The City's housing agency, HPD, says it orders about 25,000 emergency repair jobs a year. These are fixes in apartment buildings whose owners left dangerous conditions in place: no heat or hot water, lead paint, conditions the Buildings Department has declared an emergency. HPD sends a contractor in and bills the owner.
None of that work is posted on a public bid board. Jobs up to $100,000 go only to contractors already on one of HPD's pre-qualified lists, and demolition jobs can run higher. So for a small housing repair shop, the list is the job.
HPD has folded its three lists into one application. The Emergency Repair list covers the most hazardous housing violations and Health Department orders. The Demolition list covers emergency and non-emergency demolition after the Buildings Department declares an emergency. The Tenant Interim Lease and Alternative Enforcement list covers repairs in City-owned buildings run by tenant associations, and in severely distressed buildings where HPD steps in because the owner will not.
Here is how a job gets handed out. For each one, HPD's computer picks at least eight firms from the list at random, and the lowest bid that meets the requirements wins. Bids are either a fixed price or time and materials, with overhead and profit capped at 10% on top of your hourly rates. If you ignore an invitation, HPD counts it as a no-bid. The firms that get steady work answer fast and price tight.
The M/WBE angle is real. The Tenant Interim Lease and Alternative Enforcement list is for M/WBEs certified by the City's Department of Small Business Services, a joint venture in which certified M/WBEs carry at least 25% of the profit or loss, or a firm that agrees to subcontract at least half of every job to one. A State certificate does not count there. A firm still going through City certification can apply with SBS's letter saying the process has started, and firms on that list are invited into SBS's Construction Mentorship Program.
What it takes to get on: PASSPort and SAM.gov registration, a year in business with no tax debts or liens, three references from separate clients for comparable New York City jobs finished in the past 12 months (three per list), your latest financial statements, and the licenses for your trade. For general construction that means the City's Home Improvement Contractor license and EPA lead-safe Renovator Firm certification. HPD says most of its repair jobs need the EPA certification by federal law and it only sends those jobs to certified firms. Insurance starts at $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate in general liability naming the City, plus $500,000 in auto, and your workers' comp experience rating has to be 1.20 or less. Demolition applicants also need $1,000,000 in bonding capacity and Business Integrity Commission registration for construction debris.
Know the work before you sign up. An optional 24-hour program means starting within two hours of a call, day or night. You have to tell HPD within 24 hours of starting and two working days before you finish, or you risk not getting paid. Invoices go in within 30 days, late completion costs $100 a day, and prevailing wage applies to work over $1,500. You never go to the building owner for payment: HPD pays you.
What to do next: enroll in PASSPort if you have not, get the EPA firm certification if you do repair work, line up three New York City references from the past year, and check your experience rating. If you are an M/WBE certified only by the State and want this work, apply for City certification as well. Then download the application from HPD's own page and send it in with the notarized form. Our full guide to HPD's lists has every requirement, and HPD's page on The RFI Wire tracks its open bids and recent results.