School District Public Libraries

Before we dive into this, let’s make one thing very clear: the law in New York State always requires a construction permit! The question is: who issues it?

Confusion on this issue has been caused by “19 NYCRR 1201.2,” the state regulation that specifies which authorities can grant building permits to which types of entities (including schools and libraries).

Most public libraries will fall under sections “(a)” and “(b)” of this regulation. These sections place permitting authority for a private or local government building in the hands of a city, village, town, or county.

However, libraries on property owned by school districts or a regional BOCES will fall under section “(e),” which puts permitting authority for certain projects in the hands of the New York State Education Department (“NYSED”).

The specific wording of the authority given to NYSED is:

(e) The State Education Department shall be accountable for administration and enforcement of the Uniform Code [e.g., issuing building permits] with respect to buildings, premises and equipment in the custody of, or activities related thereto undertaken by, school districts and boards of cooperative educational services [a.k.a. BOCES].

In other words, if the property is owned, leased, or operated by a school district or a BOCES, NYSED will have permitting authority over it. This authority applies to only those libraries that lease property from a school district or a BOCES.

Guidance from NYSED about its permitting process[1] is consistent with this interpretation of the language in section (e).[2]

So, a school district public library needs to work with its municipality for a building permit, unless it is a tenant of a school district or a BOCES.

And now, a note about the library construction process…

Confirming the permitting authority—and who will work with them—is an important first step in the library construction process. When a library designates a person to take point on leading a library construction project, the plan for a positive relationship with the permitting authority should be confirmed early on. If the point person has not done that type of work before, another person[3] with that experience (hopefully with the same permitting authority) should help lead the team.

Thank you for an important question!