The Department of Buildings has proposed a new rule that would charge a permit holder $200 every time a scheduled inspection ends up "incomplete" — and would block the permit holder from rescheduling until the fee is paid. The rule is a proposal, not law. DOB is taking public comment through Wednesday, September 9, 2026, with a virtual hearing at 11 a.m. that same day.
Here is what it says, who pays, and what to do about it before the window closes.
“No carve-out for an owner who locked the mechanical room, a tenant who would not open the door, or an inspector who arrived outside the window. The only relief is the after-the-fact challenge.”
What changed (proposed). Today there is no charge when a DOB inspector arrives and cannot do the inspection. The proposed rule adds a new section, 1 RCNY §101-20, that changes that for three inspection types: electrical, plumbing, and construction installations. The rule names only electrical, plumbing and construction inspections.
| Today | Under proposed §101-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| Inspector arrives, can't inspect | No charge; reschedule | $200 fee per incident, charged to the permit holder |
| Rescheduling | Book the next slot | Blocked until the $200 is paid |
| Cancelling an appointment | No stated cutoff | Cancelling fewer than 3 business days before the appointment counts as an incomplete inspection |
| Repeat offenders | No specific mechanism | DOB may refer licensees and design professionals for suspension, revocation, or non-renewal after repeated incompletes or unpaid fees within one calendar year |
| Disputing it | N/A | Challenge online within 30 days; DOB decides "at the sole discretion of the Department" |
| Effective | — | Not in effect. If adopted, takes effect 30 days after publication in the City Record |
What counts as "incomplete." The rule's definition is broad. An incomplete inspection is "a scheduled inspection that must be rescheduled because the permit holder or licensee fails to appear, fails to prepare the site, is unfamiliar with the scope of work, or fails to provide full access, documentation, or conditions necessary for the Department to conduct the inspection."
It then lists seven specific triggers:
- No-show — nobody from the permit holder or licensee is there at the scheduled time.
- Work not done — the installation is not complete enough to inspect.
- Inspection declined — your person leaves the site or refuses to proceed.
- Late cancellation — cancelled fewer than three business days out.
- Incomplete access — the inspector does not get "unobstructed entry to the completed installation" and cannot reach "all relevant components, equipment, and equipment rooms."
- Unprepared site — missing safety measures, missing documentation, or "other specific condition identified by the inspector."
- Unfamiliar with scope — the person on site cannot answer the inspector's questions or facilitate the inspection.
Note what is not there: the rule lists no exceptions. No carve-out for an owner who locked the mechanical room, a tenant who would not open the door, or an inspector who arrived outside the window. The only relief is the after-the-fact challenge.
Who it affects. The fee is charged to the permit holder — the rule says DOB "will charge a permit holder a fee of two hundred dollars ($200) for each inspection scheduled by such permit holder that results in an incomplete inspection." The applicability section sweeps in registered design professionals, licensees, general contractors, third-party contractors, owners, and filing representatives who request those inspections. In practice that is the licensed electrician on the electrical permit, the licensed master plumber on the plumbing permit, and the GC or contractor of record on the construction permit.
The discipline piece reaches further than the fee. Subdivision (e) lets DOB refer a licensee or design professional with "repeated incomplete inspections or failed to pay a fee" within a calendar year for license action under Administrative Code §28-401.19(14) or (16) or §28-104.2.1.2. For a master electrician or master plumber, the license is the business.
Why DOB says it is doing this. DOB's statement of basis and purpose says that from 2021 through May 2026 inspectors arrived at roughly 44,000 electrical inspections they could not complete because the permit holder or licensee "did not attend the scheduled appointment or was not prepared or willing to assist in the inspection or could not provide full access to the work." The department puts the cost at "over $2 million" and says one company alone accounted for about 1,800 of those missed appointments. DOB's stated authority is City Charter §§643 and 1043(a) and Administrative Code §28-116.3.
What it costs you Monday morning. Nothing yet. But if this is adopted as written, price it now:
- $200 per miss, per permit. A job with electrical, plumbing, and construction inspections has three separate ways to eat the fee on one bad day.
- The reschedule lock is the real cost. A $200 fee is annoying; a sign-off delayed a week because accounting had not paid the fee is a schedule hit, and on a job with a TCO date that is real money.
- Three-business-day cancellation cutoff. If the sub is not going to be ready, cancel by the Thursday before a Tuesday inspection, not Monday night.
- Whoever meets the inspector has to know the job. "Unfamiliar with the scope of work" is a standalone trigger. Sending a laborer with the keys no longer works.
- Paper your readiness. The challenge process wants "time-stamped photographs, video recordings, inspection scheduling records, site access logs, proof of communication with Department staff." If you are not already photographing the site the morning of an inspection, start.
- Watch for the fee in your subs' bids. Expect electrical and plumbing subs to pass this through, or to add readiness language to their contracts.
What to do next — comments close Sept. 9. This is the window where a contractor can actually change the rule. Points worth raising, if they match your experience: the lack of any exception for access blocked by an owner or tenant, whether the three-business-day cutoff fits how trades actually sequence, and whether "sole discretion" challenge review gives the permit holder a fair shot.
- Submit a written comment through the comment form on the rule's page at NYC Rules. The notice also accepts comments by email and mail to DOB's Office of the General Counsel; the portal page lists both.
- Deadline: Wednesday, September 9, 2026.
- Hearing: virtual, Sept. 9, 11 a.m. Link is on the portal page.
- Want to speak at the hearing? You must sign up by September 2. Three minutes per speaker.
Read the full proposed text. DOB's current fee schedule, which this would sit alongside, is 1 RCNY §101-03.
This is a plain-English explainer of a proposed rule, not legal advice. Consult your own counsel on how it applies to your permits.