AHJ Radar · Mason Mathews Facility Assurance, LLC
New York City, fiscal 2026: DOB violations rose from 39,901 to 143,725, most of them for a missing gas piping certification
The city's Fiscal 2026 Mayor's Management Report, published September 17, 2026, covers July 2025 to June 2026. The Department of Buildings issued 143,725 violations, against 39,901 the year before, and says roughly 40,000 of the increase were written for failure to submit the Local Law 152 gas piping inspection certification. FDNY's civilian inspectors wrote 49,216 violation orders, the fire alarm inspection queue reached 45 days, and civilian fire deaths rose to 82. The Local Law 97 year-one and elevator referral figures from the earlier reports stay on this page.
Local Law 97, compliance year 2024
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Covered | 19,963 properties, 29,031 buildings |
| Filed | 18,938 properties (95%); 1,025 did not file |
| Article 320 (emissions limits): filed | 10,437 of 11,036 properties |
| Met the 2024 limit | 9,951 (95% of filings) |
| Over the limit | 470: by less than 10%, 149; by 10 to 50%, 197; by more than 50%, 124. 149 requested penalty mitigation |
| Article 321 (prescriptive measures): filed | 8,501 of 8,927; 7,083 used the prescriptive pathway, of which 5,153 reported completing the measures and 1,930 (27%) requested penalty mitigation |
| Deadline | First-year filing extended to December 31, 2025 |
DOB's sentence: "the large majority – 95% - met their applicable 2024 emissions limits." No penalty totals are in the report; Article 321 compliance is not final while audits continue.
Elevators: immediately hazardous violations, FY25
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Multiple dwellings with immediately hazardous elevator violations | 773 |
| Corrected before referral to HPD was required | 594 |
| Referred to HPD | 176, of which 141 had no other operable elevator serving the units |
| Corrected by the owner after referral | 134; average 56 days from referral to correction |
| Corrected by HPD itself | 3, at a cost of $64,960 |
HPD's words: "Owners have generally been responsive and cooperative." The referral happens "when a building owner fails to restore elevator service as ordered by DOB, and after a compliance period expires."
Department of Buildings, fiscal 2025 to 2026
Fiscal 2026 Mayor's Management Report, Department of Buildings chapter. The fiscal year runs July 1 to June 30. Previous edition on this page: none; these indicators are new here.
| Indicator as printed | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| DOB violations issued | 39,901 | 143,725 |
| Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings violations issued | 52,891 | 60,422 |
| Violations admitted to or upheld at OATH (%) | 81.5% | 78.3% |
| Stop work orders issued | 6,639 | 7,882 |
| All inspections completed | 379,691 | 415,481 |
| All enforcement inspections completed | 189,281 | 233,988 |
| Enforcement inspections resulting in violations (%) | 13% | 13% |
| Priority A (emergency) complaints received | 19,869 | 21,471 |
| Average time to respond to Priority A complaints (days) | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Priority B (nonemergency) complaints received | 73,641 | 78,294 |
| Average time to respond to Priority B complaints (days) | 17.4 | 21.5 |
| Percent meeting time to first action, Failure to Maintain (40 days) | 39.6% | 83.0% |
| Percent meeting time to first action, Elevator, Defective/Not Working (40 days) | 70.6% | 75.2% |
| Average days between electrical inspection request and inspection | 12.8 | 12.6 |
| Average days between plumbing inspection request and inspection | 5.0 | 4.8 |
| Construction-related incidents with injury | 557 | 308 |
| Construction-related fatalities | 8 | 8 |
The report's own explanation of the violation count: "In Fiscal 2026, DOB violations issued increased from 39,901 in Fiscal 2025 to 143,725. The largest component of this increase is due to roughly 40,000 more violations being issued in Fiscal 2026 for failure to submit gas piping periodic inspection certification pursuant to Local Law 152 of 2016." On stop work orders: "a 19 percent increase from Fiscal 2025," which the report attributes to the Strategic Enforcement Division created by Local Law 74 of 2024, "which conducts proactive inspections." On inspection waits: response times "remained impacted by budgetary constraints and reduced staff capacity through Fiscal 2026"; 78 new inspectors graduated in June 2026 and are expected to improve response times in Fiscal 2027.
Local Law 152 requires a periodic inspection of a building's gas piping by a licensed master plumber or a qualified person under one, on a four-year cycle by community district, with a certification filed to DOB. The text and the current cycle dates are on DOB's gas piping inspections page; the deadlines are tracked on the New York record.
FDNY fire prevention, fiscal 2025 to 2026
Fiscal 2026 Mayor's Management Report, Fire Department chapter. Previous edition on this page: Fiscal 2025, when violation orders were 47,522, up 22% from 38,943 in Fiscal 2024.
| Indicator as printed | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completed inspections performed by civilian fire prevention personnel | 188,097 | 205,294 | 200,151 |
| Violation orders issued | 38,943 | 47,522 | 49,216 |
| Violation orders corrected | 31,314 | 39,903 | 41,345 |
| Summonses issued | 217 | 238 | 209 |
| Average time from inspection request until inspection, fire alarm inspections (days) | 25 | 35 | 45 |
| Average time from inspection request until inspection, rangehood inspections (days) | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| Completed risk-based inspections performed by uniformed personnel | 42,199 | 39,776 | 37,500 |
| Structural residential fires | 19,544 | 20,180 | 21,475 |
| Structural non-residential fires | 4,465 | 4,887 | 4,903 |
| Serious fires | 1,898 | 2,175 | 2,249 |
| Multiple alarm fires | 158 | 177 | 220 |
| Civilian fire fatalities | 74 | 76 | 82 |
FDNY's sentences: "In Fiscal 2026, completed inspections performed by civilian fire prevention personnel decreased more than two percent, while violation orders issued and corrected both increased four percent when compared to Fiscal 2025." On the 24% rise in multiple alarm fires, the report points to "the increasing age of the building stock and a lack of investment and upgrades to address the increasing demand on electrical circuits." On the drop in summonses, it says a reduction of 29 "by itself does not meaningfully demonstrate increased compliance or any material change in enforcement outcomes."
Natural gas alarms: January 1, 2027
DOB's release of October 13, 2026 restates the deadline: owners of covered residential buildings "must provide and install code-compliant natural gas alarms in every dwelling unit no later than January 1, 2027," citing Local Law 102 of 2025. The release gives no counts and no penalty figure; a limited number of free detectors is offered to small residential owners.
New York record and the NYC overlayNYC's 31-day cooling tower ruleCooling tower laws
What this means for a New York building
| Obligation | What the fiscal 2026 numbers add |
|---|---|
| Local Law 152 gas piping | A missed certification is now the single largest source of DOB violations in the city, by the department's own account. Have the licensed master plumber's inspection and the DOB filing for your community district's sub-cycle on the calendar; the plumber confirms the inspection and DOB confirms the filing |
| Natural gas alarms | Every dwelling unit in a covered residential building by January 1, 2027. Confirm coverage and the alarm specification with DOB and a licensed installer |
| Local Law 97 | Filing is the norm; the 5% that did not file in year one are the visible outliers. If the building is over its limit, the mitigation request has to be made, and the 2030 limits are the next cliff |
| Elevators | An immediately hazardous violation is tracked to HPD if it is not cured in the compliance period; a single-elevator building is the case the city escalates first. DOB met its 40-day first-action target on 75.2% of defective-elevator complaints |
| Fire prevention | Violation orders rose again, to 49,216, on slightly fewer inspections. The fire alarm inspection queue is now 45 days, up from 25 two years ago, so a new or modified alarm system needs the request filed early |
| Stop work orders | 7,882, up 19%, from a division that inspects without a complaint. A renovation in an occupied building is the inspection to expect |
Confirm filing dates, limits, cycles and compliance periods with DOB, HPD and FDNY; the local laws and rules control.
What is not on this page, and why
The Mayor's Management Report carries no indicator for facade (FISP) filings, boiler filings, elevator inspection counts, cooling towers or Local Law 97, so those are not updated here; HPD's next elevator referral report is due in December 2026 and the Local Law 97 figures stay at year one until DOB publishes compliance year 2025. DOB's monthly enforcement bulletins list individual cases by address and are not restated. Penalty dollar totals under Local Law 97 are not in the DOB report. Buildings are not named in any document on this page.
Get the free digest
AHJ Radar™ is a trademark of Mason Mathews Facility Assurance, LLC. Official sources read daily since September 2026; every entry names its source. Content and compilations © 2026 Mason Mathews Facility Assurance, LLC, for personal and internal use under the Terms of Use; no redistribution or resale.
Reference only. This page restates a published official document; it is not legal advice and not an assessment of any property. Confirm requirements with the official text linked above, your authority having jurisdiction and your own counsel. Mason Mathews Facility Assurance, LLC · all reference pages · how our monitor reads sources.