NYC heat season checklist for landlords and property managers

Start with the current HPD requirements

NYC heat season runs from October 1 through May 31. HPD requires an indoor temperature of at least 68°F between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. when the outdoor temperature is below 55°F. Between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., the minimum is 62°F regardless of the outdoor temperature. Hot water must be available year-round at a constant minimum of 120°F. Review HPD's current instructions and the specific building conditions before making a compliance decision.

The operational challenge is making sure a report reaches someone who can act, with enough context to organize the response. A manager should be able to find the property, the affected location, the report time, the assigned vendor, and the latest update without searching several inboxes.

Prepare the property and the people

Before a cold-weather report arrives, confirm that the team knows its repair and emergency escalation procedures. Your heating vendor and qualified staff should assess the building's equipment; a software checklist does not replace their work.

• Record the current heating vendor and backup contact for each building.
• Confirm equipment documentation, service history, and any unresolved repair recommendations.
• Review who can authorize work and who can coordinate building or unit access.
• Provide residents with a clear way to report a problem and obtain an update.

Make each report actionable

For a heat or hot-water report, save when it was received, the property and unit, the reported condition, and the person responsible for follow-up. Document observations as observations. Avoid turning an unverified temperature or allegation into a confirmed agency finding.

If more than one resident reports an issue, preserve each report while checking whether the same equipment or building condition connects them. Linking reports to a shared work order can help the manager coordinate one response without losing the separate resident context.

Keep a repair record that survives a handoff

A useful record includes the assignment, available access details, approval decisions, vendor updates, and completion documentation. After the vendor reports completion, review the supporting evidence and any unresolved resident report. A job can require follow-up even when someone has marked it done.

Treat an agency complaint, a repair work order, and an issued violation as separate records. Closing your team's job does not establish the current HPD status. Check the relevant official record before describing an agency matter as resolved.

Use the weekly review to find unresolved work

Review open heating jobs by building and owner of the next action. Look for reports waiting for access, jobs with unclear scope, repeated failures, and cases without completion evidence. Give each exception a responsible person and an explicit next step.

PropertyWatch's maintenance workspace is designed to connect requests, work orders, vendors, access context, communication history, and evidence. Request an invitation to review the pilot workflow with your portfolio; source coverage and configured features are discussed during onboarding.