LL97 exemptions:
who is actually covered.

Article 320 defines a covered building by size as it appears in the records of the Department of Finance — DOF's recorded gross square footage, not the owner's own measurement, decides inclusion (NYC Admin Code §28-320.1 (as amended by LL147/2019)). Three tests apply:

Two edges of the test matter in practice. If one building on a lot is larger than 25,000 sq ft, DOB pulls the entire lot onto the Covered Buildings List even when the lot's aggregate is 50,000 sq ft or less (DOB Article 320 Info Guide v1.4 §III(B)), while compliance, reporting and penalties are assessed per individual building by BIN (DOB LL97 CBL FAQ). In that case DOB's guide says the other buildings on the lot 'could be considered non-covered'; once the lot's aggregate exceeds 50,000 sq ft, every building on it is covered and must comply individually (DOB Article 320 Info Guide v1.4 §III(B); DOB LL97 page). A building that believes it is wrongly flagged should still raise it through a CBL dispute (below). New buildings with a Certificate of Occupancy or TCO issued on or after January 1, 2023 begin reporting for the first full calendar year after the year of issuance, and a condominium files one report covering all units, submitted by the board of managers (1 RCNY §103-14(b)(2), (b)(5)).

Eight categories are carved out of the Article 320 definition. The wording below follows the local laws as enacted — LL97/2019 as amended by LL147/2019 and LL116/2020 — cross-checked against DOB's rule and guidance rather than the consolidated code, so treat the section numbers as the place to look, not as verbatim current text.

One claim that circulates — that state and federal buildings are exempt — is not among these eight, and we could not find it in the statute or any DOB source we could open, so this page does not repeat it.

Four of the eight exceptions are not exemptions at all. Article 321 has its own covered-building definition that captures rent regulated accommodations, A-3 houses of worship, HDFC-owned buildings and project-based federal housing, subject to the same 25,000 / 50,000 sq ft size tests (NYC Admin Code §28-321.1 (as amended by LL147/2019 and LL116/2020)). NYC Accelerator says the same: those groups are routed to Article 321, not out of the law (NYC Accelerator LL97 page).

Article 321 is a one-time obligation, not an annual cap: show that calendar-year 2024 emissions did not exceed what the 2030–2034 limit would be, or implement the 13 prescriptive energy conservation measures by December 31, 2024, reported by May 1, 2025 (NYC Admin Code §28-321.2, §28-321.2.2, §28-321.3; 1 RCNY §103-17(b)). The rule sets a flat $10,000 per covered building for failing to file the Article 321 report within 60 days of the deadline, or by any extension deadline DOB grants, and a separate $10,000 per covered building for failing to demonstrate compliance with either pathway (1 RCNY §103-17(d)(1), (e)). The Article 320 vs 321 guide walks through both routes.

DOB sorts every listed building into one of five compliance paths:

Where a building fits more than one pathway, DOB requires compliance with the "highest tiered" path; its FAQ ranks the tiers from lowest (CP0) to highest (CP4), so a building that meets both CP0 and CP2 follows CP2. If the pathway shown on the list is wrong, dispute it through Ticket #1 in BEAM (DOB LL97 CBL FAQ).

The 35% line does two different things. Above it — more than 35% of dwelling units rent-stabilized or rent-controlled by law or by agreement with a governmental entity — the building is a rent regulated accommodation, out of Article 320 and into Article 321 (§28-320.1 (as amended by LL116/2020); §28-321.1). At or below it, with at least one regulated unit, the building stays in Article 320 but may delay the annual limits until January 1, 2026 and its first report until May 1, 2027 — DOB's Compliance Pathway 1 (NYC Admin Code §28-320.3.10.1 (added by LL116/2020); 1 RCNY §103-14(b)(8)(i)). The deadlines guide covers the filing cycle from there.

To prove the share for CP1 or CP3, DOB asks for a DHCR Certified Annual Registration Summary for rent-stabilized units, or a signed lawyer's letter for rent-controlled units (DOB LL97 CBL Matrix; DOB LL97 CBL FAQ). Neither the statute nor the rule says how the 35% is computed — which units count in the numerator and denominator, or how vacant or temporarily exempt units are treated — so a borderline count is a question to put to DOB before relying on it.

The line is not permanent: an Article 321 building whose rent-regulated share drops to 35% or below owes annual Article 320 reports from the first full calendar year after the change, and the statute lets DOB set rules granting extra time for such changes (DOB Article 320 Info Guide v1.4 §II(B)–(D); NYC Admin Code §28-320.3.10).

A separate deferral covers buildings owned by a Mitchell-Lama limited-profit housing company under Article 2 of the Private Housing Finance Law, or buildings containing at least one unit whose occupancy is income-restricted as a condition of a government loan, grant, tax exemption, tax abatement or conveyance under the PHFL, the General Municipal Law or RPTL §420-c. These are exempt from the 2024–2034 limits and reporting and become subject to the annual limits commencing January 1, 2035 (NYC Admin Code §28-320.3.9 (as amended by LL147/2019)); DOB's rule sets their initial report at May 1, 2036, covering calendar year 2035 (1 RCNY §103-14(b)(8)(ii)–(iii)). DOB labels this Compliance Pathway 2 (DOB Service Notice 3/30/2026).

To be placed on CP2, the Matrix asks for a DOF tax bill showing an exemption code such as 420-c (1301), PHFL Article II (5109), IV (5107), V (5108) or XI (5106/5130), or an HPD regulatory agreement; a 421-a benefit on its own does not determine the pathway (DOB LL97 CBL Matrix; DOB LL97 CBL FAQ). The deferral follows the facts: a building that loses all of its income-restricted units or leaves Mitchell-Lama owes annual Article 320 reports from the first full calendar year after the change (DOB Article 320 Info Guide v1.4 §II(B)–(D); §28-320.3.10). Boards sorting out which category applies will find the specifics in the co-ops and condos guide.

DOB compiles the Covered Buildings List from Department of Finance data and calls it a preliminary reference only (DOB Article 320 Info Guide v1.4 (6/30/2025), §I(A)); its LL97 page adds that the list reflects records as of March 2026 and that being on or off it does not relieve an owner of any obligation under the law (DOB LL97 page). The 2026 Covered Buildings List was published in March 2026 (DOB Service Notice 3/30/2026); it records the pathway per BIN and covers Local Laws 84, 87, 88 and 97 in one document (DOB LL97 CBL FAQ ('Has the CBL format changed?')); the other NYC energy laws have their own coverage tests.

Owners are responsible for correcting the list by filing a CBL Dispute using Ticket #1 in the LL97 Reporting Portal, BEAM (DOB Service Notice 3/30/2026). DOB's grounds for removal are size or number of buildings on the lot, utility, garden-style apartment, city building, NYCHA building, demolished building, new building, or a change of ownership; a dispute can also add a missing building or change its pathway (DOB LL97 page (CBL Disputes)). Square-footage disputes go to the Department of Finance (sustainablebuildings@finance.nyc.gov), not DOB; if DOF disapproves, the first annual report is due within 120 days of the disapproval, and the rule allows an extension while a DOF challenge is pending (DOB Article 320 Info Guide v1.4 §II(A); DOB LL97 CBL FAQ; 1 RCNY §103-14(g)(2)(ii)).

DOB's own statements on the cutoff vary: one CBL FAQ entry says disputes approved after December 22, 2025 are not reflected in the 2026 list, while another FAQ entry and the March 2026 notice put the cutoff at February 2026; all three say later dispute outcomes appear in the BEAM portal (DOB LL97 CBL FAQ; DOB Service Notice 3/30/2026). Owners whose 2026 pathway moved from CP2, CP3 or CP4 to CP0 or CP1, or into CP3 (or whose 2025 campus filing can no longer continue) and who need more time to comply may apply in 2027 for a mediated resolution — DOB's agreement not to bring an enforcement proceeding in exchange for a compliance plan, offered only where a report was filed and good-faith efforts are shown, and addressed to pathway changes that did not come through the owner's own 2025 CBL dispute; a CP0/CP1 swap only pushes the next report to 2027 (1 RCNY §103-14(j)(3); DOB Service Notice 3/30/2026).

Local Law 97 has no hardship exemption — only an adjustment to the limit under §28-320.7, available to a pre-existing building on two grounds: a capital improvement blocked by another provision of law (landmark or historic-district designation is the statute's own example) or by a physical condition of the site; or a showing that financing the work would prevent a reasonable financial return, or that the building is in financial hardship. Either way the owner must comply to the maximum extent practicable, have made a good-faith effort to buy offsets (and, on the financial ground, offsets or RECs), and have used all available incentive programs; the financial ground also requires proof of ineligibility for city-funded or local-law financing programs (NYC Admin Code §28-320.7(1)–(2), as amended by LL147/2019). Which offsets and RECs count is covered in the RECs and offsets guide.

Two other programs are closed. §28-320.8 reset the limit to 70% of 2018 emissions for buildings whose 2018 emissions exceeded the 2024–2029 limit by more than 40% (applications due before July 1, 2021); §28-320.9 set not-for-profit hospitals and health centers at 85% of 2018 emissions for 2024–2029 and 70% for 2030–2034 (July 21, 2021 deadline) (NYC Admin Code §28-320.8, §28-320.8.2, §28-320.9; DOB Article 320 Info Guide v1.4). The original 2021 application deadlines for §28-320.8 and §28-320.9 were extended by Local Law 77 of 2023 to January 1, 2025 (DOB Service Notice 7/21/2023); DOB states both windows are now closed (DOB LL97 page). An adjustment moves the limit, not the penalty formula: up to $268 per metric ton of CO2e over the limit each year (NYC Admin Code §28-320.6; 1 RCNY §103-14(h)). The penalties guide shows the math and the calculator estimates the exposure for an address.