Comptroller Stringer Audit Uncovers DOB Delays in Addressing Building Safety Violations

(New York, NY) – Today, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released an audit that uncovered significant breakdowns in the New York City Department of Buildings’ (DOB’s) response and follow-up to complaints of hazardous conditions and other building violations.

DOB’s mission is to promote the safety of all people who build, work, and live in the city through regulation of over one million buildings and construction sites across the City. DOB enforces the City’s Construction Codes, Zoning Resolution, and the New York State Multiple Dwelling Laws and promotes worker and public safety through its review and approval of building plans, permitting and licensing functions, and inspections.

Comptroller Stringer’s audit found that DOB was late with nearly one-fifth of initial inspection attempts for more than 85,000 complaints the agency received in Fiscal Year 2019.  Further, after DOB issued violations for “immediately hazardous” conditions, it failed to attempt 5,401—more than half—of the legally required re-inspections within the 60-day statutory deadline or, in some cases, at all.  The delays and performance failures at DOB could allow unsafe building conditions to remain uncorrected and potentially compromise New Yorkers’ safety.

Comptroller Stringer outlined recommendations for DOB to ensure the agency responds to and properly addresses potential and known violations in a timely manner

“No one  should have to live or work in fear of debris or unstable scaffolding crashing down on them in a home, place of work, or at any other site in this city,” said New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer.  “Our audit of DOB’s internal procedures uncovered multiple failures that pose a direct risk to public safety. I call on DOB to adopt the recommendations laid out in this report promptly to ensure violations are addressed in a timely manner. DOB has a responsibility to protect the public – and it absolutely must live up to that promise.”

Comptroller Stringer’s audit of DOB’s handling of complaints in Fiscal Year 2019 revealed the following findings:

• DOB’s initial inspection attempts for 16.9 percent of priority A complaints, which DOB deems hazardous, 17.7 percent of priority B complaints, and 30.3 percent of priority C complaints—16,705 complaints altogether—were late.

• A significant percentage of the required second attempts at inspections were also untimely, including for 24.9 percent of the priority A complaints — the most serious category.

• After DOB issued Class 1 violations for “immediately hazardous” conditions, it failed to attempt 3,582 (56 percent) of the 6,381 legally mandated initial “hazardous re-inspections” either timely or, in some cases, at all.

• DOB did not attempt 1,819 (53 percent) of the required follow-up “hazardous re-inspections” within 60 days of the previous attempt, as City law also requires.

• DOB received the required certificates of correction, on average, 71 days after it served Class 1 violations for “immediately hazardous” conditions. City law requires the responsible parties to correct those violations and submit the certificates of correction to DOB “forthwith.” However, DOB waits up to 80 days before it assesses a civil penalty for a respondent’s failure to submit an acceptable certificate of correction in such cases.

• DOB received the required certificates of correction for 51 percent of the Class 2 violations and 43 percent of the Class 3 violations late—more than 40 days after serving the violations.

• Of the 9,895 certificates of correction that were either dropped off or submitted by mail between July 1, 2018 and October 18, 2019, DOB failed to review 5,659 (57 percent) of them within DOB’s internal goal of 21 days.

• DOB did not ensure that it performed random re-inspections of violating conditions timely, if at all. Specifically, DOB did not conduct timely re-inspections—within 90 days—for 73 percent of the certificates of correction it randomly selected for audit, including one that went uninspected for 639 days.

In response to these alarming findings, Comptroller Stringer recommended actions to DOB to better protect the public by attempting to inspect and re-inspect  all required locations within applicable timeframes and following-up promptly to ensure that violations are corrected.

• DOB should identify areas where it can make improvements to ensure that it inspects or attempts to inspect the conditions reported in all complaints on time.

• DOB should ensure that it re-inspects hazardous violations within 60 days and every 60 days thereafter until the violation has been found on inspection to be corrected or has been certified as corrected by the responsible party.

• DOB should consider re-negotiating with City officials and stakeholders to modify the Administrative Code to establish a specific timeframe for certifying the correction of Class 1 violations.

• DOB should work with the City to develop legislation that would authorize and require DOB to issue violations and fines for Class 2 and Class 3 violations that are not properly certified as corrected within the required timeframe.

• DOB should create and disseminate written procedures detailing the timeframe requirements for personnel to review certificates of correction.

• DOB management should ensure that audit re-inspections are performed on time and in accordance with all applicable procedures.

To read Comptroller Stringer’s report on DOB’s response times to complaints and violations, click here.

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