The TR1 special inspections form in NYC is the Technical Report Statement of Responsibility that the Department of Buildings requires before it will issue a Certificate of Occupancy or Letter of Completion on any project triggering Chapter 17 of the Building Code. The design professional of record identifies every required special inspection category on the form, each registered Special Inspection Agency accepts responsibility for its assigned categories, and the signed, sealed reports are uploaded through DOB NOW: Build. Miss a category or miss the deadline, and the project cannot close out.
When a TR1 Is Required
Under BC 1704.1, whenever a construction permit application covers work listed in Section 1705, the owner must retain one or more special inspection agencies to monitor that work during construction.1UpCodes. NYC Building Code 2022 – Chapter 17 Special Inspections and Tests The TR1 is where that requirement gets documented: the design professional lists every applicable category, and each inspection agency signs on to the categories it will cover.
The form carries dozens of possible categories. Common ones a project may trigger include structural steel welding and bolting, cast-in-place and precast concrete, masonry, deep foundation elements such as driven piles and helical piles, sprayed fire-resistant materials, firestopping, mechanical systems, sprinklers and standpipes, smoke control, excavation support and underpinning, and flood zone compliance.2NYC Buildings. TR1 Technical Report Statement of Responsibility Not every project triggers every category. Only the categories the design professional identifies based on the approved construction documents appear on your TR1.
One boundary worth noting: energy code progress inspections run on a separate track under the TR8 and 1 RCNY §5000-01, not the TR1.3NYC Buildings. TR-8 Inspections Reporting Both must be completed before close-out, but the TR1 does not cover energy inspections.
Information to Have Before You Start
Every field on the TR1 has to match what DOB already has on file, so pull these together first:
- The job number DOB assigned when the permit application was filed, which you can look up by address in the Buildings Information System.4New York City Department of Buildings. Job Status
- The document number for the specific filing within that job.
- The Borough-Block-Lot (BBL) assigned by the Department of Finance.
- The exact building address as it appears in DOB records.
- The registered name and details of each Special Inspection Agency on the project, plus the names of the individual inspectors who performed field visits.
Each Special Inspection Agency must be registered with DOB in Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 under 1 RCNY §101-06, and the agency must be independent of the contractor whose work it is inspecting.5NYC Buildings. Special Inspection Agency Registration Requirements – Buildings A contractor cannot hire its own special inspector.6NYC Buildings. Project Requirements – Registrant – Loft Law IMD – Buildings – Section: Special Inspections
Who Fills Out Which Section
The TR1 is split by role, and the right person has to sign each part.
The design professional of record completes the first portion. They identify every required special inspection, progress inspection, and test for the project, and they certify that the inspection agencies the owner has retained are acceptable.2NYC Buildings. TR1 Technical Report Statement of Responsibility
The inspection applicant section is where the person taking final-inspection responsibility signs on. By signing, that person commits to performing a final inspection, confirming that all progress and special inspections have been documented, and filing a certification that the work was performed in accordance with the approved construction documents.2NYC Buildings. TR1 Technical Report Statement of Responsibility
Each special inspector then provides a professional seal and signature on the documents covering their assigned categories. That seal is a legal attestation that the inspector personally verified the code compliance of the components they were responsible for.6NYC Buildings. Project Requirements – Registrant – Loft Law IMD – Buildings – Section: Special Inspections
Progress inspectors sign off separately. Their job, defined in BC 109 and 1 RCNY 101-07, is to verify during construction that the required special inspections actually took place and that the work substantially complies with both the code and the approved construction documents.7NYC Buildings. Special Inspection Agency Frequently Asked Questions – Buildings
The Deadline That Controls Everything
The final inspection must happen within one year from the expiration of the last valid permit, and the certification must be filed within 30 days of that inspection.2NYC Buildings. TR1 Technical Report Statement of Responsibility For projects that do not require a new or amended Certificate of Occupancy, the same timing is spelled out in 1 RCNY §101-10.8American Legal Publishing. 1 RCNY 101-10 Final Inspection and Sign-Off Prior to Letter of Completion
Missing that one-year window has teeth. The TR1 itself states that failure to file a certification of completion, or to notify the Department of a withdrawal of responsibilities, within one year from permit expiration can result in loss of filing privileges under Directives 2 and 14 of 1975, issuance of a violation, or both.2NYC Buildings. TR1 Technical Report Statement of Responsibility
What the Final Report Must Contain
The 2022 Building Code sets out what the closing report has to show: documentation of every required special inspection, any required tests performed or witnessed, and confirmation that all discrepancies noted during inspections have been corrected. The report must certify compliance with the approved construction documents and with any deviations the design professional of record approved.1UpCodes. NYC Building Code 2022 – Chapter 17 Special Inspections and Tests
This is the stage where projects stall. If one category listed on the original TR1 has unresolved discrepancies or a missing report, the entire sign-off stops. Before you try to close out, confirm that every category on the TR1 has a matching completed report.
Submitting Through DOB NOW: Build
All special inspection documentation is filed electronically through DOB NOW: Build, the Department’s online filing platform used by owners, design professionals, special and progress inspectors, and filing representatives.9New York City Department of Buildings. Use DOB NOW – Section: DOB NOW: Build
Log into DOB NOW: Build and open the job filing that matches your project. Use the document upload utility to attach the signed and sealed reports. Uploads must be PDF or JPEG, no larger than 250 MB per file.10NYC Buildings. DOB NOW: Build – Special and Progress Inspector User Manual After upload, each document shows as “Pending” until a plan examiner or QA clerk reviews and accepts it, and you can track that status in the portal.
Special inspectors upload their seal and signature through a dedicated function in DOB NOW: Build. Only the special inspector assigned to a given category can use that upload button. Supporting documents beyond the required reports go in through the “Add New Document” option, with the appropriate document type selected from the system’s list.10NYC Buildings. DOB NOW: Build – Special and Progress Inspector User Manual
What Else Must Be in Place for Sign-Off
Submitting the special inspection reports is necessary but not sufficient. DOB’s project completion checklist also requires:
- All required Department inspections performed and passed
- Self-certification results from contractors of record, where applicable
- A Department final inspection
- As-built drawings from the applicant of record if the completed project has non-substantive changes from the approved plans
11NYC Buildings. Project Requirements – Project Sign-Off and Completion – Buildings Department inspections are scheduled through DOB NOW: Inspections, a separate module from DOB NOW: Build. For projects requiring a Certificate of Occupancy, the Department’s final inspection is performed in the presence of the permit holder, the design professional of record, or the superintendent of construction, and the inspector confirms that all defects have been corrected and that the work substantially complies with the approved documents and applicable codes.12NYC Buildings. NYC Administrative Code – Section 28-116.2.4.1 Without that sign-off, the building cannot legally be occupied for its intended use.
Penalties for Missing or Incomplete Filings
Failing to perform or properly document required special inspections exposes owners and professionals to civil penalties under NYC Administrative Code §28-202.1:
- Immediately hazardous violations: $2,500 to $25,000 per violation, plus up to $1,000 for each day the violation remains uncorrected.
- Major violations: $1,000 to $10,000 per violation, plus up to $250 per month the violation continues.
- Lesser violations: up to $500 per violation.
13American Legal Publishing. NYC Administrative Code 28-202.1 Civil Penalties The practical cost is often worse than the fine. Without the final report, no Certificate of Occupancy or Letter of Completion issues, and the building cannot be legally occupied. For design professionals, a missed certification deadline can mean loss of filing privileges, which blocks future self-certified DOB work.2NYC Buildings. TR1 Technical Report Statement of Responsibility