DOB NOW Objections — How to Avoid Them
The Most Common DOB NOW Objections and How to Avoid Them
If you've filed through DOB NOW, you've probably dealt with objections. Plan examiners review your drawings, flag items that don't comply with code or are missing information, and send them back for correction. Each round of objections adds days or weeks to your approval timeline — and on complex projects, multiple rounds of objections can delay your permit by months.
The good news: most objections are predictable and preventable.
Top 5 objection items on Alt-2 filings
Based on common patterns across residential and commercial alteration filings in NYC, the most frequent objection categories are:
1. Energy code compliance. This is the single most common objection on Alt-2 filings. Plan examiners require energy analysis documentation — either a COMcheck report, a prescriptive compliance path, or an energy code worksheet — that matches the scope of work shown on the drawings. Missing or incomplete energy documentation will almost always result in an objection.
2. Drawing coordination across disciplines. When the architectural plans show one layout and the plumbing or mechanical plans show something different, the examiner will flag the inconsistency. This is especially common on multi-discipline filings where different consultants prepare their drawings independently.
3. Construction Classification and Occupancy Group. Every filing needs to correctly identify the building's construction classification and occupancy group. Errors here — even small ones — generate objections because they affect fire protection requirements, structural requirements, and egress calculations.
4. Fire-rated assembly details. Plan examiners want to see specific fire-rating details at corridor walls, shaft enclosures, floor-ceiling assemblies, and separation walls. Generic notes like "1-hour rated wall" aren't sufficient — they want to see the UL assembly number or a tested detail.
5. ACP5/ACP7 asbestos documentation. Every project involving demolition in a pre-1981 building requires asbestos documentation. Missing or expired ACP5 forms are a common and entirely avoidable objection.
How pre-filing review prevents objections
A pre-filing drawing review goes through your set with the same checklist a plan examiner uses — but before you submit. Items that would become objections become corrections instead, resolved on your timeline rather than the examiner's.
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Need help resolving existing objections or preventing new ones?
Impetus Consultants reviews drawing sets before filing and coordinates objection responses after. We handle DOB NOW alteration filings across all five boroughs and all disciplines.
Contact us: info@impetus-consultants.com | (646) 464-1675
