The Co-op Alteration Agreement, Explained for Owners
Your Alteration Agreement Is a Scope Document, Not a Formality
It starts with the lease, not the form. The NYC Bar's model form recites that the proprietary lease provides that no alterations may be made in the apartment without the corporation's consent. That makes the alteration agreement the mechanism that creates permission in the first place, not a record of permission you already had.
Because that consent is discretionary, the board is weighing the quality of the file you send: plans, a named contractor, insurance, a protection plan. A complete submission moves faster than a persuasive one. There is nothing to argue about in a package that already answers the questions.
What the Agreement Actually Fixes
It sets the practical boundaries of the job — which rooms, which trades, who may enter the building, when they may work, and what has to be protected while they do. Those are estimating inputs, not afterthoughts.
Read It Before the Scope Is Priced
Limits on working hours, freight elevator access, approved vendors and floor protection have to be carried in a realistic estimate from day one. A contractor who quotes your apartment without reading the agreement is guessing, and the guess usually reappears later as a change order or a stopped job.
Treat the signed agreement as the project's first deliverable. Schedule, protection, inspections and the final walkthrough all hang off that version. If you want to see how those steps are sequenced on a Mint NYC project, our FAQ page is the place to start.
The Application Package: Plans, the Room-by-Room List, and the Fees Nobody Budgets
The Engineer's Approval, and the Change-Control Clause That Costs Owners Weeks
Building Consent and a DOB Permit Are Two Different Doors
Owners routinely assume the two approvals are the same thing. They are not. A clean file with the co-op — signed alteration agreement, board consent, deposit receipted — does nothing for the Department of Buildings. A DOB permit does nothing for the co-op. Each door opens on its own.
Where the city's exemption stops
Minor alterations, ordinary repairs, ordinary plumbing and emergency work can be exempt from DOB permits under NYC Administrative Code §28-105.4.5. That category captures much of a paint, plaster and flooring scope — the kind of interior refinishing Mint NYC handles in skimcoat and plaster work.
The exemption is narrow in what it waives. The DOB states that the exemption does not waive compliance with other laws or with other city agencies' rules. Fire, landmark, asbestos and lead requirements still apply. So does every line of the alteration agreement.
Two questions, in writing
Ask your contractor in writing which parts of the scope are permit-exempt and which are not. Then confirm the co-op's own inspection expectations separately — who inspects, when, and what they check. Keep both answers in the file.
The direction of the argument matters: the exemption simplifies the city's side of an interior refinishing job. It never gets you out of the building's side.