Certification

In the Zoning Resolution's vocabulary, a certification is the lightest form of non-as-of-right action: a confirmation, typically by the City Planning Commission's chairperson, that an application satisfies stated conditions — completeness of required plans, compliance with enumerated standards — before permits or other steps proceed. Many special purpose districts and waterfront rules use certifications as their gatekeeping device.

The word also names ULURP's starting gun: an application is 'certified' as complete before the public clocks begin. The two usages are cousins — both mark an official confirmation that prerequisites are satisfied — but they sit in different processes, and reading which one a document means is part of reading it correctly.