Help & Troubleshooting

buildingcodes is a read-only MCP connector for New York City + U.S. federal building, zoning, and safety code. This page covers connecting, getting good answers, and what the corpus does and doesn’t include.

Connecting

Add the connector URL https://www.buildingcodes.live/api/mcpin your AI client’s connector / MCP settings (Claude: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector). The connector is open — no sign-in, no account, so it connects directly.

• “Couldn’t reach the server” / it won’t connect. The server is a remote MCP server. Use a client that supports remote (HTTP) MCP servers; confirm the URL is exactly the one above (https, no trailing path), and retry — transient broker/network errors usually clear on a second attempt.
• It connected but lists no tools. Disconnect and reconnect to re-run discovery; you should see five tools (search_zoning, search_building_code, search_code, get_by_code_ref, list_sections).

Getting good answers

• Name the code bookwhen you can (“in the Building Code…”, “per the Zoning Resolution…”). Compliance questions often span several — zoning for use/bulk, the Building Code for egress, ADA for accessibility.
• Search is hybrid (keyword + meaning), so plain English usually works. If a search misses, retry with the code’s own term: toilet → water closet, hallway → corridor, railing →guard.
• Use the Codepilot skill for sharper, citeable answers: /skills/codepilot.md— paste it into your assistant’s system prompt.
• Exact lookups:ask for a section directly, e.g. “what does BC 1011.4 say” or “ZR 23-321”.

Code editions

The NYC Building Code is available in two editions: 2022 (current) and 2014. Answers use the current edition by default; ask explicitly for the 2014 edition (e.g. “in the 2014 Building Code…”) when your project was filed under it. The same section number can differ between editions.

What’s covered

Nine code books: NYC Zoning Resolution; NYC Building, Mechanical, Plumbing, Fuel Gas, Fire (FDNY), and Energy codes; NYC HPD Design Guidelines; and the federal 2010 ADA Standards. Not included (the connector will say so rather than guess): the NYC Electrical Code, ICC A117.1, and other standards outside this set.

Figures & tables

Tables are part of a section’s text and come back inline. Figures are returned as absolute image URLs; some chat clients don’t render external images inline, so your assistant may show them as links — open the link to view the diagram.

Still stuck?

Email us and include your client (e.g. Claude.ai web/mobile, Claude Code), what you tried, and any error message. Remember this is a research aid, not legal advice — always confirm against the official adopted code and a registered architect or engineer.