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Building by BuildingNYC heat, hot water & pipes
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1 · Find your building

2 · Find your borough

3 · Find the problem

Heat & steam

Gas & CO

Water & the bill

Pipes, leaks & who fixes

The street, from the start · How this atlas is made

Plate 0 · the street

Which building do you live in?

Heat, hot water and pipe rules in New York City change with the building: tap yours on the street below to see where its heat comes from, who controls the boiler and the one rule that matters most.

Schematic street of five New York City building types12345

water main sewer · Schematic street, not a real block. Tap a building.

The five buildings, left to right

  1. 1Prewar walk-upStairs, steam radiators and one boiler in the cellar shared by every flat
    Heat
    A cellar boiler sending steam up to cast-iron radiators, often one pipe per radiator
    Boiler
    The owner and the super run the boiler; tenants never touch it, its burner or its controls
    The rule
    Oct 1–May 31, 68°F by day when it is under 55°F outside and 62°F at night, plus 120°F hot water all year (HPD)
  2. 2Brownstone or row houseA stoop, a cellar boiler and an owner who answers for every pipe
    Heat
    The house's own boiler in the cellar, feeding steam or hot-water radiators
    Boiler
    The owner controls it and hires a licensed heating pro or plumber for any service or repair
    The rule
    Rent out any unit and HPD’s heat and 120°F hot water minimums apply to that tenant (Admin Code §27-2028, §27-2031)
  3. 3Co-op or condo high-riseOne boiler plant, a board, a super, and a lease that splits the repairs
    Heat
    A central boiler plant feeding two-pipe steam or hot water to every apartment
    Boiler
    The board decides; the management company and super run it; shareholders and renters report to them
    The rule
    City heat and 120°F hot water rules bind the building’s owner here too; 311 sends co-op and condo residents to the board first
  4. 4Two-family houseOwner on one floor, tenant on the other, boiler and water heater below
    Heat
    One boiler or furnace in the basement, usually heating both floors
    Boiler
    The owner, who hires a licensed plumber or heating pro; the tenant reports and gives access
    The rule
    A rented unit in a two-family house gets the same heat and 120°F hot water minimums as any apartment (§27-2028, §27-2031)
  5. 5New-build condoGlass tower, heat often from units in each apartment, bylaws that split repairs
    Heat
    Often a through-wall unit, fan coil or heat pump inside each apartment
    Boiler
    The board controls any central plant; in-unit equipment falls to whoever the condo documents name
    The rule
    If your heat comes from equipment in your unit, the condo documents decide who repairs it; tell the management company first
A tall brick walk-up with black fire escapes next to lower brick and painted row houses under a clear blue sky
Apartment buildings of different heights and ages beside row houses on Clifton Place, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn (Nov 2019). The real thing: buildings of every type share one block.

Then find your borough

Then find the problem

Heat & steam

  1. H-1What are the NYC heat season rules?
  2. H-2How hot must the hot water be in NYC?
  3. H-3How do you file a no-heat complaint in NYC?
  4. H-4How does one-pipe steam heat work?
  5. H-5How does two-pipe steam heat work?
  6. H-6Why do steam radiators and pipes bang?
  7. H-7What does a radiator air vent do?
  8. H-8Why is my radiator cold when the heat is on?
  9. H-9Which NYC buildings need a yearly boiler inspection?

Gas & CO

  1. G-1Local Law 152: when is your gas piping due?
  2. G-2What to do if you smell gas
  3. G-3Gas shut off in your building: what happens next
  4. G-4Carbon monoxide alarms: the rules and the response

Water & the bill

  1. W-1How is a NYC water and sewer bill worked out?
  2. W-2Does your NYC building have a lead service line?
  3. W-3How do you use NYC's free lead test kit?
  4. W-4Who checks the water tank on your NYC roof?
  5. W-5How good is the tap water in your NYC building?

Pipes, leaks & who fixes

  1. P-1Why does sewage back up into NYC basements?
  2. P-2What should you do about a frozen pipe in NYC?
  3. P-3Who fixes what: owner, board, unit owner or tenant?
  4. P-4Repairs and heat in a rent-stabilized apartment
  5. P-5Plumbing permits and licensed plumbers in NYC

The same cold radiator means a different first call in a walk-up, a brownstone, a co-op, a two-family house or a new condo. In a rental, the owner answers for heat and hot water under the city’s Housing Maintenance Code; in a co-op, the board and its management company run the plant; in a house you own and live in, you hire the licensed plumber yourself. Pick your building, then your borough, then the problem.

The drawing is a schematic, not a survey of any real block. Every rule on these pages comes from the city or state agency that publishes it, with the date we checked it.

Each building sheet shows a cut-through drawing of that building type, from the roof tank or roofline down to the boiler in the cellar and the owner’s water and sewer lines under the sidewalk. Each problem plate starts with a five-line key, one line per building, so you can read your own answer before the detail. Borough sheets add what differs across the five boroughs, such as which gas piping inspection year applies to each community district.