NYC superintendent rules: when a building must have a super

In New York City, every apartment building must have adequate janitorial service, and a building with nine or more apartments must have a janitor (the super) or 24-hour janitorial service, unless the owner lives there and does the work. A super who isn't on 24-hour duty must live in the building or within one block or 200 feet of it, whichever is greater.

The owner must also post a sign in the building with the super's name, address and phone number. If your building has no super, or no one answers when the heat goes out, those rules give you something concrete to report.

What counts as "janitorial services"

The Housing Maintenance Code (Article 13) defines janitorial services as more than mopping the lobby. They include:

• cleaning and maintenance, including minor repairs;
• furnishing heat and hot water where they come from a central boiler;
• removing garbage, refuse, ashes and waste from the building; and
• clearing snow, ice and dirt from the sidewalk and gutter.

A janitor is simply the person employed to do this work. New Yorkers usually call them the super.

The rules by building size

Competency

An owner who must employ a janitor has to certify to HPD in writing that the janitor can do the job, including running the boiler and other machinery that supplies heat and hot water, and must re-certify within 60 days of hiring a new one. That certification isn't needed if the super completed a course of at least 15 hours given or approved by the Department of Buildings.

The posted super sign

Section 27-2053(c) requires a legible, conspicuous sign with the janitor's name, address (including apartment number) and phone number. When the super changes, a new sign must go up within five days. HPD's Owners Guide lists "Janitor name/address" among required building signs, alongside the sign giving the name and location of the person with keys to the boiler room.

If you can't find the sign, check the lobby, near the mailboxes and by the elevator. No sign, or one naming a super who left months ago, is itself a condition you can report.

Who else you can call: the managing agent

Owners of buildings with three or more apartments must register with HPD every year (deadline September 1), and again whenever the information changes, such as a new managing agent. The registration names a managing agent: a person over 21 who lives in the city or regularly works from an office in the city, and who is responsible for running the building and authorizing emergency repairs. The owner also gives HPD a 24-hour emergency phone number, but the code keeps that number confidential for HPD's use in emergencies, so you won't see it in public records. You can see the owner and managing agent names and addresses on HPD Online or on the building's page on Roofy; here's how to read it.

Under Local Law 71 of 2023, an owner who fails to register faces civil penalties of $500 to $1,500 (five units or fewer) or $1,000 to $5,000 (more than five units). HPD says an unregistered building also can't start a court case to recover an apartment for nonpayment of rent, so unregistered buildings are worth flagging.

When the super doesn't answer

1. 1

   Contact the super, then the managing agent, in writing

   Text or email so there’s a timestamp. If you only have a phone number, follow up with a text saying when you called and what the problem is.
2. 2

   Find the agent on the HPD registration

   Look up the building on HPD Online or Roofy to get the registered managing agent’s name and business address, then contact the management company directly about urgent problems like no heat, a leak or a broken front door.
3. 3

   File a 311 complaint for the condition

   The underlying problem (no heat, no hot water, garbage piling up, a broken lock) is what HPD inspects. Mention there is no posted super sign or no reachable super.
4. 4

   For emergencies, call 911 or the utility

   Gas smell: leave and call 911 and your gas utility. Flooding or electrical hazards: 911. Don’t wait for the super.
5. 5

   Keep a log

   Dates, times and outcomes of every call. A pattern of unanswered requests helps in an HP action for repairs or a rent-reduction complaint for rent-stabilized units.

Can a super be penalized personally?

Real Property Law § 235 makes it a violation for a landlord or their agent, manager, superintendent or janitor to wilfully withhold services the lease requires, such as heat, hot or cold water, light, power or elevator service, or to wilfully interfere with your quiet enjoyment. In practice, most enforcement runs against the owner through HPD violations and Housing Court, because the owner is responsible for providing janitorial service in the first place.

Your side of the relationship

• Give access for scheduled repairs with proper notice (see landlord entry rules).
• Put requests in writing; a hallway conversation is hard to prove later.
• Don't pay the super cash to do repairs the owner must make. Tips are a personal choice, not a condition of service.

Next: file an HPD complaint through 311, NYC heat and hot water rules, or check the heat season temperature checker.