How to file a Local Law 97 report:
DOB NOW, Portfolio Manager, BEAM.

Every building on DOB's LL97 Covered Buildings List must submit its report through BEAM (DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026), Q20, Q14). The 2026 list labels each building's path — CP0 (Article 320 from 2024), CP1 (Article 320 from 2026), CP2 (Article 320 from 2035), CP3 (Article 321 from 2024) and CP4 (city and NYCHA buildings, which do not report to DOB) (DOB Service Notice 3/30/2026; DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026), Q14). In DOB's shorthand, Article 320 covers most private buildings and Article 321 certain affordable housing and houses of worship (DOB LL97 Extension Requests User Guide v4, 4/15/2026). Whether your building belongs on the list is covered in exemptions and covered buildings and Article 320 vs 321.

The process runs through three systems: DOB NOW: Safety for the fee payment and contact emails, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager for the energy data, and BEAM — the Building Energy Analysis Manager, at nyc.beam-portal.org — where the report is built and DOB reviews it (DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026), Q9, Q27; DOB LL97 Submission Process summary, 2/10/2025). Payment information and emails move from DOB NOW to BEAM nightly, and DOB's own guide says a report cannot be completed in one day (DOB Article 320 Report User Guide v4, 4/15/2026). A condominium files one report covering all units, submitted by the board of managers (1 RCNY §103-14(b)(2)) — see the co-op and condo guide.

All LL97 filing-fee, extension and adjustment payments are made in DOB NOW: Safety (DOB Service Notice 2/27/2026). The amount is set by DOB's fee rule:

At payment you enter up to three contact emails — Owner (required), Owner's Representative and Service Provider (the RDP or RCxA). The BEAM account you register later must use one of those addresses, or the building's CBL and ESPM data will not appear in your BEAM inventory (DOB BEAM User Guide v2, 7/7/2025). Keep the DOB NOW Payment Confirmation Number — BEAM asks for it, not the CityPay receipt number — and note that e-check payments can take up to 10 business days to clear before the building appears in BEAM (DOB Article 320 Report User Guide v4, 4/15/2026). Fee-exempt owner types (not-for-profits used exclusively for educational, charitable or religious purposes, and government owners) pay nothing but still complete every DOB NOW step to obtain a confirmation number, and verify status through BEAM ticket 13 (DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026), DOB NOW Q22).

BEAM does not calculate emissions from bills you key in. It imports the building's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager consumption data (fuels that a utility does not upload automatically, such as delivered fuel oil, still need supporting consumption documentation uploaded in BEAM) (DOB LL97 Submission Process summary, 2/10/2025). Portfolio Manager is one of the three systems the process runs on (DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026), Q9, Q27), so the calendar year's consumption in ESPM, the same account used for Local Law 84 benchmarking, has to be complete and shared with the city before BEAM can prepopulate the report (DOB Article 320 Report User Guide v4, 4/15/2026). DOB's FAQ says to share the ESPM property with the NYCGOVLL84 account and refers owners to its ESPM User Guide for the account-connection steps; this page does not reproduce those clicks — follow DOB's current Portfolio Manager instructions and allow for the nightly transfer (DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026), Q27).

Two warnings from DOB's own material. Do not rely on ESPM's built-in emissions figures: BEAM calculates emissions from the ESPM consumption data using LL97's NYC-specific coefficients, and ESPM's native coefficients are not NYC-specific (DOB LL97 Submission Process summary, 2/10/2025, n.3). And the property types matter because they set the limit: the report must list every occupancy group or ESPM property type in the building during the reporting year with its floor area, “Other” and “Mixed Use” may not be used, and the determination must be made by the registered design professional preparing the report (1 RCNY §103-14(c)(1)–(2)). The reported floor areas must sum to the building's gross floor area (1 RCNY §103-14(c)(2), (d)(1)).

Register a BEAM account with one of the DOB NOW contact emails — the activation link expires after 24 hours, and additional users are added later through ticket 14 (DOB BEAM User Guide v2, 7/7/2025; DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026), Q27). Then pick the ticket:

Inside Ticket 04: enter the BIN as shown on the Covered Buildings List and press Prepopulate, which fills the BBL, ESPM Property ID and name; enter a submitter email matching a DOB NOW contact; state compliance status against the prior year and, if the building became compliant, how — both mandatory fields; pick the Emissions Limit Type (Building Code occupancy group or ESPM property type); choose the gross-floor-area source; answer No to deductions or pay the complex fee; flag any offsets; confirm an RDP reviewed the report, enter the RDP's license and upload the signed attestation form; enter the Payment Confirmation Number; submit (DOB Article 320 Report User Guide v4, 4/15/2026).

Floor area is where filings go wrong. DOF's gross square footage decides whether a lot is covered; LL97 gross floor area sets the limit, and DOB warns that simply restating DOF's number as GFA may result in non-compliance (DOB Article 320 Report User Guide v4, 4/15/2026). The RDP must verify GFA against the 1 RCNY §103-14(a) definition — a dimensioned field survey, approved drawings or condominium declarations — and keep that documentation for at least three years (DOB LL97 Submission Process summary, 2/10/2025).

The statute requires the owner to file a report “certified by a registered design professional,” in the form and with the content DOB sets by rule (NYC Admin Code §28-320.3.7 (LL97/2019); 1 RCNY §103-14(b); DOB LL97 page). The report must state, for the previous calendar year, whether the building is in compliance with its emissions limit — and if not, the amount by which it exceeds the limit (NYC Admin Code §28-320.3.7(2) (LL97/2019)).

The Article 320 Professional Attestation Form carries that certification. A PE or RA attests, under penalties provided by law, to having reviewed all documentation submitted for the building's Article 320 compliance and to its accuracy, applies a seal and signs over it; the form warns that a knowing or negligent false statement can bar the professional from filing with DOB (DOB Article 320 Professional Attestation Form (Rev. 04/26)). The owner or an authorized officer also signs — certifying ownership of record, authorizing the RDP and certifying the submission is true and accurate — and the owner's legal name must match DOF records, or HPD records for co-ops and condos (DOB Article 320 Professional Attestation Form (Rev. 04/26)).

Knowingly making a material false statement in a report is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500,000, imprisonment of up to 30 days, or both (NYC Admin Code §28-320.6.3 (LL97/2019)). Owners must keep all documentation used to prepare the report for at least six years and produce it to DOB on request (1 RCNY §103-14(b)(1)). What a PE or RA actually reviews before signing is in who certifies an LL97 filing.

The report for each calendar year is due May 1 of the following year (1 RCNY §103-14(b)). An owner is not liable for the failure-to-file penalty if a report demonstrating compliance is filed within 60 days of the due date — June 30 (NYC Admin Code §28-320.6.2 (LL97/2019)). Past those 60 days, or past a DOB-granted extension date, the penalty is gross floor area × $0.50 for each month the report is not submitted within the 12 months following May 1 (1 RCNY §103-14(g)(1)).

Under the rule, an extension application with documentation is filed no earlier than 30 days before and no later than 60 days after May 1, on two grounds: the hired RDP could not finish on time (a contract executed by February 1 plus an owner/RDP affidavit that the report will follow within 120 days), or a pending challenge to DOF's square-footage determination (1 RCNY §103-14(g)(2)). DOB's 2026 practice reads looser: owners need not show a contract executed by a particular date, or file an attestation, to apply (DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026), Q4). To request one, pay the $60 fee in DOB NOW, then submit BEAM ticket 03, “LL97 Extension Request” (DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026), DOB NOW Q6; 1 RCNY §101-03). An extension moves the filing date only — it does not modify the obligation to meet that year's emissions limit (NYC Admin Code §28-320.3.7.1 (LL97/2019)).

One inconsistency to flag: DOB's April 2026 FAQ says in one place that ticket 03 may be filed until August 29, 2026, while the same FAQ, the February notice and the rule's 60-day window all put the application deadline at June 30 — plan on June 30 (DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026); DOB Service Notice 2/27/2026; 1 RCNY §103-14(g)(2)). The full calendar is on the deadlines page; the calculator shows the emissions-side exposure for your building.

Filing does not stop because the building is over its cap. The penalty for exceeding the limit is the difference between the limit and the reported emissions, multiplied by $268 per tCO2e, assessed on the report the owner files (1 RCNY §103-14(h); NYC Admin Code §28-320.6). Any mitigating factors — an unexpected or unforeseeable event, or Good Faith Efforts — must be filed with the emissions report, in the form DOB specifies (1 RCNY §103-14(i)).

Good Faith Efforts need three prerequisites — the building's LL97 report for the year just concluded, its LL84 benchmarking report, and an attestation of its one-time LL88 lighting and sub-metering work — plus at least one elective. For CY2025, Ticket 08 offers four electives — a 2024 report that showed compliance, work underway, waiting on the utility for more power, or critical-facility hardship — merged into a single upload with an RDP license number and attestation (DOB Article 320 Penalty Mitigation User Guide v3, 4/15/2026; 1 RCNY §103-14(i)(2)). That is why the other NYC energy laws matter here; the Good Faith Efforts guide covers the evidence each elective takes. An unexpected or unforeseeable event that damaged the building — hurricane, severe flooding, fire — may bring the year's penalty to zero, documented with photographs and a description of how it prevented compliance (1 RCNY §103-14(i)(1)).

After submission, DOB reviews the report in BEAM with three possible outcomes: compliant; non-compliant, pay the penalty; or non-compliant, mediated resolution — an agreement with DOB not to bring an enforcement proceeding, offered only where the owner filed the report, demonstrated good faith efforts, and the resolution would help the building meet its limit (DOB LL97 Submission Process summary, 2/10/2025; 1 RCNY §103-14(j)(3)). Proof of filing is an email from BEAM_LL97@buildings.nyc.gov confirming successful submission; every submission remains subject to DOB audit (DOB LL97 Processing FAQs (Apr. 2026), ESPM Q12). The math behind the dollar figures is on the penalties page.