What Local Law 84 requires
Local Law 84 of 2009 is New York City's benchmarking law. The owner of every covered building (other than a city building) must benchmark it every year no later than May 1, and the information submitted to the benchmarking tool must be accurate and complete (NYC Admin Code §28-309.4 (as amended by LL133/2016)). Benchmarking means measuring the whole building's energy and water use in EPA's online ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, the law's “benchmarking tool” (1 RCNY §103-06(c); DOB Benchmarking page).
The law has been widened once. As enacted, it applied to buildings over 50,000 gross square feet, with the first private-building reports due May 1, 2011 and city buildings due May 1, 2010 (LL84/2009 §1 (original §28-309.2, §28-309.3, §28-309.4)). Local Law 133 of 2016, approved by the Mayor on October 31, 2016 and effective immediately, cut the single-building threshold to 25,000 gross square feet (LL133/2016 §1, §7).
The output is public. The Department of Finance must post what the tool generates — energy use intensity, water use per gross square foot and any score — on the internet by September 1 of the year the buildings are benchmarked (§28-309.8 (as amended by LL133/2016)). The same figures also set the building's energy grade and feed its Local Law 97 filing — both below.
Which buildings are covered? The 25,000 sq ft test
Coverage turns on Department of Finance records. A building is covered if it falls into one of four categories (NYC Admin Code §28-309.2 (as amended by LL133/2016)):
| Single building | Exceeds 25,000 gross square feet (§28-309.2 (as amended by LL133/2016)). |
|---|---|
| Same tax lot | Two or more buildings on the same tax lot that together exceed 100,000 gross square feet (§28-309.2 (as amended by LL133/2016)). |
| Condominiums | Two or more condominium buildings governed by the same board of managers that together exceed 100,000 gross square feet (§28-309.2 (as amended by LL133/2016)). |
| City buildings | More than 10,000 gross square feet, owned by the city or with the city regularly paying all of the annual energy bills; two or more on one tax lot count as a single building (§28-309.2 (as amended by LL133/2016)). |
The definition excludes tax class one property under RPTL §1802(1), city-owned buildings in the tenant interim lease apartment purchase program, and garden-style property of three stories or less where each unit owner owns and maintains the HVAC and hot-water systems, no system serves more than two units, and a registered design professional certifies that to DOB (§28-309.2 Exceptions (as amended by LL133/2016); DOB LL84 page).
The DOB rule sets the start: a new building begins benchmarking in the first full calendar year after the year of its first Temporary Certificate of Occupancy, and a new owner in the first full calendar year after transfer; a fully permitted demolition with compromised systems and no legal occupancy before May 1 is exempt for the prior year (1 RCNY §103-06(i)(4)–(6)).
DOB publishes a Covered Buildings List each year keyed to the 10-digit BBL — normally every February (DOB Local Law 84 page). The 2026 Covered Buildings List was published in March 2026 (DOB Local Law 84 page). Owners are also reminded every November in their property tax bills (DOB Local Law 84 page), but DOF's failure to notify an owner does not affect the obligation to benchmark (§28-309.7 (LL84/2009)).
When is the LL84 deadline? May 1 and the quarterly dates
The report covers the previous calendar year and is due May 1 (§28-309.4 (as amended by LL133/2016)). For filing year 2026 DOB confirmed May 1, 2026 and stated that its 2025 service-notice extensions do not apply (DOB Service Notice 2/27/2026).
| Share with the City | Connect and share the property with the City in Portfolio Manager at least 15 business days before May 1 (DOB Local Law 84 page). |
|---|---|
| Due date | May 1, every year, for the prior calendar year (§28-309.4 (as amended by LL133/2016); DOB Service Notice 2/27/2026). |
| If May 1 is missed | DOB's subsequent deadlines are August 1, November 1 and February 1 of the following year — each quarter a further violation can issue (DOB Local Law 84 page; 1 RCNY §103-06(l)(1)). |
The statute has no owner-requested extension; the only relief it names is a suspension by the director of the Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability on a written finding that a technological deficiency in the benchmarking tool precludes compliance (§28-309.6 (LL84/2009)). DOB has moved the date by service notice in some years. For 2025 only, calendar-year 2024 benchmarking could be filed by June 30, 2025, and under DOB's April 21, 2025 notice an approved LL97 extension (then running to August 29, 2025) carried the benchmarking deadline with it (DOB Service Notice 4/21/2025); DOB later moved the LL97 date itself to December 31, 2025 on applications made by August 29 (DOB Service Notice 6/16/2025). Nothing in the rule promises a repeat. Each year's dates sit side by side on the compliance calendar.
How to submit LL84 benchmarking in Portfolio Manager
Benchmarking is done for the whole building in EPA's online Portfolio Manager (1 RCNY §103-06(c)), and DOB now requires it to be reported at the individual-building (BIN) level rather than by tax lot (DOB Local Law 84 page).
The owner must submit information for all utility accounts and addresses connected to the building, including separately metered tenant spaces. Tenant data comes from the utility; where the utility has no such program, the owner must make reasonable efforts to get it from the tenants, who are required to provide it (§28-309.4.1 (as amended by LL133/2016)).
Buildings that exceed 25,000 but not 50,000 gross square feet are not required to enter energy data themselves — they may ask their utility to upload it directly. Failing to do either may result in a violation (1 RCNY §103-06(g) Exception).
Since DOB launched its LL97 Reporting Portal (BEAM) on March 3, 2025, the energy and water data used to demonstrate §28-309.4 compliance is reported through that portal process (DOB Service Notice 4/21/2025). Owners must keep energy and water bills, utility or tenant reports and — where tenant data was omitted — records of efforts to obtain it for three years, open to DOB inspection and audit (§28-309.4.2 (as amended by LL133/2016); 1 RCNY §103-06(k)).
Does Local Law 84 require water benchmarking?
Only sometimes. Water benchmarking is not required unless the Department of Environmental Protection equipped the building with automatic meter reading (AMR) equipment for the entire previous calendar year (§28-309.4 (as amended by LL133/2016)).
Where that test is met, DEP benchmarks the water itself and uploads the data to Portfolio Manager; owners are not required to enter it (1 RCNY §103-06(h); §28-309.5.2). In practice DOB requires the owner to share the property with DEP in Portfolio Manager and request the water data so DEP can upload it; the CBL's “Required to Report Water Data from DEP (Y/N)” column shows which buildings must include water (DOB Local Law 84 page).
DOB's Covered Buildings List settles it building by building: the CBL has a “Required to Report Water Data from DEP (Y/N)” column, and a property marked Y must include water in its submission (DOB Local Law 84 page). Check that column rather than inferring from AMR status.
What are the penalties for not benchmarking?
The Administrative Code makes it unlawful for the owner of a covered building to fail to benchmark, and directs the Commissioner to classify the violation as a “lesser violation” — the Code itself sets no dollar figure (§28-309.4.3 (as amended by LL133/2016)). The amounts come from DOB's rule:
| Missing May 1 | A penalty of $500 (1 RCNY §103-06(l)(1)). |
|---|---|
| Continued failure | Additional violations on a quarterly basis, at an additional $500 per violation (1 RCNY §103-06(l)(1)). DOB's benchmarking-violations page describes this as totaling up to $2,000 per year — the cap is the DOB page's figure, not the rule's (DOB LL84 Benchmarking Violations page). |
| Bad data | If a DOB audit finds a submission substantially inaccurate or incomplete, DOB may reject it and treat the owner as if no benchmarking had been performed (§28-309.4.3 (as amended by LL133/2016)). |
| Energy grade | A building that does not submit its required benchmarking receives an F grade (DOB LL33 Energy Grading page; §28-309.12.1). |
No civil penalty is imposed on a single building of 50,000 gross square feet or less — not part of a 100,000-plus square foot lot or condo group, and not a city building — if the owner requested benchmarking assistance from DOB (or the agency the mayor designates under §28-309.11) at least 60 days before the due date and corrects the violation within 60 days after the notice (§28-309.4.3 Exception (as amended by LL133/2016)).
A violation can be challenged in writing within 30 days of the notice's postmark — with proof such as DOF evidence the building is not covered, the EPA confirmation email showing a timely submission, a change of ownership, or a request to the utility for direct upload made at least 14 days before the due date — and DOB's page routes challenges through DOB NOW: Safety (1 RCNY §103-06(m); DOB LL84 Benchmarking Violations page). If the building is also on the Local Law 97 list, the free LL97 calculator estimates the larger emissions exposure from an address.
How LL84 feeds your energy grade and Local Law 97 filing
Since 2020, the owner of a covered building must use the benchmarking tool to provide an energy efficiency score to DOB each year — unless DOB's rules deem a score infeasible for that building type — and DOB issues an energy efficiency grade (§28-309.12.2 (added by LL33/2018 §3)). Local Law 95 of 2019 set the scale: A for an ENERGY STAR score of 85 or higher, B for 70 to below 85, C for 55 to below 70, D below 55 (§28-309.12.1 (as amended by LL95/2019)); non-filers get an F, and buildings exempt from benchmarking or not scorable in ENERGY STAR get an N (DOB LL33 Energy Grading page; §28-309.12.1). The grade and score must be posted near each public entrance within 30 days after October 1 — for 2026, between October 1 and October 31 — and failing to post may cost $1,250 (DOB Service Notice 2/27/2026; 1 RCNY §103-06(l)(2); §28-309.12.3). Posting rules are in the energy-grade guide.
Local Law 97 runs on the same Portfolio Manager data. For 2026, Article 320 compliance reports were due by May 1 and no later than June 30, 2026, with an owner-requested extension to August 29, 2026 available under 1 RCNY §103-14(g)(2) (DOB Service Notice 2/27/2026). The LL97 rule also reaches back: good faith efforts penalty mitigation requires that the owner uploaded the previous calendar year's benchmarking to the benchmarking tool under §28-309.4 (1 RCNY §103-14(i)(2)(ii)). Skipping LL84 can therefore cost an LL97 mitigation route, not just $500.
One point of guidance rather than rule: at its 2025 benchmarking forum DOB stated that registered design professional review of the Portfolio Manager data is required for benchmarking LL97 properties (DOB 2025 Annual Benchmarking Forum, 3/5/2025). That is DOB's described practice for LL97 filers, not an LL84 requirement — Article 309's own §28-309.4.2 is a records-retention provision, not a verification provision (§28-309.4.2 (as amended by LL133/2016)).