To look up NYC Department of Buildings violations for an address, open the property profile in the DOB Building Information System (BIS) and choose ECB violations (now called OATH summonses) or DOB violations. Each ECB violation shows its class, the OATH hearing status, the penalty due and a certification status that says whether DOB has accepted proof the condition was fixed.
Paying the penalty leaves a violation open. The DOB guide to resolving violations says it stays Open in DOB records until DOB accepts a certificate of correction. In the DOB ECB Violations data, 35.6% of the 52,042 ECB violations DOB issued in 2024 were still Active in October 2026, and defaults carried a median penalty of $6,250, five times the $1,250 median for other cases.
How to look up DOB and ECB violations for a NYC address
- Open DOB Building Information System (BIS) and search by house number and street, or by borough, block and lot.
- On the property profile, open ECB violations. The summary line counts violations issued, those still open with a certificate of correction required, and hearings completed, defaulted or pending.
- For each violation, read the class (1, 2 or 3), the OATH/ECB hearing status, the penalty due and the certification status.
- Open DOB violations separately. They are a different record set from ECB violations and can be open at the same address.
- For housing maintenance conditions in apartments, search HPD as well; see our HPD violations lookup.
What the class, hearing status and certification status mean
DOB issues ECB violations in three classes, set out on DOB’s OATH summons page: Class 1 (immediately hazardous), Class 2 (major) and Class 3 (lesser). Class 1 conditions have to be corrected immediately and a certificate of correction filed. Class 2 and Class 3 conditions have 40 days to be corrected and certified, according to DOB’s ECB violations FAQ.
- Cure: all Class 3 and most Class 2 violations can be cured. If DOB accepts a certificate of correction before the cure date printed on the summons, there is no hearing and no penalty.
- Stipulation: for Class 3 and selected Class 2 violations, certifying correction by the stipulation date brings a reduced penalty.
- In violation or admit: the hearing officer imposes a penalty, and the owner still has to certify correction.
- Default: the respondent missed the hearing. DOB says default penalties can reach $25,000 per violation, depending on the violation.
- Certificate accepted or cure accepted: DOB approved the correction, and the violation shows as resolved in BIS, according to DOB’s certificate of correction tips.
- No compliance recorded: DOB has no accepted correction on file.
What 52,042 ECB violations from 2024 show in October 2026
We downloaded every ECB violation in the DOB ECB Violations data with a 2024 issue date and counted status, hearing outcome and penalties as published on October 24, 2026. Construction violations were the largest group (36,718), followed by elevators (3,198) and boilers (2,262).
| Class | Violations | Still Active | Default at hearing | Median penalty imposed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 1 (immediately hazardous) | 20,165 | 31.2% | 17.7% | $2,500 |
| Class 2 (major) | 29,529 | 37.8% | 19.1% | $1,250 |
| Class 3 (lesser) | 2,348 | 46.0% | 28.1% | $500 |
| All 2024 ECB violations | 52,042 | 35.6% | 18.9% | $2,400 |
The median penalty counts only violations with a penalty above zero (40,803 of 52,042). Across all of them, penalties imposed totaled $140.1 million; $48.9 million had been paid and $85.9 million was still due, and 31.6% of violations carried a balance.
Class 3 violations are the cheapest and the most often left open: 46% were still Active and 28% ended in default. An open Class 3 stays on the property profile until it is certified, like any other class.
Defaults and work without a permit
The 9,861 defaults from 2024 are the costliest records on a profile. Their median penalty was $6,250, the middle half ran from $3,125 to $6,280, 70.4% were still Active and 78.5% still had a balance due. Violations that went to a hearing or were settled had a median penalty of $1,250, and 27.5% were still Active.
Violations for work without a permit, under Administrative Code section 28-105.1 or described that way, numbered 6,741 in 2024. 44.7% were still Active in October 2026, and only 37.9% had a certificate or cure accepted, against 54.2% for other violations. DOB’s tips page lists unpaid DOB civil penalties on Class 1 and work-without-permit violations among the reasons a certificate of correction is disapproved, so closing one can take a permit and a paid DOB civil penalty as well as the repair.
Checklist for an NYC address with ECB violations
- Each open violation’s class, issue date and certification status in BIS.
- The hearing status: a default means the higher penalty was imposed without a hearing.
- The penalty due, and whether OATH shows it paid.
- For work without a permit, the permit filed afterward and its status in our NYC DOB permit search guide.
- For an illegal conversion or occupancy contrary to the certificate of occupancy, the CO itself; see our NYC certificate of occupancy lookup.
- HPD violations for the same building, which are tracked separately.
For the property profile itself, see our guide to DOB’s Building Information Search. To compare how violations play out elsewhere, read our Chicago building violations analysis.
Counts are our calculations from the City of New York’s DOB ECB Violations data, issue dates January 1 to December 31, 2024, pulled October 24, 2026. Penalty amounts are as recorded in the data and can change after appeals or payment. DOB and OATH pages checked October 24, 2026.