How to read NYC elevator and boiler penalties

Checked against the official pages listed below on 27 Oct 2026. Not legal advice.

DOB publishes penalty amounts for elevator and boiler filings in two places: its compliance pages and the rules in Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York. This page puts the amounts side by side and explains what each one is charged against.

Elevators: 1 RCNY §103-02

Amounts are per elevator. The rule has one set of penalties for owners of buildings with one or two single residential units, §103-02(h), and another for commercial buildings, mixed-use buildings and buildings with more than two residential units, §103-02(i).

Source: 1 RCNY §103-02(h) and (i); NYC DOB, Elevator Compliance. A late filing needs proof that the test was done in the cycle.
Initial report	One or two residential units	Other buildings
Cat 1 failure to file	$1,000	$3,000
Cat 1 late filing, per month	$50, up to $600 total	$150, up to $1,800 total
Cat 3 or Cat 5 failure to file	$1,000	$5,000
Cat 3 or Cat 5 late filing, per month	$50, up to $600 total	$250, up to $3,000 total
Periodic inspection failure to file	Not listed in §103-02(h)	$3,000
Periodic inspection late filing, per month	Not listed in §103-02(h)	$150, up to $1,800 total

Source: 1 RCNY §103-02(h)(3), (h)(4), (i)(3) and (i)(4). Failure to correct defects within 104 days of the inspection leads to an FTC violation.
Affirmation of correction	One or two residential units	Other buildings
Failure to file by the due date	$1,000	$3,000
Untimely filing, per month	$50, up to $600 total	$150, up to $1,800 total

The rule exempts the failure-to-file penalty on affirmations for defects found in the 2022 and 2023 test cycles if they were submitted by April 14, 2023 and April 14, 2024 respectively. §103-02(l) sets the filing fees by reference to §101-03 of the rules.

Boilers: 1 RCNY §103-01 and §103-05

Source: 1 RCNY §103-01(f) for low-pressure boilers; NYC DOB, Boiler Compliance.
Item	Amount
Late filing of an annual inspection report (after 14 days, by January 14 of the next year)	At least $50 per month, per boiler, up to $600 per boiler
Failure to file, including a report that is expired	At least $1,000 per boiler
Failure to file the affirmation of correction	$1,000 per boiler
High-pressure boilers	The same amounts, per boiler and per inspection type (internal and external)

DOB's civil penalty chart for older boiler violations lists penalties by issue date and inspection year. The chart shows $500 or $1,500 for the earliest inspection years and $1,000 per boiler violation for later ones. Use the chart for any violation issued before the current rule.

How to read an amount

Per device, per boiler: a building with three elevators that missed a Cat 1 filing is charged for three devices.
Per cycle: each inspection year is its own filing, so old unpaid violations are separate from the current one.
Late fees stop at a cap. They accrue monthly from the day after the deadline until the report is filed, up to the maximum. After the late window the filing is treated as failed and the failure-to-file penalty applies.
A penalty is not an inspection result. It is charged for paperwork DOB did not receive on time.
Waivers: §103-02(k) and §103-01 list the grounds. A waiver removes the obligation to pay and does not by itself dismiss the violation. §103-01 also has a one-time waiver for some small businesses whose boiler serves only their own space.
Challenges: both rules allow a written challenge within 30 days of service of the violation, with proof of a timely and complete inspection and filing.

Inspection Lookup shows violations and their status, not amounts owed. DOB says DOB NOW: Safety calculates the penalty due for a violation, so use it for a payoff figure. The steps are in the failure-to-file guide and the boiler filing guide.

Sources

Related guides

Browse violations by borough

General information from public NYC sources, current as of 27 Oct 2026. Rules and amounts change, so confirm with DOB before you act. Not affiliated with NYC DOB.