Temporary Occupancy for Pop-Ups, Events and Short-Term Leases

A pop-up shop, a launch event or a three-month lease has to meet the same fire code as a permanent tenant, and anything the city or town needs has to be in hand before the doors open. We check the space against your plans, prepare the sealed drawings and filings, and flag early anything that could move your opening date.

Use and occupancy check against the Certificate of Occupancy
NYC Temporary Use Permit and Temporary Place of Assembly filings
Sprinkler, alarm and exit review for your layout and your crowd
Sealed engineer’s letters for landlords, insurers and inspectors

Send Your Floor Plan Talk to an Engineer

A floor plan, the listing or a few phone photos is enough. You get a free written proposal within one business day.

Licensed in five statesSealed drawings and letters in NY, NJ, PA, MD, DE, WA, OR and FL.
Planned from your opening dateAgency lead times go on the schedule from day one.
Free written proposalScope, schedule and price before you commit to anything.
Reply in one business daySend the plan today, hear back tomorrow.
Fire protection onlySprinklers, alarm, exits and the filings that go with them.

Six things we check before a pop-up opens. A floor plan, the listing or a few photos is enough to start.

What’s Included

What Temporary Occupancy Review Includes

Landlords want a short lease to be simple, and brands want the doors open on a fixed date. The fire code does not change with the length of the lease. The work starts with two questions: does the Certificate of Occupancy allow what you plan to do, and do the building’s sprinklers, alarm and exits still work for your layout and your crowd. When both answers are yes, it is a quick check and a sealed letter. When either is no, there is often a temporary permit route, and it moves faster when it starts before the lease is signed.

Every engagement starts the same way: send us the address, your dates and a floor plan or photos, get a free written proposal within one business day, and decide from there. For a first look at the crowd numbers, try the free occupant load calculator.

Use and Occupancy Check

We read the Certificate of Occupancy, or the building’s approvals outside New York City, against what you plan to do there: sell, host an event, run a showroom or serve samples. If the use does not fit, we lay out the temporary permit route and what it takes.

Occupant Load and Exits

Occupant load for the busiest hour, exit width and travel distance, exit signs and emergency lighting, and a layout that keeps aisles and doors clear when the line forms.

Sprinkler and Fire Alarm Coverage

Fitting rooms, new walls, canopies, ceilings and hanging signs are checked against the existing sprinkler heads and alarm devices. Where something has to change, we design it and prepare the filing.

Stock, Storage and Special Hazards

Stockroom heights, foam and plastics, aerosols, lithium-ion batteries, cooking demos, candles and generators: the things that change what the space has to protect against.

Temporary Permits and Filings

In New York City, the Department of Buildings Temporary Use Permit and the Temporary Place of Assembly certificate, with sealed drawings. Elsewhere, the temporary use, tent and fire permits the local officials require.

Opening-Day Documents

A sealed engineer’s letter on the fire protection and exits for the landlord, insurer or inspector, the flame-resistance file for decorations, and a fire safety plan where one is needed.

When It Applies

When Temporary Occupancy Review Applies

Triggers

When You Need It

A Pop-Up Shop or Sample Sale: A brand takes a storefront, a hotel lobby or an office floor for days or weeks, often with fitting rooms, display builds and a crowd on opening day.
A Launch Event or Activation: A party, product launch or show in a space that was not built for a crowd. In New York City, a gathering of 75 or more people indoors usually needs a Temporary Place of Assembly certificate.
A Short-Term Lease or License: A tenant takes space for a few months and the landlord wants proof the use and layout work before handing over the keys.
A Holiday or Seasonal Store: Seasonal retail moves into vacant space with heavy stock, tall shelving and fire protection systems that sat idle.
Swing Space or a Sales Office: A team moves into temporary space during a renovation, or a sales office or model unit opens in a building still under construction.

What We Deliver

Temporary Occupancy Deliverables

Fire Code Review: A short written review of the space, your plans and your dates: what has to happen before opening and who does it.
Sealed Drawings: Existing conditions and the temporary layout, with occupant load, exits and fire protection, signed and sealed for the filing.
Permit Filings: NYC Temporary Use Permit and Temporary Place of Assembly applications, or the local temporary use, tent and fire permits elsewhere.
Sprinkler and Alarm Changes: Design and filing for added or relocated heads and devices where the layout needs them.
Engineer’s Letter: A signed and sealed letter on the fire protection and exits for the landlord, insurer or inspector.

This work is common in retail, hospitality and entertainment, commercial and historic and adaptive reuse spaces across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, Oregon and Florida.

Process

How a Temporary Space Gets to Opening Day

01
Before you sign
Send the Space
The address, your dates, what you plan to sell or host and a floor plan or photos. We check the Certificate of Occupancy and the building’s systems and reply with a free written proposal.
02
Once the layout is set
Review and Design
Occupant load, exits, sprinkler and alarm coverage and stock are checked against your layout. Anything that has to change is designed now, not the week you open.
03
15+ business days out
File
In New York City, the Temporary Use Permit goes to the Department of Buildings at least 15 business days before opening, and a Temporary Place of Assembly request at least 10 business days before an event. Elsewhere, each office sets its own lead time.
04
Opening day
Open and Document
Systems in service, decorations certified, exits clear, permits and the sealed letter on site. At move-out, temporary changes come out and the space goes back the way it was.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a permit for a pop-up shop?

It depends on the space and what you plan to do in it. A pop-up selling goods in a store whose Certificate of Occupancy already allows retail may need little more than a check that the sprinklers, alarm and exits still work for your layout. A pop-up in an office lobby, a warehouse or raw space, a build-out with new walls, or an event with a crowd usually needs a filing. The free proposal tells you which.

What is a Temporary Use Permit in New York City?

A Department of Buildings permit that allows indoor or outdoor space to be used temporarily, as long as the use does not endanger public safety, health or welfare. A registered architect or professional engineer prepares it, it is filed at least 15 business days before the use begins, and it runs up to 90 days, with extensions for demonstrated cause. It does not replace a Certificate of Occupancy.

When does an event need a Temporary Place of Assembly certificate?

In New York City, when 75 or more people will gather indoors, or 200 or more outdoors, in a space without a Place of Assembly certificate for that use. It is a separate Department of Buildings filing in DOB NOW, and requesting it at least 10 business days before the event avoids late fees. The layout, occupant load and exits have to work on paper first.

How long can a temporary occupancy last?

In New York City, a Temporary Use Permit runs up to 90 days and can be extended for demonstrated cause with a renewed application. The model building code most other states start from allows a temporary use permit of up to 180 days, also extendable, and each state and town adds its own rules. A use that stays longer has to meet the requirements for a permanent one.

The space was a store before. Do we need anything?

Often less, but check two things. First, the systems: a store that sat empty may have its sprinkler valve shut, its alarm monitoring cancelled or its inspections lapsed, and all of that has to be back in service and documented before you open. Second, your layout: fitting rooms, new walls, canopies and taller stock can change what the sprinklers and exits have to cover.

Is this the same as a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO)?

No. A TCO lets people move into a new or altered building before the final Certificate of Occupancy is issued. This page covers temporary uses of existing space. If a TCO is waiting on sprinkler, standpipe or fire alarm sign-offs, see FDNY Plan Examination & Approvals.

Do you work for the landlord or the tenant?

Either. Landlords use us to confirm a short-term tenant’s use and layout before handing over the keys, and brands, event producers and tenants use us to get open. We are a private fire protection engineering firm, not the Department of Buildings or the fire department.

From the Technical Library

ArticleWhat Fire Protection Does a Retail Store Need?Sprinkler triggers for stores, including New York City’s 7,500 sq ft threshold, and when stock on the floor becomes high-piled storage.Read the Article →ArticleWhat Fire Protection Does a Change of Occupancy Trigger?How a new use pulls in sprinkler, alarm and exit upgrades, state by state, and how to run the numbers before the lease is signed.Read the Article →ArticleWhat Is a Life Safety Plan?The drawing that shows occupant load, exits and fire protection for a space, and when a project needs one.Read the Article →

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