Home Renovation and Remodeling in Manhattan

Co-ops, condos, rentals and townhouses

The PLUTO tax-lot file is a different count from the Census table above, so totals differ. It still shows the pattern: roughly two in five residential units sit on lots classed as co-ops or condominiums, while one- and two-family lots number in the thousands yet hold well under 1% of units. A building class describes the lot as a whole, and other lots, such as walk-up and elevator rental classes, cover most of the remainder.

• Co-ops and condos: boards and managing agents typically require an alteration agreement, plans and contractor documents before work begins, and many restrict hours, noise and elevator use. Terms vary by building, so the agreement itself is the rule book.
• Wet rooms over dry rooms: many buildings will not let a kitchen or bath end up above the living space of the unit below. Treat any relocation of plumbing as a board question first, as our page on bathroom remodeling in a Manhattan apartment explains.
• Rental apartments: tenants usually need the owner's written consent before anything beyond cosmetic work.
• Townhouses: no board, but shared party walls, narrow stairs and a single street entrance shape logistics, and historic-district review is common.

Landmarks and historic districts

The Landmarks Preservation Commission says to search an address on its Discover NYC Landmarks map. For a designated property, the owner files with LPC and obtains its permit, and DOB holds the building application until then. LPC's permit-types page lists interior work that needs its permit: work that requires a DOB permit, work that affects the exterior, such as HVAC louvers and vents, and work affecting a designated interior landmark.

LPC's historic-district dataset (accessed 2026-11-09) holds 70 designated Manhattan district and extension records, from the Upper East Side and Greenwich Village to Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill, Tribeca and the South Street Seaport. In PLUTO 26v2, 10,478 of Manhattan's 32,472 lots with homes (32.3%) carry a historic-district name; those lots hold 145,663 residential units, or 15.2%. The lot share runs well above the unit share, which points to many smaller buildings inside the districts, and the address search, not the neighborhood name, settles whether a building is covered.

Lead paint and asbestos in older buildings

• NYC Local Law 1 of 2004: HPD's summary says owners of multiple dwellings built before 1960 must presume paint is lead-based unless a certified inspection shows otherwise, and that repair work disturbing more than two square feet of such paint where a child under six resides must use certified firms and safe work practices.
• EPA RRP rule: projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes built before 1978 must be done by EPA- or state-certified firms using certified renovators who follow lead-safe work practices.
• Asbestos: the NYC Department of Environmental Protection says building owners are responsible for an asbestos survey by a DEP-certified asbestos investigator before work starts.
• See how full-apartment renovation in Manhattan plans around them.

Before you hire

Before you hire in Manhattan

Whoever you hire, check these before you sign. They apply to us too.

• License and complaints: New York City requires a DCWP Home Improvement Contractor license for work costing more than $200 on a residential building. Check it by calling 311 or with DCWP's license check, and ask 311 for a "Business Background Check".
• Written scope and contract: signed by both of you, with a copy before work starts. It should list what is included and excluded, each allowance in dollars, how changes are priced and approved, and who files which permits. DCWP advises paying no more than 25% upfront, never in cash.
• Insurance: ask for the contractor's certificate of insurance.
• Your building's rules: check the certificate of insurance and the proposed work hours against the alteration agreement before the board package is submitted.