Track the LPC application, Commission decision and issued permit separately. Start with the docket in Permit Application Search. If the full Commission reviewed the work, also check its decision search. Then seek the issued copy and associated drawings. A favorable meeting result or pending work label cannot fill a missing permit.
Carry one docket across searches that use different formats
Permit Search covers applications filed and permits issued since January 1, 2016. Enter a docket as LPC-XX-XXXXX, or use the documented address, landmark, borough, block/lot, community-district or work-keyword fields. For addresses, enter the house number and street only; use ordinals such as 1st, except Fifth Avenue. Approval-type filtering is for issued permits only. Pending work descriptions come from applicants and can change during review; keep them separate from the final scope.
The Permit Application Finder map also covers application and issued-permit information from January 1, 2016. It documents address or docket searching and staff/Commission filters for issued permits. Its separate violation layer covers violations issued since January 1, 2020, including active and rescinded records. That layer cannot resolve whether an application became a permit. The map cautions that it does not replace a title search or other due diligence.
The decision search has a different cutoff and a different docket entry rule. It lists full Commission Certificate of Appropriateness decisions from March 3, 2015, not every staff-level LPC permit. Select a borough and enter an address or docket keyword. For a docket displayed as LPC-12-34567 elsewhere, the decision page instructs you to enter only 1234567, without the prefix or hyphens. An empty attempt with the wrong format is not a case-history finding. Nor does absence from this Commission series establish that LPC did not issue a staff-level permit.
Keep a compact three-record worksheet rather than folding all results into one “approved” line:
| File stage | Record the exact evidence | Question still open |
|---|---|---|
| Application | Docket, address and borough, proposed work, filing or status date, and whether the description is pending. | Did LPC decide the scope and permit type? |
| Commission decision, if applicable | Decision date, docket entered in the decision search's numeric format, result and stated conditions. | Were later drawings accepted and a permit issued? |
| Issued LPC permit | Permit or approval type, issued copy, date, work scope and associated drawing version. | Does a separate DOB permit or later inspection answer the construction question? |
This worksheet keeps the same property and docket attached to the right stage while leaving a blank when a document is missing. Record the source URL and date of any actual search later performed; no docket, address, landmark or map point was queried for this guide.
What a Commission approval leaves to verify
LPC's Certificate of Appropriateness process describes full-Commission review and explains why an approval at a hearing is not the final document. Sometimes the Commission makes a determination at a later public meeting. After full-Commission approval, the applicant must submit Department of Buildings filing drawings to the assigned LPC staff preservationist through a Post-Approval Action in Portico; the LPC permit is issued afterward and made downloadable there. The date of a hearing, decision or drawing submission should stay under its own label.
Suppose an explicitly fictional folder contains a hearing agenda, a favorable decision for a rear addition and a later drawing marked “revised,” but no issued LPC permit. The decision identifies a review outcome; the drawing's filename does not show whether LPC accepted that version. Use the docket and scope to seek the issued copy and the drawing set associated with it. If the returned permit names a different phase or address, preserve the mismatch and ask which file links those materials. Do not move the favorable decision onto unrelated work simply because the property name is familiar.
An LPC permit is also separate from the building permit, inspection and occupancy trail held by NYC DOB. The NYC DOB address-search guide explains why BIS and DOB NOW must be checked for those construction records. Match the DOB job or permit to the landmark scope, but keep the agency names and issuance dates distinct. LPC approval does not prove a DOB permit was issued, work matched the approved drawings, an inspection passed, or the space has lawful occupancy.
Recover a pre-2016 file or missing issued copy
LPC directs pre-2016 application-status inquiries to a Records Access Request. The same form is a focused route when a public listing leaves the permit copy or underlying alteration file unresolved. It asks for the site name or address, borough, block and lot, materials requested, and a docket or permit number when known. Its choices include a permit copy and files related to building alteration. Email the completed form to records@lpc.nyc.gov; in-person access requires an advance appointment. Neither route was used here.
For an older or incomplete online trail, save the docket exactly as printed in the application file, the borough and address, approximate review period, work description, and the last document actually located. Name the missing item: decision, issued permit, conditions, or associated drawing set. If the decision search yields nothing, distinguish the March 3, 2015 Commission-decision boundary from a possible staff-level approval and from a failed docket-format attempt. Ask LPC Records Access which file holds the named item instead of turning an online gap into a denial or clearance finding. A request route does not guarantee that every historical attachment is available.
The NYC DOB physical-record guide covers plans and older building files held through DOB's separate process. A DOB plan request is not an LPC permit-copy request, even when both agencies reviewed drawings for the same project. An absent LPC result does not prove there was no application or authorization, and even an issued LPC permit does not prove completion, present safety or lawful use. The defensible record statement is which LPC stage and copy you found, what scope it names, and what remains unverified.
LPC pages and the Records Access form checked October 8, 2026 (UTC). These are documented search and request routes; no Portico login, property search, records request or case-specific permit download was performed.