NYC Building Violation Search

What This NYC Building Lookup Does

DOBGuard's address lookup is a free utility that checks one NYC street address across 12 city datasets from 7 agencies at the same time — Department of Buildings (DOB) violations, Environmental Control Board (ECB) fines, Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) housing violations, FDNY fire-code records, DOT sidewalk violations, DSNY sanitation summonses, 311 complaints, building permits, DOB complaints, stop work orders, Certificates of Occupancy, and HPD Multiple Dwelling Registration status. Instead of opening seven different city websites and learning the search interface for each one, you type a house number, street, and borough once and get a consolidated preview in seconds.

What You Can Check by Address

• Open and historical DOB violations tied to the building, including violation type and current status.
• ECB / OATH fines issued at the address, with hearing context where available.
• HPD housing violations by class (A / B / C) including rent-impairing flags.
• FDNY fire-safety records surfaced via OATH hearings.
• DOT sidewalk violations including trip hazards and required repairs.
• DSNY sanitation summonses adjudicated via OATH hearings.
• 311 complaints filed against the building (noise, conditions, safety).
• DOB-issued building permits with status and work descriptions.
• DOB complaints filed about the address, with inspection categorization.
• Stop work orders currently or historically blocking construction at the site.
• Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) lookup to confirm a building's legal use, occupancy classification, and whether it's Final or Temporary.
• Multiple Dwelling Registration (MDR) lookup to check whether a residential building's HPD registration is current or lapsed.

DOB BIS, DOB NOW, and Why One Address Often Hits Multiple Systems

NYC operates two main DOB record systems: the legacy BIS (Buildings Information System), which holds full historical permits, violations and complaints from 1985–2020, and the modern DOB NOW platform, which holds new filings from 2018 forward. A single building can carry records in both systems plus separate datasets at HPD, FDNY, ECB and 311. That fragmentation is exactly why a one-address lookup like this one is useful: you don't have to remember which agency or which system to check first. For a deeper walkthrough see our guides on DOB NOW vs BIS and how to look up NYC building violations by address.

What You Get From a Search

Each search returns a free preview of the records found at the address — record IDs, status flags (open vs. closed), and a count per agency. Full unredacted record details, penalty exposure totals, hearing dates and historical context are reserved for the downloadable building report (one-time purchase) or for the ongoing monitoring subscription. This keeps the address lookup itself free for anyone doing due diligence on a single property.

When to Use This vs. a Per-Agency Lookup

Use this address lookup when you want a fast, complete picture of one building. If you already know exactly which agency you care about — for example you're tracking only HPD class-C violations or only ECB fine balances — our dedicated per-agency tools (DOB, HPD, ECB, SWO) will give deeper per-agency results. For multi-property portfolios or recurring monitoring, the monitoring subscription watches every building 24/7 and emails / text-alerts you the moment a new record is filed.

Tip: Use the building's primary street address as filed with the city. Side-entrance addresses, campus addresses or split-lot buildings can store records under a different primary number. If the first search comes back empty, try the building's main numbered entrance.