I live and work in NYC and am a small project practitioner mostly doing townhouse gut renovations on down. I understand some of the logic of the multitude of recent changes at the Department of Buildings (DOB) but find that they fall far short when it comes to achieving project close outs. My basic question is this: what is the best way to obtain final sign offs from all trades in a timely manner in NYC? I have seen some contract language making the contractor responsible for all DOB close outs. I do not recall the precise language. How has this worked? What contract language is necessary? How much money retained is required to help the contractor do what he's supposed to do? Any other related advice to help reduce the hours spent chasing contractors to close out their projects? Thanks.
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Daniel Alter AIA
Daniel Alter Architect PLLC
Brooklyn NY
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