Permit & licence expediting
Permit and licence expediting.
DOB permits and Certificates of Occupancy, FDNY and DEP permits, DOT and DCWP licences, inspections and sign-offs. We prepare the filing, walk it through the borough office and follow up until it is approved.
What we expedite
Every agency, every window.
New York issues nothing on its own schedule, it issues on the schedule of whoever is standing at the window. That is us.
DOB permits & filings
- Alteration Type 1, 2 and 3 (Alt-1 / Alt-2 / Alt-3) and new-building filings
- DOB NOW: Build job filings, PW1 / PW2 / PW3, plan examination and objections
- Work permits: plumbing, electrical, sprinkler, standpipe, boiler, elevator
- Sidewalk shed, scaffold, fence, crane and after-hours variance (AHV) permits
- Professional Certification (Pro-Cert) vs full plan review strategy
- Sign-offs, Letters of Completion and job closure
Certificates of Occupancy
- New and amended Certificates of Occupancy (CO)
- Temporary Certificates of Occupancy (TCO) and renewals
- Letters of No Objection (LNO) for pre-1938 buildings
- Occupancy and use changes, legalizing existing conditions
- Clearing open items blocking a CO: violations, permits, inspections
- Final inspections scheduled and attended
Licences & registrations
- FDNY permits and Certificates of Fitness (sprinkler, standpipe, fire alarm, refrigeration, fuel oil)
- DOB place-of-assembly (PA) certificates
- DEP backflow, boiler and air-permit filings
- DOT permits: sidewalk, street opening, canopy, loading zones
- DCWP / DCA business licences, sidewalk café and newsstand
- HPD registration, DHCR and Landmarks (LPC) applications
Inspections & sign-offs
- DOB, FDNY, DEP and electrical inspections booked and met on site
- Elevator, boiler and backflow annual filings
- Special and progress inspections coordinated with the TR1 inspector
- Pre-inspection walk-throughs so the first visit passes
- Objection and audit responses within the window
- Expediter appearances at the borough office
The windows we stand at
DOB, FDNY, DEP, DOT, DCWP, Landmarks and HPD, permits, licences and sign-offs.
Agency names and marks belong to their agencies and are shown to describe the work we do; none endorses Bulwark.
How it works
From scope to stamped approval.
Scope & strategy
We confirm what the job actually needs. Alt-1 or Alt-2, Pro-Cert or plan review, which permits, which inspections, and give you a timeline and a flat fee before anything is filed.
Package
Applications, drawings from your architect, owner authorizations, insurance certificates, licences and fees assembled complete the first time. Most delays start with a missing page.
File & follow
Filed in DOB NOW or at the borough office; examiner appointments booked; a person checking status every day, not a portal refresh once a week.
Objections & audits
Examiner objections answered inside the window with the right professional; audits resolved before they escalate.
Inspections
Scheduled, pre-walked and attended, so the first visit passes. Special inspections coordinated.
Sign-off
Letters of Completion, TCO / CO, permits closed and the paperwork delivered to you in one file, nothing left open to bite later.
Who hires us
Owners, contractors, architects, operators.
Building owners legalizing work or converting a use; general contractors who would rather build than stand in line; architects and engineers who want their jobs to move; restaurants, shops and businesses opening a door in New York and discovering how many agencies have an opinion about it.
- Owners: renovations, legalizations, COs, basement and ADU conversions
- Contractors: permits, AHVs, sidewalk sheds, sign-offs on a schedule
- Architects & engineers: filing, objections and audits handled
- Businesses: FDNY, DOB PA, DCWP, DOT and sidewalk café permits
An expediter is the person who knows which form, which fee, which borough window and which examiner, and who goes back every day until the job moves. We prepare and file the applications, schedule the appointments and inspections, resolve objections, and keep the job from stalling. The design work stays with your architect or engineer; we make the city say yes to it.
No. Violations are about the past: something the city has already written up, which needs correcting and dismissing. Expediting is about the future: a permit, licence, certificate or sign-off you need in order to build, open, occupy or operate. The two often meet, an open violation can block a Certificate of Occupancy, and we handle both, but they are separate services with separate pricing.
A straightforward Alt-2 under Professional Certification can be permitted in days; a full plan-review Alt-1 with objections can take months. Most of the delay in New York is not the examiner, it is incomplete filings, missed objection windows and unanswered audits. We quote a realistic timeline per job and then push it.
For most permit work, yes, a registered architect or professional engineer signs the drawings and the applications. If you do not have one we work with several who answer the phone. For licences, registrations and many inspections, no design professional is needed and we handle it end to end.
A flat fee per filing or per job, quoted up front, plus the city’s own fees at cost with the receipt. Retainer arrangements are available for owners and contractors with steady filing volume.
Have a filing that is stuck, or one you have not started?
Tell us the address and the job. You get a scope, a timeline and a flat fee within one business day.