COOP Alteration Agreement Approval Process

Frederic,

it is not so much about the architect or contractor. It really depends on the management co, building engineer/ architect and the board

Generally if you are not moving any fixtures ( moving a toilet from one side of the room to another) it takes 2-3 weeks

If you are moving fixtures it seems to take anywhere from 4-8 weeks

Then you also have some buildings that drag there feet for months and then tell you that you need a permit which can take a couple of more months

What is your scope of work?

Its a gut renovation however I am not moving any fixtures. i already know that I will need permits (my architect has confirmed this). I just trying to figure out how long the management co, building engineer/ architect and the board are going to take...

That really depends. Who is the management company?

The summer months and holiday serve to gum up the works sometimes. Ideally, within about 1 week of submitting the plans to the managing agent, the plans will be transferred to the building engineer for review and comment. There may then be a 1-2 week back and forth between the engineer and your architect for clarification/modification of what was submitted. Once the engineer signs off, you usually hear from the board within 1-2 weeks. All this can go more quickly, but really shouldn't take any longer. If everyone is on vacation, that is another story.

The process of getting board approval can take btw 2 to 4 weeks depending on the scope.
If you need to submit DofB approval might take longer since the mngt agent will requierev to have these
approvals prior approving the work by the board.
Hope this helps www.victiriabenatar.com

Actually, some boards will issue approvals before permits are received but require that you have the permits prior to demo commencing.

I'm not clicking on vicky's link unless she's related to Pat.

your experienced architect should be able to guide you, but in my opinion you need to allow at least a month from drawing/ spec submittal to signed paperwork. I've had it take 2-3 months with particularly sloppy managing agents and nit-picky reviewing engineer/ architect. My advice falls into 3 categories.
1. make sure your architect respond immediately to the reviewing architect. If possible have them talk (professional to professional). Be clear and accept the conditions.
2. Pick your battles. If your building doesn't permit a certain alteration for example, enlargement of a bathroom (wet over dry). Although NYer's are used to getting their own way and believe in their powers of persuasion you're asking a building to change their policy so be prepared for board meeting delays and a low probability of success. you must perfect the art of compromise.
3. befriend a board member. At the risk of offending Managing Agents reading this, my experience is that they care little about share-holders and even less about the share-holders team (architect and contractor). They do however care a lot about the opinion of the board and don't want to be brought to task over shoddy management. There's nothing like involving a board member in a messy approval to get everyone's attention.

Depends on the board and on the mgmt company. ours took 9 months. we submitted the whole package (architect plans, even the new fixtures). The board took their sweet time, the mgmt company was very slow in getting the building architect to look at it, etc etc etc. Countless excuses. We had to make adjustments to a few plumbing items and then it took them an additional 2 months to approve bc there was no board meeting in August, and so the file just sat there until the Sept meeting. really depends on your building.

Has anyone ever contracted work/plans through the building's reviewing architect instead of an outside contract? Given the building's architect has a conflict of interest in helping a coop owner, but also to the building, is this common?

its total BS that this takes so long and shouldnt take more than 2-3 days.

demand that the president and co-op board give you an answer or feedback asap. this isnt rocket science here folks.

its total BS that this takes so long and shouldnt take more than 2-3 days.

demand that the president and co-op board give you an answer or feedback asap. this isnt rocket science here folks.

Elliman is the managing agent and they have been sloppy! They lost checks they I personally hand delivered and then after replaced, cashed the original ones that were "lost". I have renovated before in the city and I am one of those individuals that enjoys the process. This time with dealing with Elliman is has been incredibly frustrating. They lose checks, signed documents and NEVER answer their phones!

Ugh. I am going to try to not worry about this right now as we are still putting together the alteration package...but your post is giving me the creeps about this process. I really really hope I will survive this renovation.

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