What each job was filed at
"Usual" is the middle filing: half were filed for less, half for more. "Middle half of firms" takes every firm with three or more filings in the trade, finds each firm's usual job, and shows the band the middle 50% of firms sit in; it is the number to hold a quote against.
| Job | Usual filed value | Middle half of firms | Permits (share priced) | Usual days to final | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demolition | $25,000 | $12,500–$35,000 | 1,736 (97.9%) | 32 | cost · compare firms |
| Plumbing | $28,000 | $17,500–$38,550 | 11,396 (85.8%) | 350 | cost · compare firms |
| Solar | $37,400 | $28,989–$44,647 | 19,067 (100.0%) | 144 | cost · compare firms |
| HVAC & boilers | $50,000 | $26,150–$130,000 | 3,503 (81.6%) | 417 | cost · compare firms |
| Renovation (alteration) | $80,000 | $34,500–$200,000 | 11,805 (99.9%) | 433 | cost · compare firms |
Three more trades have compare pages but no cost page. Electrical permits carry no value at all (0.0% of 50,479). Structural and foundation work was usually filed at $78,137 and driveway curb cuts at $3,000, but only 74.2% and 61.2% of those filings carry a value, under our 80% bar. The electrical, structural and curb cut compare pages still rank firms by filings and sign-off.
What moves the price in New York City
The home. Each cost page splits firms into thirds by the usual value of the homes they work on (NYC Department of Finance market values). The citywide one- and two-family figure is $925,000.
| Job | Firms on the least expensive third | Firms on the most expensive third |
|---|---|---|
| Renovation | $45,000 | $150,000 |
| Solar | $32,800 | $41,280 |
| Plumbing | $28,525 | $34,500 |
| HVAC & boilers | $62,997 | $57,500 |
| Demolition | $35,400 | $15,000 |
Figures from each cost page, data of 17 October 2026. Only renovations scale with the house, more than tripling. Plumbing and solar move a little; HVAC and demolition run the other way.
The firm. In HVAC the ten busiest firms usually file $131,117 a job, while the 1,298 firms with fewer than ten filings usually file $50,000 (NYC HVAC cost page), so ask which kind of job a firm's usual figure comes from. Renovation splits less: $90,000 for the ten busiest, $81,562 for 2,950 smaller firms.
The season. Renovation filings peak in July (index 115, where 100 is an average month) and are fewest in February (78); solar peaks in August. We have no prices by month, so this is about contractors' calendars, not discounts.
The wait. Sign-off is slow in NYC. The usual renovation took 433 days from permit to sign-off, HVAC 417 and plumbing 350. Put sign-off, not just the inspection, in the contract.
Filed value is not the price
- It is what the applicant wrote down. Some contractors write the contract price, some the permitted scope only; the middle half of renovation firms spans $34,500 to $200,000.
- One filing type covers small and large jobs. HVAC and boilers is one type: 1 in 10 filings is under $10,700 and 1 in 10 over $433,000. Renovation runs from under $10,000 to over $439,000 (NYC renovation cost page).
- Several filings for one project. A gut renovation often comes with separate plumbing and electrical filings. Add the rows.
Check a quote in five minutes
- Find your job in the table and open its cost page.
- Put your quote against the "middle half of firms" band. Inside it is normal for NYC; above it, ask what the extra covers.
- Open the compare firms page, find the contractor, and read its usual filed value, filing count and signed-off share.
- Check the firm's license and home improvement registration with our NYC contractor license lookup guide.
Permit rules by job: plumbing, HVAC, solar, demolition, structural, curb cut. Solar incentives: NYC solar property tax abatement. Across cities: what home projects cost by city.
How we know this
Every row is a job type with a cost page: the Department of Buildings recorded at least 100 priced filings of it on one- and two-family homes in the window 2023-10 to 2026-09, making up at least 80% of the type. Usual = median of the filings that carry a value; middle half of firms = 25th to 75th percentile of the usual value of firms with three or more filings in the trade (shown when at least eight firms qualify); days = median from permit to sign-off (letter of completion for building work). Home-value thirds and busiest-firm figures are copied from each job's cost page and dated. DOB filing fees are left out; the Department of Buildings publishes its fee schedule.
Numbers come from NYC Department of Buildings permits and DOB NOW filings on one- and two-family homes (NYC Open Data), data through October 17, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.
Compare every NYC renovation contractor by usual job and sign-off →
Questions
- How much does a home renovation cost in NYC?
The usual renovation (alteration) filing on a one- or two-family house was $80,000, across 11,805 jobs, and the middle half of 962 contractors usually file between $34,500 and $200,000. Firms on the least expensive third of homes usually file $45,000, against $150,000 on the most expensive third (NYC renovation cost page, data of 17 October 2026).
- How much does plumbing work cost in NYC?
The usual plumbing filing on a house was $28,000 (11,396 jobs), with the middle half of 430 plumbers between $17,500 and $38,550. Small repairs that need no filing are not in the data, so the figure is for permitted jobs such as gas lines and repiping.
- How much does a new boiler or HVAC system cost in NYC?
HVAC and boiler filings were usually $50,000, but the middle half of firms runs from $26,150 to $130,000: 1 in 10 filings is under $10,700 and 1 in 10 over $433,000 (NYC HVAC cost page). Ask whether a quote is a boiler swap or a whole-house system before comparing.
- How much does solar cost on a house in NYC?
The usual solar filing was $37,400 across 19,067 jobs, and the middle half of 59 installers file between $28,989 and $44,647, the tightest band of the five jobs. That is before the property tax abatement covered in our NYC solar abatement guide.
- How much does it cost to demolish a house in NYC?
Demolition filings on houses were usually $25,000 (1,736 jobs), with the middle half of firms between $12,500 and $35,000. The usual one was signed off in 32 days, much faster than any other job here.
Build your own list
Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.
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- New York City contractor license lookup: which license, where to search, and what the permits show
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