Start with the order and the DOB reviewer’s authorization. A temporary system-hold change is not itself a Stop Work Order lift.
Find the decision in the order’s own file
Copy the order date and number if available, the address, the affected work and the reason stated on the order. Keep the actual document beside later papers. A permit for the same address may cover different work; a photograph of an empty doorway may show only that a placard is gone. Neither resolves which order, work area or date a later decision covers.
DOB’s How To Resolve a Stop Work Order page directs a Compliance Review Request, one contact and an emailed checklist. A temporary system-hold lift may permit drawings, permits or inspections. After the checklist is complete, reply with address and contact details for follow-up inspection. The inspector reports to the reviewer; wait for reviewer authorization before removing the placard.
The resolution page leaves the lift-letter format open. Ask for the DOB correspondence or case record reflecting the reviewer’s decision. Label a missing decision as missing evidence, leaving the lift question open.
Reconcile four pieces before calling the file complete
Write one line per item, preserving the title, date, number, work area and sender shown on the document. This is a reading aid for the papers you have; public portals may accept only some of these details.
- Starting scope. Does the written order identify the exact portion of work later papers discuss? Keep separate orders separate even when they share an address.
- Correction trail. Which checklist item does each plan, permit or work record address? A later document is relevant only when its subject matches the issue you are following.
- Inspection trail. Can you identify the follow-up result and the particular order it concerns? A visit date alone leaves the result and its scope open.
- Decision trail. Is there a later reviewer response tied to that order? If its scope is narrower than the starting order, describe the difference rather than assuming a full release.
For example, a fictional file has an order for rear-addition work, a permit issued after temporary system access, an inspection appointment and a photograph without a placard. It lacks a reviewer response. The next request should name the order and ask for the follow-up result and the decision that followed it. The permit and photograph leave those two gaps open. The papers are invented.
Another packet may contain the decision without a checklist. In that case, ask which issues the reviewer assigned before trying to interpret the earlier permits. If the checklist and inspection are present but the response is missing, ask for the later reviewer communication. A file for a different order number belongs to that order, even when its date is newer.
If a copy is not in an online record family
DOB’s records information page lists eRecords families including permits, plans and certificates of occupancy, and Stop Work Orders are absent from that list. The enforcement decision comes from DOB’s case record rather than a permit found there. DOB’s FOIA information page describes Scout searches by street address, business or person name, permit or license, plus routes to ask DOB for records through DC FOIA when a needed copy is absent from its websites. For a Stop Work Order copy, use the FOIA route.
For an older file, identify the address, order number and approximate date if known, affected work, and the exact missing item: order, checklist, follow-up result or reviewer response. Those are request descriptors. Use the records-request route for historical copies rather than opening a new compliance request.
What other papers cannot settle
DOB treats a Notice of Infraction, fines and the Office of Administrative Hearings separately from the compliance sequence. Paying or contesting an infraction, receiving a permit or finding a placard absent does not prove permission to resume the stopped work. The DC non-pass inspection guide addresses an inspection-result question; the DC zoning-order conditions guide covers a different approval track. The decision for this order is a separate record.
An absent online document does not prove the order remains active, was lifted, that work was unlawful, or that the site is safe. For a live order, follow DOB’s current instructions and obtain agency guidance before acting on an incomplete file. Official DC DOB pages checked October 8, 2026.