Wage Requirements for Construction Employees

Online comments: 7

• C. James Robert von Scholz SC

  BY WEBSITE SUBMISSION / NO HARDCOPY SENT:
  https://rules.cityofnewyork.us/rule/wage-requirements-for-construction-employees/

  Submitted to: Claudia Henriquez, Assistant Comptroller for Labor Law
  Attn: Bureau of Labor Law
  Re: Commentary in Supporting the Office of the Comptroller of the City of New York’s proposing rules to implement New York State Real Property Tax Law (“RPTL”) section 485-x, which was enacted in 2024.

  Dear Madam Assistant Comptroller:

  I submit this commentary in my capacity as a Registered Representative in matters before the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH), the City’s designated adjudicatory body, and in response to the Office of the Comptroller of the City of New York’s proposing rules to implement New York State Real Property Tax Law (“RPTL”) section 485-x, which was enacted in 2024.

  Introduction

  The Affordable Neighborhoods for New Yorkers (ANNY) tax incentive program represents a comprehensive regulatory framework that balances the promotion of affordable housing development with robust labor protections. Established under New York State Real Property Tax Law § 485-x and implemented through detailed Comptroller regulations, the program creates a complex web of benefits and obligations for all stakeholders involved in covered construction projects.

  Property Owner Benefits and Strategic Advantages
  Tax Exemption Benefits

  Property owners receive substantial financial incentives through real property tax exemptions for housing developments that meet specific affordability requirements. The program provides exemptions from real property taxes, creating significant cost savings that can make affordable housing projects economically viable. (See Maddicks v. Big City Props., LLC, 2019 NY Slip Op 07519, 34 N.Y.3d 116, 114 N.Y.S.3d 1, 137 N.E.3d 456.) These tax incentives are designed to encourage rehabilitation and improvements, allowing property owners who complete eligible projects to receive tax exemptions and abatements that continue for a period of years.

  Regulatory Flexibility Through Exclusions

  The program provides meaningful flexibility through exclusion mechanisms that can reduce compliance burdens. Property owners can seek exclusions from construction wage and notice requirements where construction work is covered by project labor agreements. Additionally, exclusions may be granted for construction employees working under collective bargaining agreements or jobsite agreements that expressly waive the wage requirements.

  Property Owner Liabilities and Compliance Obligations
  Comprehensive Wage and Notice Requirements

  Property owners face substantial compliance obligations that create significant potential liabilities. For covered sites with 100 or more dwelling units, owners must ensure construction employees receive minimum wages of $40 per hour, subject to annual escalation. For sites with 150 or more units in designated zones, substantially higher wage requirements apply, with Zone A requiring $74.26 per hour and Zone B requiring $64.58 per hour as of July 1, 2025.

  Owners must provide notice to the Comptroller at least three months prior to construction commencement, including project location, anticipated start and completion dates, and existence of any project labor agreements. Failure to provide timely notice can result in penalties and forfeiture of tax benefits.

  Joint Liability Structure

  The program establishes joint liability between applicants, owners, and construction employers for wage requirement violations, regardless of direct employment relationships. This creates significant exposure for property owners who may be held liable for contractor violations even when they do not directly employ the affected workers.

  Extensive Recordkeeping Obligations

  Property owners must maintain comprehensive documentation for six years after project completion, including contracts, employee lists, certified payroll reports, daily sign-in logs, and benefit cost documentation. Failure to maintain or produce required records can result in penalties and adverse inferences in enforcement proceedings.

  Severe Penalty Structure

  The penalty framework creates substantial financial risks for non-compliant property owners. For three or more violations within five years, the Comptroller may terminate prospective benefits and recapture all previously received tax exemptions. Recapture amounts include the full amount of taxes exempted plus interest from the original due dates. Additionally, monetary penalties can reach up to 25% of underpayment amounts plus interest.

  Construction Employer Obligations and Liabilities
  Wage and Benefit Requirements

  Construction employers bear primary responsibility for ensuring compliance with prevailing wage standards. They must pay wages and supplements based on rates set forth in Construction Worker Schedules or Construction Apprentice Schedules, as modified by the statutory requirements. The obligation includes both hourly wages and supplemental benefits, which may be satisfied through bona fide fringe benefits, increased wages, or combinations thereof.

  Overtime and Premium Pay Obligations

  Construction employers must calculate overtime, weekend, and holiday pay based on the applicable wage schedules and classification requirements. Where employees receive percentage-based wages, overtime rates follow the schedule provisions, while fixed-rate employees receive overtime calculated by multiplying the base rate by the applicable premium factors.

  Documentation and Cooperation Requirements

  Construction employers must maintain detailed payroll records and cooperate fully with Comptroller investigations. They face penalties of $500 for each failure to timely produce requested information or documents, in addition to other potential monetary liability. The burden of proof shifts to employers when they fail to maintain accurate records, allowing the Bureau to calculate underpayments using best available evidence.

  Construction Employee Benefits and Protections
  Guaranteed Wage Standards

  Construction employees receive substantial wage protections that exceed standard minimum wage requirements. The program guarantees minimum hourly rates ranging from $40 to over $74 per hour depending on project size and location, with annual escalation provisions. These rates include both wages and supplemental benefits, providing comprehensive compensation packages.

  Enforcement Mechanisms and Remedies

  The program provides robust enforcement mechanisms to protect employee rights. Construction employees can file complaints with the Bureau of Labor Law, triggering investigations that may result in recovery of underpaid wages plus interest and civil penalties. The Comptroller maintains confidentiality of complaining workers unless necessary for settlement or hearing proceedings.

  Anti-Retaliation Protections

  Strong anti-interference provisions protect construction employees from retaliation for exercising their rights under the program. Adverse actions against employees for filing complaints, participating in investigations, or testifying at hearings constitute impermissible interference. The Bureau may assess additional underpayments representing lost earnings due to interference, plus interest and civil penalties up to 25% of amounts due.
  (continued on next page)

  Comptroller’s Enforcement Authority and Procedures
  Comprehensive Investigation Powers

  The Comptroller possesses broad authority to investigate violations through multiple channels, including self-initiated investigations, worker complaints, and referrals from other agencies. The Bureau may demand production of all relevant documents and information within specified timeframes, with failure to comply resulting in monetary penalties and adverse inferences.

  Adjudication and Penalty Authority

  The Comptroller can impose substantial penalties for violations, including civil penalties up to 25% of underpayment amounts, interest charges, and termination or recapture of tax benefits. For repeat violators with three or more violations within five years, the Comptroller may recapture all benefits received after the third violation, including accumulated interest.
  Publication and Notice Requirements

  The enforcement framework includes transparency measures requiring publication of violators with two violations within five years. This public disclosure mechanism creates additional reputational consequences for non-compliant parties beyond monetary penalties.

  Procedural Safeguards and Due Process Protections
  Hearing Rights and Legal Representation

  All stakeholders receive substantial due process protections through formal hearing procedures conducted at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). Parties have the right to legal representation at their own expense, with mandatory notification of this right at investigation commencement.

  Evidence and Discovery Procedures

  The hearing process includes comprehensive discovery obligations requiring parties to provide witness lists, documentary evidence, and written statements at least ten business days before hearings. Failure to comply with discovery requirements may result in preclusion of evidence or adverse inferences.

  Settlement and Resolution Mechanisms

  The program provides settlement opportunities through stipulation agreements that can resolve investigations while establishing compliance measures to prevent future violations. These settlements have the effect of orders under Labor Law §§ 220 and 220-b, providing enforceability while allowing negotiated resolutions.

  Impact of Labor Agreements on Compliance
  Project Labor Agreement Exclusions

  Project labor agreements provide complete exclusions from wage and notice requirements when they regulate all construction work on covered sites. This exclusion mechanism recognizes that comprehensive labor agreements may provide equivalent or superior protections through alternative frameworks.

  Collective Bargaining Agreement Waivers

  The program allows targeted exclusions for employees covered by collective bargaining agreements or jobsite agreements that expressly waive the statutory wage requirements. These exclusions apply only to specifically covered employees, allowing mixed compliance approaches on individual projects.

  Addressing Regulatory Burden Concerns
  Counterargument: Excessive Compliance Costs

  Critics may argue that the ANNY program imposes excessive regulatory burdens that could discourage affordable housing development. However, this argument fails to recognize the substantial tax benefits provided to offset compliance costs. The program’s exclusion mechanisms for projects with comprehensive labor agreements provide meaningful flexibility for developers who establish appropriate worker protections through alternative means.

  Counterargument: Administrative Complexity

  Some stakeholders may contend that the recordkeeping and notice requirements create unmanageable administrative burdens. This argument overlooks the program’s clear guidance on compliance procedures and the availability of electronic submission systems to streamline administrative processes. The six-year record retention period aligns with standard business practices and provides reasonable time limits for compliance verification.

  Counterargument: Joint Liability Concerns

  Property owners may challenge the joint liability structure as unfairly exposing them to contractor violations beyond their control. However, this liability framework serves the essential purpose of ensuring that all parties with economic interests in projects maintain oversight of wage compliance. Property owners retain the ability to contractually allocate risks and implement monitoring systems to prevent violations.

  Policy Objectives and Stakeholder Balance
  Affordable Housing Development Goals

  The ANNY program advances critical affordable housing objectives by providing substantial tax incentives that make projects economically viable while ensuring that construction workers receive fair compensation. This dual approach recognizes that sustainable affordable housing development requires both financial incentives for developers and protection of worker rights.

  Labor Standards and Worker Protection

  The program’s wage requirements and enforcement mechanisms establish meaningful labor standards that prevent exploitation of construction workers on publicly subsidized projects. The comprehensive penalty structure, including benefit recapture provisions, ensures that tax incentives are not provided to projects that fail to meet basic worker protection standards.

  Balanced Enforcement Framework

  The program balances enforcement authority with procedural protections, providing the Comptroller with necessary tools to ensure compliance while affording all stakeholders due process rights and opportunities for resolution. The availability of exclusions for projects with comprehensive labor agreements recognizes that multiple approaches can achieve the program’s worker protection objectives.

  Conclusion

  The ANNY tax incentive program creates a comprehensive framework that provides substantial benefits to property owners through tax exemptions while establishing robust protections for construction workers through wage guarantees and enforcement mechanisms. Property owners receive significant financial incentives but assume corresponding obligations for wage compliance, recordkeeping, and notice requirements, with substantial penalties for violations including potential recapture of all benefits. Construction employers bear primary responsibility for wage compliance with joint liability shared by property owners, while construction employees receive guaranteed wage protections and comprehensive enforcement remedies.

  The Comptroller’s broad enforcement authority is balanced by procedural safeguards including formal hearings, settlement opportunities, and exclusion mechanisms for projects with comprehensive labor agreements. This balanced approach advances both affordable housing development and worker protection objectives while providing clear compliance pathways and meaningful consequences for violations.

  For these reasons, I strongly support the adoption of the Office of the Comptroller of the City of New York’s proposed rules to implement New York State Real Property Tax Law (“RPTL”) section 485-x.

  Respectfully Submitted

  /s/ C. James Robert von Scholz
  C. James Robert von Scholz SC
  Dir. Tel. +1.212.444.2670
  Dir. Fax. +1.212.590.6136
  Email : [email protected]

  cc : File

  Comment attachment
  Comptroller-Construction-Wages-01052026.pdf

  Comment added January 5, 2026 4:27pm

• Anonymous

  The city continues to struggle to create affordable housing, yet at every turn finds yet another way to make building it more expensive. It is time to prioritize what we need in this city. Yes, in a world with unlimited resources it would be great to have the most technologically and socially advanced buildings. Except, we don’t have unlimited resources and unlimited time. We need to find a way to build less expensively – perhaps a lot less ideal – but a lot less expensively, much in the way that we did a century ago. Yes, it wasn’t the best construction; yes, it used cheap labor; yes, it had a ton of flaws – but we got it built, we got it fast and we are still using much of it to this very day forming much of our current “affordable stock”. We need roofs over our heads now no matter how imperfect.

  If we keep throwing away the good in search of the perfect, we will not meet the desperate need for housing. Yet another rule that impacts the wages long-term and adds to the administrative burden and risk for the developer and builder makes the tax breaks less palatable. Add to that the ever-growing list of requirements from nearly every agency (Buildings, Planning, HPD, Sanitation, Health…) and unless you’re building luxury housing, it becomes a losing proposition. This is exactly what makes developers think it is better to build outside of New York exacerbating our housing crisis.

  If we are to have the affordable housing, then we need to start thinking about de-regulation and ways of making it easier, less expensive to build and maintain buildings not only in the short term but in the long term.

  Comment added January 7, 2026 11:50am

• Ed McWilliams

  As Executive Director of The Cement and Concrete Workers LECET Fund, representing many of New York City’s premier contracting employers in the Construction Industry, I strongly support the proposed rules implementing RPTL § 485-x and the Affordable Neighborhoods for New Yorkers (ANNY) program.

  These rules provide essential protection to responsible employers who uphold high standards of fair pay, workplace safety, and quality construction. This shields legitimate contractors from destructive competition by low-road operators who exploit workers, suppress wages, compromise safety, and degrade overall NYC construction quality.

  The rules apply uniformly to all contractors, ensuring true accountability. Public disclosure of offenders make it far more difficult and costly to cheat the workforce or evade obligations. This even-handed enforcement delivers clear benefits:
  To responsible employers, who can compete on a fair basis without being undercut by problematic, low-standard contractors.
  To the workforce, through guaranteed fair wages and strong protections against exploitation.
  To the construction industry, by deterring unsafe jobsites and subpar practices.
  To taxpayers, who can trust that public tax incentives support projects that meet high accountability standards rather than subsidize misconduct.

  These fair rules strengthen a responsible, high-quality NYC construction sector that advances affordable housing while safeguarding workers, legitimate businesses, and public resources.

  We urge swift adoption of the proposed rules.

  Comment added January 15, 2026 10:52am

• Anonymous

  1. Bid Complexity and Cost
  The new dual-threshold wage structure requires contractors and subcontractors to calculate the lesser of 60% for Zone B and 65% for Zone A of the greatest rate of prevailing wage and supplements per classification or the fixed minimum rate ($63 per hour Zone B and $72.45 per hour Zone A) increasing 2.5% annually in order to price bids accurately. Given that this calculation was not previously required, how does the City Comptroller’s Office intend to address the added complexity this creates for contractors and subcontractors during the bidding process?

  2. Training and Technical Assistance
  Will the City Comptroller’s Office provide training, guidance materials, or technical assistance for contractors and subcontractors—particularly MWBE firms—on how to price bids and maintain compliance with the 485-x wage requirements?

  3. Standardized Tools and Templates
  Does the City Comptroller’s Office plan to issue standardized wage calculation tools, wage templates, or annual rate summaries to reduce errors and promote consistent application of the wage rules across trades and contractors?

  4. MWBE Participation Impact
  Given HPD’s requirement that at least 25% MWBE goal, how does the City Comptroller’s Office ensure that the added complexity of the 485-x dual wage calculation does not unintentionally reduce MWBE participation?

  5. Impact on MWBE Firms
  MWBE contractors and trades often operate with limited estimating, legal, and compliance resources. Has the City Comptroller’s Office evaluated whether the added wage calculation requirements disproportionately impact MWBE firms’ ability to competitively bid work under the 485-x program?

  6. Potential MWBE Accommodations
  Is the City Comptroller’s Office considering any accommodation, exemptions, or simplified pricing mechanisms for certified MWBE firms to mitigate the administrative burden associated with calculating and tracking the dual wage thresholds?

  7. Alignment of Policy Objectives
  How does the City Comptroller’s Office reconcile the goal of achieving 25% MWBE utilization with a labor framework that requires advanced wage modeling, annual recalculations, and compliance tracking that many
  MWBE firms may lack the resources to perform?

  8. Good Faith MWBE Compliance
  If a project fails to meet the 25% MWBE participation goal due to MWBE firms being unable to bid competitively under the new wage calculation framework, will HPD recognize this as a good-faith compliance issue?

  9. Implementation Safeguards
  Will the City Comptroller’s Office consider phased implementation, simplified wage summaries specifically for MWBE firms to ensure the 25% MWBE participation goal remains achievable?

  Comment added January 23, 2026 12:53pm

• Alvin Schein

  1. Proposed Rules Section 6-02 Wages Definition
  The Proposed Rules will add a new Chapter 6 to Title 44 of the Rules of the City of New York (“RCNY”). Section 6-02 of Chapter 6 provides a definition for Wages that reads as follows, “’Wages’ means the hourly wages paid to a Construction Employee pursuant to the Construction Wage Requirement and in accordance with Labor Law §§ 220 and 220-b and does not (emphasis added) include amounts paid for New York State unemployment insurance, New York State disability insurance, metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax, federal unemployment insurance, or pursuant to the Federal Insurance Contributions Act or any other payroll tax (emphasis added) that is paid by the Construction Employer.” The Proposed Rules definition of Wages explicitly prohibits payroll taxes from counting towards the wages requirement for 485-x projects. The Proposed Rules definition of Wages directly contradicts the statutory definition of Wages under Real Property Tax Law Section 485-x (“485-x Law”), which does include payroll taxes as part of the definition of Wages.
  On the other hand, the 485-x Law defines Wages as, “all compensation, remuneration or payments of any kind paid to, or on behalf of, construction employees, including, without limitation (emphasis added), any hourly compensation paid directly to the construction employee, together with employee benefits, such as health, welfare, non-occupational disability coverage, retirement, vacation benefits, holiday pay, life insurance and apprenticeship training, and payroll taxes (emphasis added), including, to the extent permissible by law, all amounts paid for New York state unemployment insurance, New York state disability insurance, metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax, federal unemployment insurance and pursuant to the federal insurance contributions act or any other payroll tax that is paid by the employer.” The 485-x Law explicitly allows payroll taxes to count towards the wage requirement, and furthermore explicitly states that the payroll taxes cannot be limited in any way to contributing to the wage requirement.
  The Proposed Rules definition of Wages directly contradicts the 485-x Law definition of Wages by prohibiting the inclusion of payroll taxes counting towards the wage requirement. The Comptroller’s office does not have the legal authority to change the 485-x Law. The 485-x Law explicitly states that payroll taxes counting towards the wage requirement cannot be limited in any way. Therefore, the Proposed Rules should be amended to change the Wages definition to be consistent with 485-x Law.

  2. Proposed Rules Section 6-03(h)
  Section 6-03(h) of the Proposed Rules lists three (3) different examples of how to determine the greatest prevailing wage within a classification of workers. Example 2 explicitly mentions three classifications of the Driver: Truck title: Driver-Dump Truck, Driver-Tractor Trailer, and Driver-Euclid & Turnapull Operator. We seek a clarification as to whether or not these Driver: Truck classifications are intended to be subject to 485-x wages. Our interpretation is that a Driver-Tractor Trailer or Driver-Dump Truck driver is not required to receive 485-x wages because they do not satisfy the 485-x Law definition of performing construction work, so these classifications should not be included in a wage calculation example in the Proposed Rules.

  3. Labor Law Section 220
  The 485-x Law refers to Labor Law Section 220 when referencing construction work on an eligible site that contains 100 units or more, which reads as follows, “[e]ach contract to which the state or a public benefit corporation or a municipal corporation or a commission appointed pursuant to law is a party, and any contract for public work entered into by a third party acting in place of, on behalf of and for the benefit of such public entity pursuant to any lease, permit or other agreement between such third party and the public entity, and which may involve the employment of laborers, workers or mechanics shall contain a stipulation that no laborer, worker or mechanic in the employ of the contractor, subcontractor or other person doing or contracting to do the whole or a part of the work contemplated by the contract shall be permitted or required to work more than eight hours in any one calendar day or more than five days in any one week except in cases of extraordinary emergency including fire, flood or danger to life or property.” We believe that this overtime prohibition should not apply to 485-x projects, except for specific projects in which a public entity is a party to the contract.

  4. Proposed Rules Section 6-05(d)
  Section 6-05(d) requires that, “[a]n Owner must maintain a Daily Sign-In Log for each construction project or contract performed on the Covered Site. The Daily Sign-In Log must set forth the names, trade classifications, daily start and end times of Construction Work for each Construction Employee employed by the Construction Employer on the Covered Site and must be signed by each such Construction Employee. An Owner may authorize the prime contractor on the Covered Site or the Construction Employer to maintain a Daily Sign-In Log on behalf of such Owner. An Owner may use electronic Daily Sign-In Logs with verified electronic signatures only with the Bureau’s written approval or where the Comptroller has made this option available via instructions on its website.” This requirement is onerous and will be incredibly difficult to meet using traditional sign-in means for large-scale 485-x projects in which there could be thousands of different construction workers working on the project, from commencement until completion. We recommend that this section be amended to allow for the use of facial recognition software as a means of complying with the daily sign-in requirement. The use of facial recognition software retains the essence of the subsection, i.e. making sure each construction worker signs in daily, while allowing for the Owner or Contractor to comply with the Proposed Rules in a far less onerous manner.

  5. Proposed Rules Section 6-04
  Section 6-04(a)(1) and (a)(2) require that Project Labor Agreements (“PLA”) and Collective Bargaining Agreements (“CBA”) 485-x waiver riders must be submitted to the Comptroller for review and approval five (5) months prior to the Commencement Date at which point the Comptroller has thirty (30) days to approve. This requirement is exceedingly onerous and would require the Owner of the project to either delay awarding bids to union trades, pending 485-x waiver rider approval, or make any award contingent on 485-x waiver rider approval. The proposed requirements are too difficult to meet. We recommend reducing the notice period to two (2) months instead of the current five (5) month period. Additionally, the notice period should be based on and separated by when each trade group commences work instead of the 485-x Law Commencement Date. For example, if electricians are not needed until three (3) months after the Commencement Date, then the notice requirement should begin on one (1) month after it instead of five (5) months before the Commencement Date. Additionally, there should be the option for Owners to submit these 485-x waiver riders to the Comptroller for pre-approval for trades that may not be awarded to unions.

  6. Commencement Notice and Previously Issued Commencement Notices
  Section 6-04(b) requires that the Owner of a Covered Site (an Eligible Multiple Dwelling with 100 or more units) provide notice to the Comptroller and HPD three (3) months prior to the Commencement Date. The following information must be included in the notice: (a) the location of the Eligible Multiple Dwelling; (b) the anticipated Commencement Date; (c) the anticipated Completion Date; and (d) the existence of any PLAs regulating construction work on the Covered Site. Additionally, according to Section 6-04(e), if there is any change to the information contained in the notice the Comptroller and HPD must be notified of the change(s) in writing within thirty (30) days of such change. None of this is in the 485-x statute. Neither is Section 6-04(c) which requires Covered Sites with a Commencement Date prior to the effective date of these Proposed Rules to submit the notice on or before thirty (30) days from the effective date of these Proposed Rules. Therefore, it is likely that the change of information contained in the notice for projects that already had a Commencement Date prior to the implementation of the Proposed Rules will be required to follow Section 6-04(c) and submit the notice again in full within thirty (30) days of the effective date of these Proposed Rules.

  7. Proposed Rules Section 6-05(b)(6)
  Section 6-05(b)(6) requires that an Owner must obtain and preserve for a period of six (6) years after the Completion Date of the Covered Site, “[a]ll Documents concerning the cost of Bona Fide Fringe Benefits provided to Construction Employees, including, but not limited to, invoices, account statements, benefits remittance reports and benefits plan descriptions.” This is another onerous requirement as it will be incredibly difficult for Covered Site Owners to obtain all of this information from all of the subcontractors. The Owner will have to hope that the subcontractor is responsive to Owner’s request and provides these documents in a timely manner, and without any discrepancies. Furthermore, obtaining these documents from subcontractors after the job is finished is likely to be incredibly difficult and failure on the subcontractors’ part to provide these documents can result in the Owner losing their tax benefits. We recommend including a good faith/reasonable efforts standard for Owners to meet to comply with this section. The Owner should not have to assume the risk of their tax benefits being stripped away because a contractor or subcontractor refuses to provide necessary documents. Adding a good faith/reasonable efforts standard (instead of imposing strict liability on Owners) would protect well-intentioned Owners from non-complying contractors and subcontractors. The Comptroller’s office could, in its discretion, subpoena the contractor or subcontractor for the missing documents.

  8. Proposed Rules Section 6-05(b)(7)
  Section 6-05(b)(7) requires that an Owner must obtain and preserve for a period of six (6) years after the Completion Date of the Covered Site, “[a]ll federal and state employment tax returns and filings, including, but not limited to, quarterly combined withholding, wage reporting, and unemployment insurance form NYS-45 returns; employers’ quarterly Federal tax form 941 returns; wage and tax form W-2 statements; and miscellaneous income form 1099 statements.” Similar to the above this requirement is equally onerous and subcontractors will balk at the expectation to submit these documents due to privacy concerns. Owners will need to convince all of the contractors and subcontractors to deliver these sensitive documents for all of their employees for the Owner to keep for six (6) years. Contractors and subcontractors may either ignore this requirement or refuse to take on the work. In either scenario the Owner unfairly loses. The Owner will either potentially lose the tax benefits on the building, end up paying a heavy and unfair fine, or have difficulty in finding contractors and subcontractors to build the project. Similarly to the above, we recommend including a good faith/reasonable efforts standard for Owners to comply with. Owners should not have the risk of having their tax benefits being stripped away because a contractor or subcontractor is refusing to provide documents. Additionally, adding a good faith/reasonable efforts standard would protect well-intentioned Owners from non-complying contractors and subcontractors. The Comptroller could always subpoena a contractor or subcontractor for the missing documents.

  9. Proposed Rules Section 6-05(c)
  Section 6-05(c) requires that the Owner sign and affirm under penalties of perjury that the certified payroll reports are true. This standard for Owner is unrealistic. An Owner can receive dozens of certified payroll reports each month from multiple different subcontractors on the job during the course of a multi-year long project. It is not reasonable to force Owner to rely on the accuracy of the documents submitted by contractors and subcontractors, given the sheer volume of certified payroll reports received each month. If a contractor or subcontractor is disorganized or dishonest in their reports. then Owner could potentially lose their tax benefits for reasons not of their doing. This section should be amended to either put the burden of signing and affirming as true under penalties of perjury on each specific contractor or subcontractor, or there should be a good faith/reasonable efforts standard for the Owner.

  10. Proposed Rules Definition of Applicant
  Section 6-02 of the Proposed Rules defines “Applicant” as, “a Person that files an application for ANNY Program benefits, and any Person acting on behalf of, or as an agent of, such Person and any successor to such Person.” This definition of Applicant is overbroad and can be interpreted to unfairly include consulting firms and law firms that submit an application on behalf of the Owner. The 485-x Law does not include this definition and would have included it if the legislature wanted consulting firms and law firms to be jointly and severally liable for complying with 485-x Law requirements. The definition of Applicant should be amended to change “Person” to “Owner”.

  Comment added January 28, 2026 9:35am

• Rosenberg & Estis, P.C.

  § 6-03(h): The requirement to pay the greatest rate of wages and supplements within a classification, regardless of the worker’s actual years of experience in the industry, is extremely onerous. It also discourages the use of trainees and apprentices which can ultimately have an adverse effect on the contractor’s hiring process.

  The draft rules in § 6-05 and § 6-06 contain multiple references the undefined term of “prime contractor.” Can you please provide a definition for this term and explain how it differs from a ‘Construction Employer’?

  For consistency and efficiency purposes, the 5-month (prior to the Commencement Date) notice requirement in § 6-04(a)(1)(B) for Eligible Sites subject to a Project Labor Agreement to request an exemption from the Construction wage Requirement should mirror the 3-month notice requirements to the Comptroller for non-exempt properties as set forth in § 6-04(b).

  In § 6-04(e), the 30-day notice requirement to the Comptroller in the event of a change to the information contained in the initial notice requirement as set forth in RPTL § 485-x(3)(d) is far too draconian and should be amended to require notice “or on before the Completion Date.” Additionally, the 30-day notice requirement in § 6-04(e) applies to a change of ownership which is not one of the statutory notice requirements under RPTL § 485-x(3)(d).

  The record keeping requirements under § 6-05 of the Comptroller’s proposed rules for 485-x require the owner to maintain (for 6 years) a list of all Construction Employees and their last known address, telephone numbers and, where available, email addresses. This is not one of the record keeping requirements under the 421-a(16) rules and would be quite onerous.

  Comment added January 28, 2026 10:02am

• Building & Construction Trades Council of Greater NY

  see attached file

  Comment attachment
  NYC-BCTC-Comments-on-Proposed-Rules-485x-Claudia-Henriquez.pdf

  Comment added January 28, 2026 11:31am