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Free NYC building violation search
by address.

Search DOB, HPD, 311, and OATH records for any NYC property — instant results from every major city agency in one report.

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Stop missing NYC compliance deadlines.

Our compliance engine works out which NYC laws apply to each building you monitor — and tracks every deadline so you never get blindsided by a filing window again.

LL11 · facade · LL97 · emissions · LL84 · benchmarking · LL152 · gas · LL126 · parking · LL31 · lead paint · + more

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What are NYC DOB violations?

The NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) issues violations when a property fails to comply with the New York City Building Code, Zoning Resolution, or other applicable laws. Over 200,000 building violations are issued annually across the five boroughs — covering everything from illegal construction to structural hazards, missing permits, and failed inspections.

DOB violations are public record and searchable by address. Open violations can block property sales, prevent refinancing, and result in fines that escalate daily until corrected. Early detection through regular DOB violation searches is essential for any NYC property owner, buyer, or manager. For a comprehensive overview of all NYC DOB violation types, classes, and how the enforcement process works, see our full NYC DOB Violations guide.

DOB violation classes & fine ranges

Class Severity Examples Correction window Fines
Class 1 Immediately hazardous Unsafe structure, active Stop Work Order violation, illegal occupancy posing collapse risk 24 hours – 30 days $1,000 – $25,000 per violation
Class 2 Major / hazardous Work Without Permit, illegal conversion, facade inspection failure (Local Law 11) 30 – 90 days $600 – $10,000 per violation
Class 3 Minor / non-hazardous Missing paperwork, expired permits, minor code deficiencies 90 – 180 days $300 – $500 per violation

Fines may accumulate daily for uncorrected violations. ECB civil penalties are assessed separately and can be significantly higher for repeat or egregious offenses.

Common DOB violation codes explained

Code Description Typical fine
28-204.6 Work Without Permit — Construction performed without DOB-approved permits $2,500 – $10,000
28-210.1 Illegal Conversion — Converting occupancy type without Certificate of Occupancy $5,000 – $15,000
28-207.2 Stop Work Order Violation — Construction after an SWO has been issued $10,000 – $50,000
27-2005 Failure to Maintain (HPD) — No heat/hot water, mold, vermin, structural hazards $500 – $5,000
BC 3309.4 Failure to Maintain Site Safety — Inadequate protection at construction sites $3,500 – $15,000

How to search DOB violations manually

NYC maintains several official portals for DOB violation searches. Here's how to use each one — and why combining them manually is time-consuming compared to using ViolationWatch. For deeper context on what each violation type means and how enforcement works, visit our complete NYC DOB violations guide.

Method 1

NYC BIS (Building Information System)

Best for: full violation history, older records, ECB violations. URL: a810-bisweb.nyc.gov

1
Go to BIS and click "Property Profile Overview"
This is the main search entry point. No login required.
2
Select the borough and enter the address
Enter house number only (no letters or symbols). Enter street name without the type — "Broadway" not "Broadway Street." For hyphenated Queens addresses like 123-45, enter only "123."
3
Click the "Violations" tab on the property profile
You'll see tabs for Property Summary, Jobs/Permits, Violations, Complaints, and ECB Violations.
4
Filter by status: open, resolved, or all
Start with "Open" to see violations requiring action. Open violations show without an asterisk (*); resolved violations show with one.
5
Click the "ECB Violations" tab separately
ECB civil penalties require a separate tab search — they don't appear in the main Violations tab.
Method 2

DOB NOW public portal

Best for: recent filings, active jobs, newer violations post-2013. URL: a810-dobnow.nyc.gov

DOB NOW is NYC's modernized system replacing BIS for new filings. Search by address under the "Safety" module to find recent violation activity. Note that older historical violations only appear in BIS — for full coverage, you must check both systems.

Method 3

HPD Online (housing violations)

For residential buildings only. URL: hpdonline.hpdnyc.org

HPD violations — covering heat/hot water, mold, vermin, lead paint, and habitability issues — are maintained in a completely separate database from DOB. HPD violations are classified as Class A (non-hazardous), Class B (hazardous), or Class C (immediately hazardous, e.g., no heat in winter, lead paint). Search requires the full address including borough.

Important: DOB and HPD are entirely separate systems. Searching BIS for a residential building will not show HPD violations — you must search both portals independently.
— Skip the manual search

All agencies, one search.

Instead of checking BIS, DOB NOW, and HPD Online separately — ViolationWatch searches all of them at once and alerts you the moment anything changes.

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What violations we track

Comprehensive coverage across every major NYC enforcement agency — searched simultaneously.

🏗

311 complaints

Noise, illegal conversions, pest issues — shows 5 most recent.

✓ Available immediately
🏢

DOB violations

Building code, construction safety, structural issues, permit violations.

Email required
🏘

HPD violations

Heat/hot water, habitability, mold, pest infestations, lead paint.

Email required
💰

CityPay OATH

New

FDNY, DSNY fines with settlement opportunity alerts. Pay early and save 25–50%.

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📋

ECB violations

Environmental Control Board civil penalties — liens risk if unpaid.

Email required
🚒

FDNY violations

Fire safety, sprinklers, emergency egress, certificate of fitness issues.

Email required

What to do after finding violations

Finding a violation is only the first step. What you do next — and how quickly — determines whether it costs you hundreds or tens of thousands of dollars.

🏠

Property owners

  • Correct the underlying violation immediately and document everything
  • File a Certificate of Correction via BIS before the cure date
  • Pay OATH fines within the settlement window (typically 30–45 days) for 25–50% discounts
  • Schedule a re-inspection to officially close the violation record
🤝

Buyers & due diligence

  • Require seller to clear all open Class 1 and Class 2 violations before closing
  • Negotiate a price reduction to cover estimated remediation costs ($5,000–$50,000 typical)
  • Verify title search shows no ECB liens attached to the property
  • Escrow funds at closing to cover any violation discovered post-signing
📊

Investors & lenders

  • Factor remediation costs into acquisition models — open Class 1 violations typically run $20K–$100K to resolve
  • Lenders won't fund properties with serious open violations — clear them before applying
  • Monitor portfolio properties quarterly to catch issues before they affect asset value
👥

Tenants

  • File HPD complaints if landlord ignores Class B/C hazardous violations
  • Request rent abatement — open violations may qualify for rent reduction orders
  • File an HP Action in Housing Court if hazardous conditions persist without correction

Eight separate laws. Eight separate calendars.

Violations are the symptom — missed local-law filings are the cause. Every NYC building over a certain size or age has to comply with a stack of local laws on top of the regular Building Code: facade inspections, energy benchmarking, carbon emission caps, gas-piping inspections, parking-structure inspections, lead-paint XRF, indoor-allergen audits and more. Each law has its own qualified-professional requirement, its own filing portal, its own deadline, and its own penalty schedule. Miss one and the fine lands long before any inspector ever shows up.

That's why we built Local Law Tracker. It's powered by the same multi-signal detection engine behind ViolationWatch — the engine that catches DOB and HPD violations the day they're filed. Give us an address; the engine works out which local laws apply to that property and when each filing is due. Up to three reminder emails per law, sent on dates you choose, so a 60-day window doesn't quietly become a 0-day window. One-click compliance tracking, penalty estimates per missed filing, and a portfolio view across every property you monitor.

Free violation lookup tells you what already went wrong on a building. Local Law Tracker tells you what's about to come due — so you can file on time, avoid the penalty, and protect the property's compliance record before a sale, a refinance, or a violation ever lands.

LL11 · 1998

Facade Inspection (FISP)

Every NYC building over 6 stories. 5-year cycle (Cycle 10 · 2025 – 2030).

LL97 · 2019

Carbon emissions cap

Buildings over 25,000 sq ft. Annual filing; $268/ton over the cap.

LL84 · 2009

Energy benchmarking

25,000+ sq ft. Annual filing via ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager by May 1.

LL152 · 2016

Gas piping inspection

Every NYC building except 1–2 family. 4-year community-district cohorts.

LL126 · 2021

Parking structure inspection

All parking structures citywide. 6-year cycle, staggered by district.

LL31 · 2020

Lead paint (CLPPA)

Pre-1960 multi-unit. Annual notice + XRF inspection + at every turnover.

LL55 · 2018

Indoor allergens (AFHA)

All Class A multi-unit. Annual mold + pest inspection + at turnover.

+ more

LL87, LL88, LL157, LL32…

Every applicable local law tracked per building, per cycle, per filing window.

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The NYC local laws every building owner needs on their calendar

Local Law 11 — Facade Inspection Safety Program (FISP)

LL11/1998 applies to every NYC building taller than six stories. A Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector (QEWI) has to perform a hands-on inspection of every facade and file a Safe / SWARMP / Unsafe report through DOB NOW once every five years. Cycle 10 runs from February 2025 through February 2030, broken into three sub-cycles by block number. Missing the filing is a $1,000 civil penalty plus $250/month until filed; an "Unsafe" condition triggers immediate sidewalk-shed installation at the owner's expense and ECB violations on top.

Local Law 97 — Carbon emission caps

LL97/2019, the cornerstone of NYC's Climate Mobilization Act, applies to every building over 25,000 sq ft (and to any 50,000+ sq ft of buildings on the same tax lot or under a single condo board). Owners file an annual emissions report by May 1 each year and must stay under occupancy-based emission caps for the 2024–2029 compliance period — 8.46 kg CO₂e/sq ft for office occupancies, lower for residential. Penalty: $268 per metric ton of CO₂ over the cap, plus $0.50/sq ft/month for late filing (capped at $5,000/month).

Local Law 84 — Energy & water benchmarking

LL84/2009 requires any building over 25,000 sq ft to benchmark energy and water consumption every year via ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and submit to DOB by May 1. The data feeds the public LL33 disclosure and is the empirical baseline LL97 caps are calculated against. Non-compliance: $500 per quarter, capped at $2,000/year, plus public disclosure of non-filing properties.

Local Law 152 — Gas piping inspection

LL152/2016 applies to every NYC building except R-3 (1–2 family homes). A licensed master plumber inspects every exposed gas pipe inside the building on a 4-year cycle, organized by community-district cohort. The inspector files the GPS1 form and any required GPS2 follow-ups through DOB NOW. Penalty for late filing: $10,000.

Local Law 126 — Parking-structure inspections

LL126/2021 applies to every parking structure in NYC. A QEWI performs a hands-on inspection of every level on a 6-year cycle, staggered by community district. The PSI1 condition report has to be filed before the cycle deadline; missing it carries civil penalties and forces the structure into the most-restrictive condition class until cleared.

Local Law 31 — Lead-paint (CLPPA / 2020)

LL31/2020 covers every pre-1960 multi-unit (Class A) building, plus pre-1978 buildings if the owner has actual knowledge of lead. Annual lead-paint notice has to go out between Jan 5 and Feb 15. XRF inspection of every dwelling unit must be completed within five years (by August 9, 2025) and at every unit turnover. HPD penalties for non-compliance escalate quickly — and the law is enforced retroactively against owners at sale.

Local Law 55 — Indoor allergen hazards (Asthma-Free Housing Act)

LL55/2018 requires owners of every Class A multiple dwelling (3+ units) to inspect for mold and pests at least annually and at every unit turnover, and to fix any indoor-allergen hazards using integrated-pest-management techniques. Tenants get an annual notice. HPD enforcement is aggressive and tenant-driven.

And more — LL87, LL88, LL157, LL32, LL26, LL196…

Energy audits + retro-commissioning every 10 years (LL87), lighting and sub-metering (LL88), natural-gas alarm installation by Jan 1, 2027 (LL157), phaseout of No. 4 fuel oil (LL32), sprinkler retrofits in tall office buildings (LL26), construction-worker site-safety training (LL196). Each one applies to a different slice of the NYC building stock. Local Law Tracker figures out which ones apply to your building and tracks every filing window so you don't have to.

Want the full breakdown of each law before you subscribe? Read our Local Law Tracker page for the complete list of laws covered, applicability rules, deadlines and penalties — including the upcoming deadlines for the next 12 months.

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Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about NYC DOB violation searches and monitoring.

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