NYC Condo Bathroom Renovation: What to Submit for Board Approval

If you own a condo in Manhattan or Brooklyn and you're finally ready to gut that bathroom, the design decisions are usually the fun part. What actually holds a project up is the board package — the folder of drawings, insurance certificates, and paperwork your building's management company wants to see before anyone shows up with a sledgehammer. At Star Renovations NY, we put together condo bathroom renovation board packages every week, and the Star Renovations NY team knows exactly what a building wants to see, and what tends to get a submission sent back for revisions.

Why Your Condo Board Reviews Bathroom Work So Closely

Condos tend to give owners more design freedom than co-ops, but a bathroom is still one of the few rooms in your apartment that can genuinely affect the unit below you. Every fixture connects to a shared plumbing riser, and a poorly waterproofed shower pan doesn't announce itself until there's a stain on your downstairs neighbor's ceiling. That's why even condo boards, which typically scrutinize aesthetics less than co-op boards do, require a complete alteration agreement package before approving plumbing, electrical, or layout changes. Management is really asking three things: what are you changing, how will the building be protected while you do it, and who's responsible if something goes wrong. A condo apartment renovation handled by one design-build team tends to answer all three cleanly, because the same firm that draws the plans is the one pulling the permits and running the crew — which is exactly how Star Renovations NY approaches every condo bathroom renovation in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Read our latest blog Co-op vs. Condo NYC Renovation: Everything You Need to Know

What Goes Into a Board-Ready Bathroom Package

Most condo management companies want more than a sketch on a napkin. A complete bathroom renovation submission typically includes:

• Existing and proposed floor plans with every fixture labeled
• Any wall changes, even a small niche or a shifted partition
• Reflected ceiling plans if you're moving light fixtures or an exhaust fan
• Plumbing and electrical layouts, including riser tie-in points
• Enlarged elevations showing tile layout, height, and key dimensions
• A finish and fixture schedule listing brand, model, and location for every item
• Waterproofing specifications — membrane type, shower pan system, and how far full-coverage waterproofing extends beyond the shower itself

The Star Renovations NY team prepares all of this in-house, which is one of the advantages of working with a design-build firm instead of coordinating a separate architect and contractor yourself. Clear drawings get fewer follow-up questions, and fewer follow-up questions mean a faster start date on your bathroom renovation. 

To learn more read our blog on Manhattan Bathroom Renovation Rules Approvals & Real Costs

Beyond a Refresh: The Upgrades We Help Condo Owners Plan

Once the paperwork is squared away, the real question is what you're actually building. Plenty of condo owners come to Star Renovations NY assuming a bathroom renovation means new tile and a new vanity, then realize partway through the first conversation that a lot more is possible.

Enlarging a Cramped Bathroom

If your bathroom feels like it was designed for a much smaller apartment, enlargement is often possible by borrowing square footage from an adjacent closet or hallway — as long as the space you're taking isn't sitting over a neighbor's bedroom or living room below (more on that shortly). The Star Renovations NY team has reconfigured plenty of primary bathrooms this way, adding a double vanity, a larger shower footprint, or simply more room to move around in. Our team evaluates the structural and plumbing impact before you fall in love with a layout that won't clear the board.

Adding a Washer and Dryer

A stacked or ventless washer/dryer tucked into or beside a bathroom is one of the highest-value additions we install in NYC apartments — and also one of the more paperwork-heavy ones. It calls for a dedicated electrical circuit, a proper drain connection with an air gap, a leak pan, and in most buildings, a flood-stop valve wired into the building's monitoring system. Some condos allow exterior venting for a dryer; many don't, which is why Star Renovations NY typically specifies ventless condensing or heat-pump units where exhaust runs aren't an option. We walk through what a washer and dryer addition actually involves before you commit to a layout, since board approval and mechanical requirements shape where the unit can realistically go.

Reconfiguring the Layout

Moving a toilet, rotating a shower, or relocating a vanity to catch better light all fall under reconfiguration, and how far you can go usually comes down to where your risers sit. Every fixture ties back to a waste stack, and pushing a toilet too far from that stack creates drainage problems no amount of good tile can fix. The Star Renovations NY team surveys riser locations at the very first site visit specifically so your layout gets designed around real constraints instead of a mood board that was never going to get approved. Our full breakdown of what a Manhattan bathroom renovation actually takes covers this in more depth, from riser locations through tub-to-shower conversions.

Splitting One Bathroom Into Two — Wet-Over-Dry Rules

One of the more ambitious requests we get from condo owners is converting a single full bathroom into two full bathrooms side by side — often a primary bath and a second full bath or powder room serving a nearby bedroom. This is achievable in the right building, but it lives and dies by wet-over-dry rules: most buildings won't let a new wet space sit over a downstairs living room or bedroom, even in a condo where board oversight is generally lighter than a co-op's. When the layout works, splitting one bathroom into two is one of the more satisfying renovations we take on — the Star Renovations NY team did exactly this on a recent Williamsburg double-bathroom project, turning a single primary bath into a spa-like primary suite and a distinct powder room, each with its own finish palette but tied together with matching brass fixtures. Where the floor plan doesn't support a full split, we often still find room to add a second half bath or reconfigure an existing layout to feel far more generous than it does today.

Insurance, Deposits, and the Fine Print Boards Enforce

Even a well-drawn package won't get you a start date without the right paperwork behind it. Most condo management companies require:

• Certificates of Insurance from your contractor and any sub-trades involved
• The condo and management company listed as additional insureds
• Specific coverage minimums for general liability, workers' comp, and often an umbrella policy
• Confirmation of your contractor's license and, where structural or engineering work is involved, an engineer's letter

If a single name, address, or coverage figure is off, the building can reject the whole package and send you back to the beginning. Buildings often layer on fees, too — an alteration fee for processing your application, a refundable damage deposit for the hallways and elevator, and a reserved service elevator window for deliveries and debris. Star Renovations NY builds all of this into your project budget and schedule from the start, so nothing shows up as a surprise once construction begins.

Work-Hour Rules and Staying on Your Building's Good Side

Condo house rules typically restrict construction to weekdays, set specific hours for noisy work, and require floor protection, elevator padding, and end-of-day cleanup. Some buildings also limit wet work — anything touching the plumbing stack — to certain windows so they can control water shutoffs across multiple units. Star Renovations NY crews coordinate directly with your super and managing agent to book elevator time, plan deliveries, and keep common areas clean throughout the job — which is a big part of why boards tend to approve our clients' next projects faster than the first one.

Closeout: The Part of Approval Most Owners Forget

Once your new bathroom is finished, there's one more stage most owners don't think about until it's in front of them: closeout. Management wants a final completion letter, sign-off on any DOB-permitted plumbing or electrical work, as-built drawings if the layout changed, and warranty documentation for fixtures like the shower valve or the exhaust fan. Handled properly, this paperwork protects you later — when you sell the apartment, refinance, or the board pulls your file for reference on someone else's renovation down the line. Star Renovations NY assembles and submits the full closeout package as part of every bathroom renovation, so your file with the building, and with the city, stays clean.

What Working With Us Looks Like

“We recently contracted with Star Renovations NY to gut remodel our master bathroom and convert wasted space into a stacking washer/dryer laundry closet with an adjacent hall closet. Eli and project manager Crystal handled every approval and permit our building required — architectural plans, board and managing agent sign-off, DOB filings — and the workmanship was outstanding from the first tile to the final walkthrough. We couldn’t be happier with our new bathroom, and the washer/dryer.”

— Paraphrased from a verified Star Renovations NY client review. Read more client reviews

How Star Renovations NY Handles Your Condo Board Package

We treat condo bathroom renovations as a single design-build project from the first sketch to the final sign-off — the same team drawing your plans is pulling your permits, submitting your board package, and running your job site. That means one point of contact, one schedule, and no gap between what the architect intended and what the crew actually builds. Our why choose Star Renovations NY page goes into more detail on our process, our about us page introduces the team, and our condo apartment renovation and co-op apartment renovation pages cover how each building type's rules shape the approach we take.

Read our blog on The Secret Recipe To A Smooth Renovation