Fees here run above the national picture for one reason: city buildings have more to inspect. This page shows what drives the price, so you can compare proposals line by line.
We only publish prices from government agencies or national trade and professional bodies. None of them, including the Community Associations Institute and the Association of Professional Reserve Analysts, publishes reserve study fees for New York. Ranges you see elsewhere come from firms selling studies. Rather than repeat them, we will get you a real proposal for your building.
Treat any number you are given as a guide, not a quote, until a provider has seen your documents.
Roughly in order of how much they matter for a city building.
A building over six stories has a FISP facade, and the study has to read the last report and price the next two cycles. Masonry, terra cotta and balconies add hours.
Boilers, fuel systems, cooling towers, pumps and elevators each need a life and a cost. A steam plant with oil backup takes more work than a building on individual heat pumps.
A parking structure brings a Local Law 126 report and slab, waterproofing and drainage items. Garden complexes add paths, retaining walls and site lighting.
A garden co-op with twelve buildings on one lot is twelve roofs and twelve boiler rooms to inspect, even with the same unit count as one tower.
Drawings, past capital work, contracts and the last study shorten the site visit. Missing records mean the provider measures and estimates from scratch.
Whether you need a full study, a revisit-and-update or a desk refresh, the three levels CAI's standards define. Each step down is less work and a lower fee.
A single funding plan costs less than one that compares reserves against an assessment and a mortgage refinance, which co-op boards often want.
Presenting the draft to the board and answering shareholder questions is time the proposal should list, not an extra later.
| Level | What the provider does | When it fits a New York building | Relative fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full study | Builds the component inventory, inspects on site, estimates life and cost, writes a funding plan. | No study before, a sponsor-era study, or major work since the last one. | Highest |
| Update with site visit | Checks the existing inventory on site, revises lives and costs, reruns the funding plan. | The study is three to five years old, or a FISP report has changed the picture. | Middle |
| Update without site visit | Revises costs, balances and the funding plan from records only. | Between site visits, for the annual budget. | Lowest |
The corporation or the condominium engages the provider, and the board approves the contract as it would an engineer's. Whether the invoice is charged to the operating budget or to reserves is an accounting choice; ask your auditor before the board votes.
Tell us the building, your seat on it and when the last plan was done. Within one business day we come back with a reserve study provider that works in your borough or county, and their proposal comes to you, not to a list.
We are an introduction service, not a reserve study firm. The provider pays us for the introduction; the board pays nothing extra for using this form. Your details go to that provider only after you say yes.
Expect one message from us within a business day: the provider we would put forward for this building, and the reason we chose them.
Reply yes and they receive your request; reply no and your details stay with us. No newsletters, no follow-up sales calls.