New York City enacted Intro 1321-2025, the NYC Existing Building Code (EBC) on January 17, 2026 and this new code will go into effect on July 17, 2027. The EBC will govern the alteration and maintenance of existing buildings. It also amends the Administrative Code of the City of New York and repeals the 1968 Code. The EBC is modeled on the 2021 International Existing Building Code (IEBC) and provides a comprehensive and streamlined regulatory framework for alterations to existing buildings. The IEBC is widely adopted throughout the country, including in New York State.

As outlined by the NYC Department of Buildings team during their testimony before the NYC Council, the EBC will enhance the safety of the buildings in our city in several ways; the EBC:

  • Promotes compliance with modern codes by repealing the 1968 Building Code, which currently continues to apply to alterations repairs changes of occupancy, additions, and relocation of existing buildings.
  • Provides comprehensive Tenant and Occupant Protection Plans for buildings occupied during construction activities, expanding on the current code regulations.
  • Establishes new requirements for architectural investigations when the work area exceeds 50% of the floor area, ensuring that existing means of egress elements and rated assemblies are safe.
  • Enhances fire safety by introducing new requirements for automatic sprinkler systems that address various unique conditions that occur in existing buildings.
  • Create a Limited Home Improvement Permit for one and two family dwellings to be filed by a homeowner or a licensed home improvement contractor, providing a path for homeowners to obtain work permits for specific types of home improvement alterations which were often performed illegally without permits.
  • Introduces limited alteration application (LLA) permits for additional scopes of work, including window, replacements, re-roofing and elevator repair and replacements, which will result in improved compliance with the building and energy conservation codes.
  • Increases accessibility in residential buildings when an alteration involves more than 50% of the dwelling units under a single ownership by requiring all common use facilities serving those units to comply with the accessibility requirements in chapter 11 of the building code.
  • Provides a standardized method to verify the stability of buildings being altered and requires a more thorough condition assessment when the proposed alterations increase the level of structural demand in the building.
  • Introduces the concept of “work area“ to replace alteration cost as the trigger for when code requirements apply, which provides a more objective measure of an alteration’s size and code requirements.
  • Streamlines and simplifies regulations related to changes of occupancy, including changes to occupancy classification and use.
  • Establishes a simplified framework for the multiple dwelling classifications to comply with the complex framework of the Multiple Dwelling Law (“MDL”) that details, the technical provisions of the MDL that are applicable to alterations to existing residential buildings.
  • Increases the energy efficiency of the City’s building stock by facilitating renovation of existing buildings while requiring incremental energy conservation upgrades.
  • Allows the use of like material materials, assemblies, and detail details in partial and restorative repairs of façades and roofs to facilitate incremental energy conservation upgrades.

The NYC Department of Buildings has created a clear graphic to help Owners of existing buildings determine how to proceed under the new Code based on the Scope of Work they intend to perform:

DOB Scope of Work & Alteration Pathways

The EBC will make it easier to preserve modernize and adapt our existing building stock while ensuring regulatory consistency across future code updates. The text of the Code was drafted and reviewed by industry experts who reviewed all aspects of the code. GMS participated in both the preparation of the draft structural portions of the code, developed case study examples to evaluate cost implications and worked with the NYC DOB Structural Technical Committee which completed the text. GMS staff who were involved include Karl Rubenacker, Joe Mugford, Jessica Mandrick, Dan Eschenasy, David Hoy, Virginia Diaz, John Hinchcliffe, Ana Gallego, Valeria Prieto, Daniel Gleave, Sebastian Delgado, Pablo Solano and Ramon Gilsanz.