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LL87
Local law
Local Law 87: energy audits, due dates & filings.
Updated July 2026
What Local Law 87 requires, when your EER is due (tax blocks ending in 6 file by Dec 31, 2026), what an audit costs, penalties, and reminders.
14,000+ NYC buildings covered
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60 day
30 day
7 day
- Applies to
- Buildings over 50,000 sq ft
- Cycle / deadline
- Every 10 years based on block number assignment
- Qualified by
- Certified Energy Auditor + certified Retro-Commissioning Agent
- Penalty for missing
- $3,000 first year + $5,000/year ongoing
— The 30-second answer
Local Law 87 requires NYC buildings over 50,000 square feet to complete an energy audit and retro-commissioning once every ten years and file an Energy Efficiency Report with DOB. Your due year matches the last digit of the tax block number — blocks ending in 6 must file by December 31, 2026.
— When is my EER due?
The LL87 schedule, year by year.
Your filing year is the calendar year whose last digit matches the last digit of the building's tax block number. Audits take 3–6 months — start procurement early in your filing year.
2026
Now dueTax blocks ending in
EER due Dec 31, 2026
2027
Tax blocks ending in
EER due Dec 31, 2027
2028
Tax blocks ending in
EER due Dec 31, 2028
2029
Tax blocks ending in
EER due Dec 31, 2029
— Find your due date
Local Law 87 due dates, block digit by block digit.
Your Energy Efficiency Report is due December 31 of the year whose last digit matches the last digit of your building's tax block number. It is the block, not the lot and not the BBL as a whole. A building on block 1846 files in 2026; block 1840 files in 2030.
| Tax block ends in | EER due by | Last cycle was | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Dec 31, 2026 | 2016 | Due now |
| 7 | Dec 31, 2027 | 2017 | Start planning |
| 8 | Dec 31, 2028 | 2018 | Scheduled |
| 9 | Dec 31, 2029 | 2019 | Scheduled |
| 0 | Dec 31, 2030 | 2020 | Scheduled |
| 1 | Dec 31, 2031 | 2021 | Scheduled |
| 2 | Dec 31, 2032 | 2022 | Scheduled |
| 3 | Dec 31, 2033 | 2023 | Scheduled |
| 4 | Dec 31, 2034 | 2024 | Scheduled |
| 5 | Dec 31, 2035 | 2025 | Scheduled |
Your tax block appears on your property tax bill, on any DOB filing for the building, and in the BBL — the middle five digits. If you are not sure, run a free address lookup and we will resolve the block, lot and BIN for you.
What an LL87 filing actually involves.
LL87 is two separate pieces of work that produce one filing. Both must be complete before the Energy Efficiency Report can be submitted, and both take months rather than weeks — which is why the practical deadline is the start of your filing year, not the end of it.
The energy audit
An ASHRAE Level II survey of base building systems — heating, cooling, domestic hot water, lighting and the envelope — producing a list of efficiency measures with estimated cost, savings and payback. Performed by a certified energy auditor.
Retro-commissioning
Testing and tuning what is already installed so it operates as designed — controls, sequences, setpoints, distribution. Unlike the audit, RCx requires corrections to be implemented and verified, not merely recommended. Performed by a certified RCx agent.
Choosing an LL87 provider
What to ask before you sign an LL87 consultant.
To be clear about what we are: ViolationWatch does not perform LL87 audits or file EERs. We track the deadline and the filing status so the work happens on time. When you go out to procure the work itself, these are the questions that separate a clean filing from a rejected one.
- 01 Do you hold both certifications, or are you subcontracting one? Audit and RCx are distinct credentials. One firm can hold both, but you need to know who is actually doing which half.
- 02 Does the fee include the RCx corrections, or only identifying them? This is the most common scope gap. Retro-commissioning requires deficiencies to be corrected and verified — a proposal that stops at a report leaves you non-compliant.
- 03 Who is the registered design professional signing the EER? The report must be filed by an RDP. If the auditor is not one, someone else has to be, and that needs to be settled before work starts.
- 04 What is your timeline from kickoff to filed EER? Three to six months is normal. Engaging in October of your filing year is how buildings end up paying the late penalty for work that was substantially complete.
Late filing costs $3,000 in the first year and $5,000 for each year after that, and the obligation does not lapse — you still owe the audit, the retro-commissioning and the report. Delay is strictly more expensive than the work.
Classifications & outcomes
The three results of a LL87 review.
Building has filed current EER with both audit and RCx reports.
Filing window within next 12 months. Start procurement of auditor and RCx agent now.
Missed EER filing. $3,000 first year, $5,000/year thereafter. Compounds fast.
The cost of missing
LL87 penalties compound fast.
LL87 enforcement is largely administrative — DOB runs compliance sweeps based on filing status, not complaint volume. Once you're flagged, penalties apply until the underlying filing or condition is resolved.
Missed filing
$3,000 first year + $5,000/year ongoing
Compliance failure
N/A — LL87 is a filing obligation, not a performance cap
Deadline pattern: Energy Efficiency Report (EER) due by Dec 31 of the year the building is scheduled
What we monitor
How ViolationWatch tracks Local Law 87 for every building in your portfolio.
01
Auto-mapping per BIN
We resolve every building you add to its BIN, BBL, block, and lot — and check whether LL87 applies automatically.
02
Deadline calendar
Every 10 years based on block number assignment is computed and calendared per building. Visible in the dashboard; reminders fire at 60, 30, and 7 days.
03
Filing status
We surface any existing LL87 filings on record, so you know before you start whether the building is current, due, or already in arrears.
04
Routing by role
LL87 reminders go to whoever owns compliance filings at your portfolio — property manager, asset manager, legal counsel, or the super.
05
Related violations
LL87 non-compliance commonly generates downstream DOB violations. When one appears, we correlate it to the underlying law automatically.
06
Portfolio rollup
See your entire portfolio's LL87 state at once — compliant vs due vs overdue — in a single dashboard view.
— LL87 questions, answered
What owners ask about Local Law 87.
What is Local Law 87?
A 2009 NYC law requiring buildings over 50,000 square feet to undergo an ASHRAE Level II energy audit and retro-commissioning of base building systems once every ten years, documented in an Energy Efficiency Report (EER) filed with DOB.
When is my building's LL87 filing due?
The EER is due by December 31 of the year whose last digit matches the last digit of your tax block number — a building on block 1846 files in 2026, block 1847 in 2027, and so on, repeating every ten years.
What does an LL87 audit cost?
Budget roughly $0.10–$0.30 per square foot for the combined audit and retro-commissioning, depending on system complexity — typically $15,000–$60,000 for a mid-size building. Filing late costs $3,000 the first year and $5,000 each year after, so delay is more expensive than the work.
Who can perform the LL87 audit?
A certified energy auditor for the audit portion and a certified retro-commissioning agent for the RCx portion (one qualified professional can hold both roles). The EER itself must be filed by a registered design professional.
— Your Local Law 87 deadline is coming
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