To look up a certificate of occupancy (CO) in New York City, search the building’s address or BIN at the Department of Buildings (DOB). Certificates issued since March 2021 are in DOB NOW, and older ones are in the Buildings Information System (BIS). A CO states the building’s legal use and occupancy. A temporary certificate (TCO) does the same but carries an expiration date.
That label matters more than most buyers expect. Of the 4,587 jobs whose first DOB NOW certificate was issued in 2021–2023, 31% still had no final CO in October 2026. A temporary certificate typically expires 90 days after issuance (DOB), and those jobs had been renewed a median of 3 times.
How to find a certificate of occupancy for an NYC address
- Find the building’s BIN (Building Identification Number) by searching the address in DOB’s property search. Our NYC DOB property search guide walks through BIS and DOB NOW.
- For a CO issued since March 2021, search the address or BIN in DOB NOW. DOB’s certificate of occupancy module in DOB NOW opened that month.
- For an older CO, search the same BIN in BIS.
- To see every certificate on a building in one list, filter the city’s DOB NOW: Certificate of Occupancy open dataset by BIN. Each row shows the request type (initial, renewal or final) and issue date.
- If no CO exists, check whether the building is old enough to predate the requirement. DOB issues a Letter of No Objection as proof of legal use for buildings exempt from the CO requirement (DOB: Obtain a Certificate of Occupancy).
How many NYC jobs reach a final certificate of occupancy
DOB NOW recorded 83,338 certificates on 25,387 jobs from March 2021 to October 2026. About half the jobs (12,499) show only a final CO in DOB NOW. Another 8,935 started with an initial certificate there, and the table follows the 4,587 that started in 2021–2023, so every job has had about three years to finish.
| Job type | Jobs with a first certificate in 2021–2023 | Final CO by Oct. 2026 | Median days to final | Median renewals while still open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New building | 2,221 | 71.5% | 196 | 4 |
| Alteration | 2,366 | 67.2% | 181 | 3 |
| All jobs | 4,587 | 69.3% | 189 | 3 |
Among jobs that reached a final, 46% needed no renewal at all, and three-quarters got there within 418 days of the first certificate. The jobs still open look different. 45% of them had five or more renewals, and 60% had no certificate issued in the past 12 months. Renewals far outnumber finals overall: in 2025, DOB issued 11,214 renewals and 3,162 final certificates.
How long a final CO takes once it is requested
Once a final is requested, the wait is mostly short. The median final certificate was issued 27 days after the request was submitted, and 90% within 137 days. Renewals take a median of 2 days. The long gaps come earlier, while the job collects the inspection sign-offs DOB requires, which our guide to DOB sign-off statuses explains.
What a temporary CO means if you are buying in NYC
DOB issues a temporary certificate when a building is safe to occupy but issues remain before a final CO. If those issues are unresolved when it expires, the owner renews it. For a buyer or a lender, that leaves three questions: whether the current temporary certificate is still in force, what stands between the job and a final, and who is responsible for finishing it.
- Read the top of the certificate: final or temporary, and the expiration date on a temporary one.
- Compare the latest issue date with today. If the latest temporary certificate was issued more than 90 days ago, ask for the renewal.
- Ask for the list of open items. DOB says a PE or RA can determine what is needed for a final CO.
- Check the job’s open permits and sign-offs in DOB NOW. Our guide to TCO exceptions and open alteration jobs shows how they appear on the record.
- For a condo or co-op unit, ask the managing agent or sponsor for the building’s CO status and the expected date for the final.
For buildings with no CO at all, our guide to old buildings without a certificate of occupancy covers the alternatives, and our certificate of occupancy lookup guide compares how other cities handle COs.
Counts are our calculations from NYC Open Data’s DOB NOW: Certificate of Occupancy, grouped by job filing, pulled October 24, 2026. The dataset records request types (initial, renewal, final) rather than whether each certificate is temporary or interim. DOB pages checked October 24, 2026. More analyses are on our permit data page.