, but take it for what it's worth...

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rbsremodeling

hmmm are you sure he said NYC or DC Sounds like the same rules here

Permit experditing starts out at about 1500 and parking tickets average about 2k per job and list goes on and on

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Jason Whipple

Thanks Greg,

I want the work but not for free. These are things to consider for sure. I guess I need to make an up close, and personal visit to this proposed site to see if I can help.

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Jason E Whipple, General Manager
Historic House Restoration, Cincinnati, Ohio
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