DOB Begins Issuing Parking Structure Inspection Violations

Starting in December, penalties for noncompliance will increase significantly.

Owners who didn’t submit initial parking structure inspection reports for the cycle ending Dec. 31, 2023, are starting to receive violations. Under Local Law 126 of 2021, owners are required to hire a licensed professional engineer to inspect parking structures every six years and file a compliance report. These measures aim to ensure public safety by preventing structural failures and encouraging routine maintenance.

Local Law 126 of 2021 established a series of inspection windows for parking structures based on community districts. We’ll go over the filing cycles and other key aspects of the law. In addition, we’ll highlight recently passed legislation that will change Local Law 126’s inspection frequency. We’ll also explain these recently issued violations and the process to correct them.

Local Law 126 Basics

Local Law 126 requires owners of parking structures in NYC to hire a professional engineer registered with DOB as a Qualified Parking Structure Inspector (QPSI) to assess the condition of their parking structures every six years and file a compliance report with DOB, similar to the Facade Inspection and Safety Program (Local Law 11 of 1998). Parking structures that meet inspection requirements include buildings, or portions of a building, used for parking or storing motor vehicles, including space inside or underneath buildings; and open parking garages and enclosed parking garages as defined in the NYC Building Code.

DOB maintains an active list of QPSIs at www.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/pdf/active_QPSI_list.pdf.

Condition assessment. This is the name of the assessment the QPSI files with DOB at least once every six years. As part of the condition assessment, in addition to a summary of findings and recommendations, the QPSI will classify every significant condition as one of the following:

• Safe. No repair work is needed, and the garage is safe until the next inspection cycle.
• Safe with Repairs and/or Engineering Monitoring (SREM). Minor damage to the garage framing elements are found, and the QPSI will provide a timeline to address the issues.
• Unsafe. Severe damage to the garage framing elements poses a hazard to people or property.

Filing windows. The filing dates are determined by community district and grouped into subcycles. The inspection windows for parking structures are the following:

• Subcycle A — Manhattan Community Districts 1 through 7 (Closed but still accepting reports): Jan. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2023
• Subcycle B — Manhattan Community Districts 8 to 12 and Brooklyn Community Districts (Current Window): Jan. 1, 2024 – Dec. 31, 2025
• Subcycle C — Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island Community Districts: Jan. 1, 2026 – Dec. 31, 2027

To access a map of parking structures and the applicable filing cycles, you can visit https://www.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/html/parking-structure-insp-map.html

Annual observation. In addition to filing the condition assessments based on subcycle filing windows, DOB amended rules to require that all parking structures have annual observations performed in the years between submissions. The annual observation must be based on the checklist prepared by the QPSI and included in the most recent compliance report accepted by DOB. The annual observation or checklist needs to be conducted by a QPSI.

What You Need to Know About Violations

As a result of Local Law 70 of 2024, starting in December 2024, there will be new penalties introduced and the penalties for noncompliance will increase.

• Late Filing. Increased from $1,000/month to $2,500/month.
• Failure to File. Remains at $5,000/year, now specifically for immediately hazardous conditions.
• Failure to Correct Unsafe Conditions. Increased to $2,500 for the first violation and $5,000 for the second. For exterior walls, the penalty is now $5,000 for the first violation and $7,500 for the second.
• Failure to Correct SREM Conditions: Penalty increased from $2,000 to $5,000.

As you can see, violations for noncompliance or failure to file is a $5,000 annual penalty. And this penalty is separate from the monthly late filing fees of $2,500. According to a recent DOB service notice, an acceptable parking structure report must be filed before payment for violations will be accepted. Penalties will continue to increase until a submitted report is accepted.

To search for violations and make payments, you’ll need a NYC.ID to log in to DOB NOW at www.nyc.gov/dobnow. And if you need to create a NYC.ID account, you can visit www.nyc.gov/dobnowtips. Select “DOB NOW: Safety” and then the “Violations” portal.

Within the portal, from the dashboard you’ll select “+Violations Payments” and then “Parking Structures.” From here, you can search by Violation Number, Reference ID Number (Parking Structure ID Number), Address, or BIN. Select the violation, click +Add and then Save the application. Only one violation can be paid per application.

Increased Inspection Frequency

The City Council passed legislation in May of this year which became Local Law 71 of 2024. As part of the efforts to improve the safety of parking garages, the law increases the frequency of parking structure inspections from a six-year inspection cycle, as mandated by Local Law 126 of 2021, to a four-year inspection cycle. Specifically, the inspection frequency and filing of the condition assessment with DOB increases from every six years to every four years after Subcycle C concludes in 2027.

The law also requires that follow-up assessments be conducted within two years after a parking structure is deemed safe with repair or monitoring. The DOB recently proposed rules to incorporate the immediate changes made my Local Law 71. The proposed rules clarify that a SREM condition assessment is required no earlier than 18 months and no later than two years after the initial filing date. In addition, it adds not filing the follow-up SREM compliance reports as grounds for an assessment of a civil penalty for late filing and failure to file.