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LL88
Local law
Local Law 88: lighting & sub-metering compliance.
Updated July 2026
LL88 required lighting upgrades and tenant sub-meters in NYC buildings by Jan 1, 2025. What compliance means now, penalties if you missed it, and monitoring.
20,000+ NYC buildings covered
— Monitor this automatically
ViolationWatch tracks Local Law 88 status and deadlines automatically per-building. 60/30/7-day reminders routed to whoever owns the filing. Included in every plan.
60 day
30 day
7 day
- Applies to
- Buildings over 25,000 sq ft with tenant spaces over 10K sq ft
- Cycle / deadline
- One-time obligation — compliance deadline was 2025
- Qualified by
- Licensed electrician + Registered Design Professional
- Penalty for missing
- $1,500 per year for missed compliance
— The 30-second answer
Local Law 88 required NYC buildings over 25,000 square feet to upgrade lighting to current energy code and install electrical sub-meters in large tenant spaces by January 1, 2025. The deadline has passed — buildings without a compliance report on file face penalties and should file as soon as the work is complete.
Classifications & outcomes
The three results of a LL88 review.
Lighting upgraded, sub-meters installed, cert of compliance filed with DOB.
Lighting done, sub-metering missing. Still exposed to LL88 penalty until cert filed.
No cert on file. $1,500/year penalty + DOB violation on record.
The cost of missing
LL88 penalties compound fast.
LL88 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
$1,500 per year for missed compliance
Compliance failure
N/A
Deadline pattern: Original deadline: January 1, 2025. Ongoing enforcement thereafter.
What we monitor
How ViolationWatch tracks Local Law 88 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 LL88 applies automatically.
02
Deadline calendar
One-time obligation — compliance deadline was 2025 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 LL88 filings on record, so you know before you start whether the building is current, due, or already in arrears.
04
Routing by role
LL88 reminders go to whoever owns compliance filings at your portfolio — property manager, asset manager, legal counsel, or the super.
05
Related violations
LL88 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 LL88 state at once — compliant vs due vs overdue — in a single dashboard view.
— LL88 questions, answered
What owners ask about Local Law 88.
What does LL88 compliance require?
Two things: upgrading the building's lighting systems to meet the NYC Energy Conservation Code, and installing electrical sub-meters in every tenant space over 10,000 square feet — then filing a report by a registered design professional or licensed electrician confirming both.
What happens if I missed the LL88 deadline?
The obligation doesn't lapse — complete the lighting upgrade and sub-metering now and file the compliance report. Until it's on file, the building carries ongoing penalty exposure and the gap surfaces in due diligence on any sale or refinance.
Which buildings does Local Law 88 cover?
Buildings over 25,000 gross square feet, the same universe as LL97 and LL84 benchmarking. Residential spaces are exempt from the sub-metering requirement; the lighting upgrade applies to the non-residential portions of covered buildings.
— Your Local Law 88 deadline is coming
Track it once. Never miss it.
Add your building. ViolationWatch handles the rest — LL88 plus 7 other local laws plus 10 enforcement agencies. $9 per building per month.