NYCHA Launches Online Annual Certification Portal Redesign

The new portal provides step-by-step instructions and easier navigation. On June 1, 2021, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) launched the redesign of its online annual recertification portal for residents. NYCHA residents and Section 8 voucher holders are required to recertify their income, assets, expenses and family composition on an annual basis. 


Pilot Program Will Require Certification of No Harassment Before Approval of Construction Permits

Building owners denied certification may not significantly alter their buildings for five years. On October 12, 2018, the de Blasio Administration announced the application of the Certification of No Harassment (CONH) Pilot Program, which seeks to expand tenant harassment protections. The program will require buildings to meet certain criteria to certify that no previous tenant-harassment has occurred prior to obtaining construction permits for significant alterations to their property. CONH currently applies to more than 1,000 <Read More>


Audit faults Buildings on self-certification program

Comptroller found that Buildings did not audit requisite percentage of professionally certified building permit applications. City Comptroller John C. Liu issued an audit report on Buildings’ compliance with its rules governing the internal auditing of professionally certified building applications. The audit found, among other things, that Buildings audited a “significantly lower” number of applications than required, and that Buildings’ borough offices in Brooklyn and Queens failed to fully review certain audit applications.

The professional certification … <Read More>


Architect suspended from self-certification program

Architect’s self-certified plans omitted mapped street and did not disclose need for BSA approvals. Between September 2008 and April 2009 architect Jose A. Velasquez self-certified applications to convert two buildings into three-family homes and to build two new three-family homes on a zoning lot at the corner of 103rd Street and Alstyne Avenue in Corona, Queens. The lot was occupied by four unfinished buildings partially within the bed of an unused mapped street.

Buildings audited … <Read More>


Council amends DOB’s self-certification program

Council action affects suspensions and revocations. By a vote of 47-0, the City Council passed two amendments to the Department of Buildings’ self-certification program. The program allows registered architects and professional engineers to bypass Buildings’ review of their plans by self-certifying that the project complies with zoning laws and the building code.

The amendments eliminate the self-certification program for certain types of work, including all demolitions as well as changes to egress, use or occupancy … <Read More>


DOB amends and expands self-certification rules

Grounds for suspension of architects and engineers expanded. On January 10, 2007, the Department of Buildings adopted changes to its self-certification program, expanding grounds for exclusion and suspension of participating architects and engineers and authorizing the Commissioner of Buildings to immediately suspend participants to prevent a serious public safety threat. Included within the new grounds for suspension were cases of fraud, improper use of licenses or professional stamps, and negligence or incompetence in relation to … <Read More>