Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of buildnyc.ai and its intelligence modules, data, conversational and AI features, scores, predictions, and other outputs (collectively, the "Platform"), operated by BuildNYC ("we," "us," or "our"). By accessing or using the Platform, and where prompted by affirmatively indicating your acceptance (for example, before using the AI chat), you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not access or use the Platform.

You represent that you are at least 18 years old and, if you access the Platform on behalf of an organization, that you are authorized to bind that organization to these Terms. Where the Platform requires you to affirmatively accept these Terms, your acceptance is recorded (including your identity, timestamp, and the version accepted) and constitutes your agreement to the then-current Terms.

Professional and business use only; no consumer relationship. The Platform is offered solely for professional and business purposes to sophisticated commercial users — such as real-estate developers, owners, brokers, contractors, design professionals, attorneys, and their firms. By accessing or using the Platform, you represent and warrant that you are using it in the course of your trade, business, or profession and not as a consumer, and that you are a sophisticated party capable of evaluating the Platform and its outputs and of independently verifying information before relying on it. These Terms constitute a business-to-business agreement entered into at arm's length between sophisticated parties. The Platform is not a consumer product or service, no consumer relationship is created by your use of it, and consumer-protection statutes intended to protect consumers do not apply to your use of the Platform. You further agree that the disclaimers, limitations of liability, and other allocations of risk in these Terms are reasonable and were a material basis of the bargain between you and BuildNYC.

1. Access and Accounts

Access to the Platform requires a valid access code or account issued by BuildNYC. Access codes and accounts are non-transferable and for authorized users only. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your credentials and for all activity that occurs under them. Any unauthorized access or suspected compromise must be reported to BuildNYC immediately.

2. Permitted Use

The Platform is licensed solely for internal business use by the authorized individual or entity to whom access was granted. You may use Platform data and intelligence to inform your own decisions, analyses, and work product. You may not:

• Resell, sublicense, or redistribute Platform data, outputs, or derived datasets in any form
• Use the Platform or any output therefrom to build, train, or improve competing products or services
• Use Platform outputs as training data for any machine learning, artificial intelligence, or large language model system
• Scrape, crawl, spider, mirror, or programmatically extract any data, content, or interface elements from the Platform by any means
• Use automated tools, bots, scripts, headless browsers, or APIs to access the Platform without prior written consent from BuildNYC
• Bypass, circumvent, or attempt to defeat any access control, rate limit, bot detection, authentication mechanism, or technical protection measure on the Platform
• Use the Platform in any bulk, batch, or systematic manner beyond normal interactive use
• Share, transfer, or disclose access credentials or session tokens to any unauthorized party
• Frame, embed, or otherwise incorporate Platform content into any external website, application, or service
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code, algorithms, models, or scoring methodologies underlying the Platform

Internal use versus distribution. Your license is limited to your own internal business use. You may incorporate insights derived from the Platform into your own professional work product — for example, an analysis or memo you prepare for your own client or for internal decision-making. You may not distribute, publish, disclose, syndicate, or otherwise make available the Platform's data, datasets, exports, reports, or outputs — in raw, bulk, aggregated, reformatted, or derived form — to any person who is not an authorized user, and you may not provide the Platform or its data to others as a substitute for their own license or subscription. In particular, you may not:

• Redistribute, resell, syndicate, license, lease, or share Platform data or outputs to or with any third party, whether for a fee or free of charge
• Export, download, scrape, or compile Platform data or outputs into a separate database, dataset, spreadsheet, or file for distribution or for use outside your authorized internal use
• Make Platform data or outputs available through, or ingest them into, any other product, application, website, data feed, report subscription, or API
• Distribute Platform scores, ratings, predictions, entity resolutions, or characterizations about any named person or entity to any third party (see also Section 4)
• Use the Platform to perform look-ups, answer queries, or generate outputs on behalf of, or for the benefit of, any person who is not an authorized user

The Platform's compiled data and outputs are BuildNYC confidential information and proprietary compiled work product; the fact that certain underlying source records are publicly available does not permit redistribution of them as part of, or as extracted from, BuildNYC's compilation (see Section 7). Isolated, incidental disclosure of a specific result in the ordinary course of your own business — such as citing a single fact to your own client — is permitted, provided it is not systematic, does not involve raw or bulk data, and does not serve as a substitute for a Platform license. You are responsible for any distribution or disclosure of Platform data or outputs by anyone accessing the Platform through your account, and for such recipients' compliance with these Terms.

3. Prohibited Automated Access — Liquidated Damages

Unauthorized automated access to the Platform causes substantial harm that is difficult to quantify, including but not limited to: degradation of service for authorized users, competitive misappropriation of proprietary compiled datasets, and erosion of trade secret protections. Accordingly, you agree that each instance of unauthorized automated access, scraping, crawling, or programmatic extraction constitutes a material breach and shall give rise to liquidated damages of $50,000 per day during which such access occurs, which the parties agree is a reasonable estimate of harm and not a penalty. BuildNYC reserves all additional remedies available at law or in equity, including injunctive relief without bond.

For purposes of this Section, a "day" begins at 12:00:00 AM Eastern Time and ends at 11:59:59 PM Eastern Time. Partial days count as full days. Multiple automated sessions or requests occurring within a single day do not reduce the per-day liquidated damages amount.

4. Acceptable Use of Data About Third Parties

The Platform surfaces information about buildings, projects, owners, developers, contractors, design professionals, filing representatives, and, in certain modules, residents and other individuals — including risk scores, ratings, characterizations, predictions, and other automated estimates. This information is provided for general business-intelligence purposes only. You agree that you will not use the Platform, its data, or any output, in whole or in part, to:

• Make, or assist in making, any decision governed by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq., or any state or local equivalent — including any decision regarding a consumer's or business's eligibility for credit, insurance, employment, engagement or hiring, housing or tenancy, or any similar purpose. BuildNYC is not a consumer reporting agency; the Platform and its outputs are not a "consumer report" or "investigative consumer report"; and you may not use them for any FCRA-permissible purpose.
• Discriminate against any person, or take, assist, or encourage any action prohibited by the federal Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws, or any other anti-discrimination or fair-lending law, including targeting, steering, or screening tenants or applicants on the basis of a protected characteristic
• Harass, stalk, threaten, intimidate, surveil, dox, or invade the privacy of any individual, or facilitate tenant harassment, wrongful displacement, unlawful eviction, deed theft, or any predatory-equity or predatory-lending practice
• Defame or disparage any person or entity, or publish, republish, or communicate any score, rating, prediction, or characterization from the Platform as a statement of verified fact or in a false or misleading manner
• Extract, compile, retain, or distribute the personal information of any individual obtained from the Platform — including names, email addresses, telephone numbers, or other contact details — or use any such information to send unsolicited communications or for any marketing, solicitation, lead-generation, or contact purpose, except as expressly permitted by these Terms and in full compliance with applicable law (including the CAN-SPAM Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and applicable privacy laws)
• Violate any applicable law or regulation, infringe any third party's rights, or use the Platform for any unlawful, deceptive, or harmful purpose

Independent verification before adverse or material action. Platform outputs — particularly scores, predictions, entity resolutions, and AI-generated summaries — are analytical estimates, not adjudications of fact, and may be incomplete or incorrect. Before taking, recommending, or refraining from any adverse or material action affecting a third party (for example, declining to engage a contractor, or initiating any action against an owner, tenant, or other party) based in whole or part on the Platform, you must independently verify the underlying facts through primary sources. You are solely responsible for confirming the accuracy and lawful basis of any such action.

5. AI Chat and Automated Outputs

The Platform includes conversational and artificial-intelligence features (the "Chat") that generate responses using large language models and automated analysis over Platform data, along with other automated outputs such as scores, predictions, characterizations, and summaries. These outputs are generated programmatically and may be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, or misattributed, and may appear authoritative while being wrong. They do not constitute legal, engineering, architectural, construction, financial, tax, insurance, real-estate, or other professional advice, and no professional-client, advisory, or fiduciary relationship is created by your use of the Platform. You must not rely on any Chat response or automated output as a substitute for independent professional judgment or primary-source verification. By using the Chat you acknowledge and accept these limitations.

6. Your Responsibilities; Assumption of Risk

You are solely responsible for your access to and use of the Platform, for compliance with these Terms and all applicable laws, and for any decision, action, communication, publication, or work product you make or produce based on the Platform, its data, or any output. To the maximum extent permitted by law, you assume all risk arising from such use. BuildNYC is not responsible or liable for, and expressly disclaims responsibility for:

• Any use or misuse of the Platform, its data, or outputs by you or by anyone accessing the Platform through your account or credentials;
• Any decision made, action taken, or action not taken in reliance on the Platform or any output;
• Any consequence to you or to any third party arising from your use of the Platform or its outputs, including any claim, injury, loss, or liability of any kind; and
• Any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in underlying source data or in any automated output.

Any use of the Platform in a manner not expressly permitted by these Terms, or in violation of Section 4, is undertaken entirely at your own risk and is your responsibility alone.

No use that endangers safety or security. You shall not use the Platform, or any data or output — including any structural, egress, life-safety, or security-related information — to endanger the safety or security of any building, its occupants, or the public; to enable, facilitate, or commit any crime, trespass, tampering, sabotage, or attack; to defeat, interfere with, or compromise any physical, fire, life-safety, or security system; or in any manner that could reasonably be expected to cause harm. BuildNYC is not responsible or liable for any such use.

7. Data Sources and Proprietary Compilation

The Platform aggregates, normalizes, enriches, and analyzes data from sources including the NYC Department of Buildings, ACRIS, HPD, ECB/OATH, PLUTO, ZAP, and others. While individual source data may be publicly available, BuildNYC's compiled datasets, normalization methodologies, entity resolution graphs, scoring algorithms, and analytical outputs constitute original intellectual property protected by copyright, trade secret law, and applicable database protections. The fact that underlying source data is public does not grant any right to reproduce, extract, or exploit BuildNYC's compiled work product.

While we work to maintain accuracy, we make no warranties regarding the completeness, timeliness, or fitness for any particular purpose of this data. Always verify critical information through primary sources before making material decisions.

8. Intellectual Property

All Platform software, models, scoring methodologies, entity resolution systems, graph structures, visual design, user interfaces, compiled datasets, and documentation are proprietary to BuildNYC and protected by copyright, trade secret, patent (pending), and other applicable intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms grants you ownership of, or any license to, any Platform intellectual property beyond the narrow use license described in Section 2. Any unauthorized use of BuildNYC intellectual property will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

9. Monitoring and Enforcement

BuildNYC actively monitors Platform access patterns, request volumes, and usage behavior. We employ technical and legal measures to detect and respond to unauthorized automated access, credential sharing, and policy violations. Access logs, IP addresses, session identifiers, and behavioral fingerprints are retained and may be used as evidence in enforcement proceedings. By using the Platform, you consent to this monitoring.

In the event of a suspected violation, BuildNYC may immediately suspend or terminate access without notice, pursue injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction, and seek all available damages including those specified in Section 3.

10. Disclaimers

THE PLATFORM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTY OF ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR RELIABILITY. THIS DISCLAIMER APPLIES TO ALL PLATFORM DATA AND TO ALL AI CHAT RESPONSES, SCORES, PREDICTIONS, ENTITY RESOLUTIONS, AND OTHER AUTOMATED OUTPUTS. PLATFORM OUTPUTS ARE INFORMATIONAL ONLY AND DO NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL, FINANCIAL, ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURAL, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE PLATFORM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BUILDNYC AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST DATA, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE PLATFORM OR ANY OUTPUT, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STATUTE, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, AND EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

IN NO EVENT SHALL BUILDNYC'S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE PLATFORM EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO BUILDNYC FOR ACCESS TO THE PLATFORM IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

NOTHING IN THIS SECTION LIMITS BUILDNYC'S RIGHT TO SEEK LIQUIDATED DAMAGES UNDER SECTION 3 OR INJUNCTIVE OR EQUITABLE RELIEF FOR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY VIOLATIONS. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless BuildNYC and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, liabilities, judgments, fines, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your violation of these Terms; (b) your unauthorized access to or use of the Platform; (c) your infringement of any BuildNYC intellectual property; (d) your use or misuse of Platform data or outputs, including any claim under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, or any anti-discrimination, fair-lending, consumer-protection, or privacy law, or for defamation, harassment, or invasion of privacy; or (e) any decision made or action taken by you or any third party in reliance on the Platform or any output.

13. Modifications

We may update these Terms at any time. The "Last updated" date above reflects the current version. Where the Platform requires affirmative acceptance, we may require you to re-accept following a material change. Your continued use of the Platform following notice of changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

14. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any disputes shall be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts of New York County, New York, and you irrevocably consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in such courts. The prevailing party in any legal proceeding arising under these Terms shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.

15. Severability and Entire Agreement

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force. These Terms, together with any access agreement or subscription agreement you have executed with BuildNYC, constitute the entire agreement between you and BuildNYC with respect to the Platform and supersede all prior understandings.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms or to report suspected unauthorized access or misuse: contact@buildnyc.ai