Do I need a permit to replace a shower valve body in Jackson Heights?

The problem

An owner was doing a full bathroom renovation in a pre-war apartment on 37th Avenue. Mid-project, the tile contractor opened the shower wall and found the existing valve body had a visible crack at one of the solder joints, the previous repair had replaced the cartridge but left the cracked body in place. It had been weeping into the wall cavity intermittently. With the wall open and the tile contractor waiting, replacing it now was the obvious call, but the GC required a licensed plumber with a permit before anything was touched. The crack was at the elbow on the hot supply solder joint. Hairline, but visible under good light. The valve body also had no pressure-balancing feature, putting it out of code compliance in addition to the structural crack.

What we did

We pulled the DOB permit, opened the wall from the wet side, and cut out the cracked valve body. Installed a new Moen pressure-balance unit, soldered new copper stubs on both supply connections, pressure tested before calling for inspection. Left the wall cavity fully open, no drywall, no backer board, so the inspector could see the complete work. Inspection passed. We provided the permit sign-off documentation for the building's records. Tile contractor came back the next day to close the wall and set the surround. Installed a Moen M-PACT pressure-balance unit with a Posi-Temp cartridge. Tested the pressure balance function before calling for inspection by fully opening and closing adjacent fixtures while the shower ran.