— TL;DR

A side-by-side of what DOB NOW and BIS each cover in 2026, where the two systems diverge, and which legacy filings and historical records still live only in BIS.

01 · THE SHORT ANSWERDOB NOW vs BIS, in one line

DOB NOW is the Department of Buildings' current system — use it for new permits, current jobs, inspections, and most recent activity. BIS (the Building Information System) is the legacy platform — use it for historical records and the older filing types that were never migrated. For anything older than a building's move to DOB NOW, and for a complete violation history, you still need to check both. Here's what lives where.

02 · WHAT DOB NOW COVERSThe current system

DOB NOW is where the city has moved active filing and review. In practice you'll use it for:

  • New job filings, permits, and renewals.
  • Inspections and sign-offs.
  • Certificates and many current violation and ECB records.
  • Online interaction — submitting, paying, and tracking without a counter visit.

03 · WHAT STILL LIVES IN BISThe legacy system

BIS predates DOB NOW and still holds the records that came before the migration:

  • Historical jobs, permits, and complaints filed before the building moved to DOB NOW.
  • Older violation history and the original certificate-of-occupancy record for many buildings.
  • Certain legacy filing and record types that were not carried into DOB NOW.

Because the cutover happened in stages, an older building can have part of its record in BIS and part in DOB NOW. That split is the single biggest reason a manual search misses something.

04 · WHICH TO USE FOR WHATA quick rule

  • Filing or tracking current work? → DOB NOW.
  • Looking up a building's history or an old job? → BIS.
  • Running a complete violation check? → both, plus the OATH/ECB record for fine status.

05 · FOR VIOLATIONS, CHECK BOTHDon't rely on one

A violation search that only touches DOB NOW will miss anything in the legacy record, and vice-versa. The complete picture is DOB NOW + BIS for the violations and complaints, then OATH/ECB for the penalty and hearing attached to each. Doing all three by hand, per building, every time, is exactly the gap automated monitoring closes.

Last updated: June 2026.

Skip the two-system shuffle — run a free DOB violation lookup that checks both at once, see the full method in our DOB violation search guide, or start a 7-day trial.

— Data & sources

The figures in this article come from ViolationWatch's analysis of New York City building-violation records — more than 15 million violations across DOB, HPD, ECB/OATH, 311 and DOT. Explore the full data, borough breakdowns, fine trends, and downloadable dataset in our NYC Building Violations Statistics report.

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