NYC DOB NOW: Complete Guide for Property Owners (2026)

DOB NOW is the New York City Department of Buildings' modern digital platform for filing permits, tracking safety violations, submitting facade inspection reports, and managing building compliance records online. Since its phased rollout beginning in 2016, DOB NOW has become the primary system through which buildings in all five boroughs interact with the Department of Buildings — and as of 2026, the vast majority of new enforcement actions, civil penalties, and compliance filings are processed exclusively through DOB NOW rather than the older Building Information System (BIS).

For property owners, landlords, and real estate professionals, understanding DOB NOW is no longer optional. If a violation or compliance issue appears in DOB NOW and you are not monitoring it, you may learn about it only when penalties escalate or when a lender, buyer, or inspector flags it during due diligence.

What Is DOB NOW?

DOB NOW — short for Department of Buildings NOW — is a cloud-based, self-service portal that replaced several functions of the legacy BIS platform. It handles three major categories of building compliance activity in New York City:

• DOB NOW: Build — Permit applications, plan approvals, and job filings for new construction, alterations, and demolitions. This is where architects, engineers, and expeditors file applications and where approved permits are published.
• DOB NOW: Safety — Civil penalties, safety violations, and compliance inspections for devices such as elevators, boilers, and construction equipment. This module also processes Facade Inspection Safety Program (FISP) filings under Local Law 11.
• DOB NOW: Inspections — Scheduling, tracking, and managing inspections for construction, special inspections, and safety compliance.

All data from DOB NOW is publicly available through the NYC Open Data platform, where the Department of Buildings publishes structured datasets that external systems — including DOBGuard — can query in real time.

DOB NOW vs. BIS: What's the Difference?

The Building Information System (BIS) is the Department of Buildings' older legacy platform, launched in the 1980s. It remains active for older records, legacy job filings, and historical violation lookups. However, DOB has been systematically migrating enforcement activity to DOB NOW since 2016, and as of 2026, BIS is effectively a historical archive.

The critical difference for property owners is this: a building can have active violations, safety penalties, or failed facade inspections that appear only in DOB NOW and not in BIS. Any compliance monitoring system that only checks BIS is missing a growing proportion of enforcement activity.

Key Differences at a Glance

What Types of Violations Appear in DOB NOW?

DOB NOW captures two main categories of enforcement actions that directly affect property owners:

1. DOB NOW Safety Violations (Civil Penalties)

These are civil penalties issued through the DOB NOW: Safety module for infractions related to:

• Elevators — Failure to test, failure to certify (FTC), expired device certificates, non-compliant equipment
• Boilers and pressure vessels — Missed annual inspections, expired boiler certificates, operating without a valid permit
• Construction safety — Site safety violations, expired construction permits, failure to maintain required safety plans

The primary violation types in DOB NOW Safety include FTC (Failure to Certify) and CAT1 (Category 1 test failure) designations. An active FTC violation for an elevator means the owner has failed to provide the Department of Buildings with required test documentation within the mandated timeframe. Penalties accrue monthly until resolved.

2. DOB NOW Facades Compliance Filings (FISP / Local Law 11)

Under the Facade Inspection Safety Program (FISP) — commonly known as Local Law 11 — buildings six stories and taller in New York City are required to have their exterior walls inspected by a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector (QEWI) every five years. All filings are submitted through DOB NOW and published to NYC Open Data.

The FISP filing assigns one of four ratings to each building's facade:

• SAFE — No significant defects; no immediate action required
• SWARMP (Safe With a Repair and Maintenance Program) — Defects present but not immediately dangerous; requires a documented repair plan and correction within the FISP cycle
• UNSAFE — Immediate hazard to the public; emergency remediation required, typically within 24 hours of notification
• No Report Filed — The building has not submitted a required FISP filing; financial penalties apply immediately

An UNSAFE facade rating is among the most serious compliance obligations in NYC real estate. The Department of Buildings requires the owner to immediately barricade the sidewalk and begin emergency repairs. Failure to act can result not only in escalating DOB penalties but also in civil liability if a facade-related injury occurs.

How to Look Up DOB NOW Records for Your Property

You can access DOB NOW records for any NYC property at DOB NOW Online using an address or Building Identification Number (BIN). For structured data and programmatic access, all DOB NOW datasets are available through NYC Open Data.

The relevant NYC Open Data endpoints for DOB NOW monitoring are:

• DOB NOW: Safety Violations — Dataset ID: 855j-jady
• DOB NOW: Safety – Facades Compliance Filings — Dataset ID: xubg-57si
• DOB NOW: Build – Approved Permits — Dataset ID: rbx6-tga4

Manual lookups work for a one-time check, but they become unmanageable for owners with multiple properties. A status that changes overnight — a facade rating flipping from SAFE to UNSAFE, or a new elevator FTC penalty appearing — requires daily manual checks to catch before penalties escalate.

Financial Penalties for DOB NOW Violations

DOB NOW violations carry real financial consequences that compound over time. Here is the standard penalty schedule as of 2026:

A building that ignores a FISP filing deadline for a full year can accumulate over $17,000 in penalties before a single remediation dollar is spent. These amounts become enforceable liens against the property.

Borough-Specific Patterns in DOB NOW

Manhattan

Highest concentration of FISP-eligible buildings (6+ stories) and the most active facade compliance filings. Manhattan buildings are inspected most frequently and face the highest penalty exposure from UNSAFE or SWARMP ratings. Pre-war masonry buildings (brick, terra cotta, limestone) require close monitoring as facades age.

Brooklyn

Rapidly growing construction activity; DOB NOW permit filings have increased significantly with the outer-borough development surge. Elevator violation activity is high in pre-war multifamily buildings across Crown Heights, Flatbush, and Bushwick.

Queens

Large number of mid-rise commercial and mixed-use buildings approaching the 6-story threshold; increasingly subject to FISP requirements. Construction safety violations are common in active development corridors in Long Island City and Flushing.

Bronx

High concentration of public housing and older multifamily buildings; elevated elevator and boiler violation rates in pre-war stock. Many Bronx buildings have complex device certification histories.

Staten Island

Smaller volume of DOB NOW activity relative to other boroughs but still subject to all DOB NOW compliance obligations for qualifying buildings, including elevator and boiler certifications and FISP for taller commercial structures.

How DOBGuard Monitors DOB NOW for You

DOBGuard connects directly to the NYC Open Data API endpoints for all active DOB NOW datasets. Every hour, our system queries these endpoints for your registered property addresses and Building Identification Numbers (BINs) and compares the results to your last known baseline.

When a DOB NOW status change is detected — a new safety violation, a SWARMP or UNSAFE facade rating, a new penalty amount, or a permit change — DOBGuard immediately sends you an alert through your configured notification channels (email and text message).

DOBGuard triggers alerts for the following DOB NOW conditions:

• CRITICAL alert: Facade rated UNSAFE
• HIGH alert: Facade rated SWARMP (repair program required)
• HIGH alert: No Report Filed status with assessed financial penalties
• HIGH alert: New DOB NOW Safety Violation (elevator FTC, boiler, construction)
• MEDIUM alert: New DOB NOW permit filed for your property

This means you learn about DOB NOW compliance issues within one hour of them appearing in the public record — before penalties escalate, before a lender's inspector finds them, and before a tenant calls 311.

DOB NOW and Property Transactions

DOB NOW records are increasingly scrutinized during property acquisitions, refinancings, and title searches. Before closing on any NYC building, buyers and their counsel should pull the full DOB NOW record and verify:

• All active safety violations (dataset 855j-jady) — especially open FTC violations with accrued penalties
• Current FISP status (dataset xubg-57si) — any UNSAFE or SWARMP designation with open penalty balances
• All three FISP penalty fields: late_filing_amt, failure_to_file_amt, failure_to_correct_amt
• Active building permits (dataset rbx6-tga4) — any unapproved or expired permit work

An UNSAFE facade or an open elevator FTC with accrued penalties can represent significant undisclosed liability in a property transaction. These amounts appear directly in the DOB NOW public record and must be addressed before closing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is DOB NOW the same as BIS?

No. BIS (Building Information System) is the older NYC DOB platform, primarily containing historical records. DOB NOW is the current digital portal where new permits, safety violations, and FISP filings are processed. Both are publicly accessible, but they contain different — and often non-overlapping — records. Complete property monitoring requires both systems.

Do all NYC buildings need to file in DOB NOW?

Not all. DOB NOW Build is used for most new permit filings across all building types. DOB NOW Safety (FISP) is mandatory only for buildings six stories or taller. Elevator and boiler filings apply to any building with those devices regardless of height.

How quickly do DOB NOW violations appear in public records?

Most DOB NOW violations and status changes appear in NYC Open Data within 24–48 hours of being issued or updated in the DOB NOW system. DOBGuard checks every hour, so you are typically notified within 24–49 hours of a violation being issued.

What is a BIN number and why does it matter for DOB NOW?

A BIN (Building Identification Number) is a unique seven-digit identifier assigned to every building in New York City by the Department of Buildings. DOB NOW records — including safety violations and FISP filings — are keyed to BIN. Using a BIN for monitoring is more accurate than address matching because it eliminates ambiguity with corner buildings, multiple buildings on one lot, or address formatting variations.

Can I see DOB NOW records for a property I'm considering purchasing?

Yes. All DOB NOW records are public. Before purchasing any NYC building, you should check DOB NOW for open FISP filings, active safety violations, and pending penalty balances. An UNSAFE facade or an open elevator FTC with accrued penalties can represent significant undisclosed liability.

Related Resources

• FISP NYC: Facade Inspection Safety Program Guide
• NYC DOB FISP: Compliance, Violations & Monitoring
• NYC DOB NOW Inspections: Safety Violations Guide
• Free NYC Violation Lookup Tool

External Resources

• DOB NOW Online Portal
• NYC Open Data
• NYC Department of Buildings

Last updated: February 2026. This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed architect, engineer, or attorney for specific compliance situations.