New York · ASHRAE Zone 4A & 5A (Humid Continental / NYC Metro High-Density)
In New York the floor area is rarely the hard part
High-rise and occupied work in New York City, and many renovations upstate, change the estimate through access, protection, and work hours. The New York City Construction Codes and Local Law 97 are real city rules about buildings and carbon. They are not a flooring unit price.
Hoist, elevator, and protection
If the logistics section requires protection of an existing floor or a hoist window, put those items on the sheet or exclude them. They are not recovered by adding a percent to the plank order.
Occupied floors
A tenant fit-out that must be done in phases has a phasing note. Measure each phase. Do not assume night work or prevailing wages unless the bid instructions require them, and do not invent the wage.
Older wood versus a new engineered floor
Pre-war renovations sometimes refinish existing wood and sometimes overlay it. Those are different scopes. An overlay needs the height at the doors and the underlayment. A refinish is labor and abrasive, not cartons of new boards, unless boards are being replaced.
Worked phased carpet-tile count
- Phase 1 open office: 4,200 sq ft. Phase 2 conference rooms: 900 sq ft. Same carpet tile.
- Illustrative 4% tile allowance, inside the 3–5% carpet-tile band: ordering area = 5,100 × 1.04 = 5,304 sq ft.
- If the carton covers 20 sq ft: 5,304 ÷ 20 = 265.2, so 266 cartons for both phases, with the split shown so a delayed phase is visible.
- Attic stock, if the spec asks for it, is an extra percentage written on its own line, not hidden in the 4%.
The allowance is an example inside a band already published on this site. It is not a local price and not a required waste factor.
Place names covered by this note
New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, Syracuse, Albany, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Schenectady, Utica.
Material methods that do not depend on the state: waste bands, moisture tests, estimating scope.
Questions from New York plan sets
Do you include prevailing wage?
Only when the project manual says the work is covered and you are given the rate to use. This page does not publish a wage.
Does Local Law 97 change a flooring quantity?
Not directly. It can affect which products a specification allows. Quantity still comes from the finish plans.