How to Check NYC DOB Complaints and Violations by Address

Someone checks a property's Department of Buildings record, sees no open violations, and assumes the building is clean. What they actually checked was one system, which covers violations but not the complaint that was filed two weeks ago and hasn't been inspected yet. That complaint isn't a violation, and it may never become one, but missing it entirely isn't the same as confirming there's nothing there. Checking records properly means knowing which official system actually holds what you're looking for, not just checking the first one you find.

New York City's Department of Buildings identifies properties primarily by address, by Borough, Block, and Lot (BBL), and by a unique Building Identification Number (BIN) assigned to each building. The address is usually enough to start, but if a lot has more than one building on it, each building typically has its own BIN, and searching by address alone can sometimes return more than one result. Having the BIN on hand, if you already know it, narrows the search to exactly one building.

DOB's Find Building Data page is the Department's own starting point for locating property records, and it links out to the specific tools described below. If an address search returns more than one building, confirm you've selected the correct one by cross-checking the BIN or the specific unit or building designation before relying on what you find.

Complaints are held in the Building Information System (BIS), which DOB's own site describes as covering "recorded complaints, violations, actions, applications, and inspections," with no account or signup required. According to DOB NOW's own public FAQ, complaints generated from 311 calls specifically live in BIS, not in the newer DOB NOW Public Portal, so BIS is the system to check first for complaint history on a property.

Violations can show up in more than one place depending on when they were issued. BIS covers violations alongside complaints, and the DOB NOW Public Portal separately lets anyone search by address, Borough-Block-Lot, or BIN without an account, and shows civil penalties owed, certificates of occupancy, and compliance violations tied to filings made through DOB NOW. Because DOB NOW is a newer system that the Department has described as intended to eventually replace BIS, older violations are more likely to appear in BIS, and newer ones in DOB NOW, which is part of why checking only one system can miss something.

A complaint and a violation describe different things, and neither implies the other. For the full explanation of how one can lead to the other, and why an open complaint doesn't mean a violation exists, see our separate guide to NYC DOB complaints versus violations. What matters here is practical: when you search a property, note which list, complaints or violations, each result actually came from, rather than treating every result the same way.

Each record typically shows a date it was filed or issued and a current status. Exactly which status values and date fields appear can differ between BIS and DOB NOW, and the precise meaning of a given status is defined by DOB, not by this guide. If a status isn't clearly self-explanatory, DOB's own glossary and FAQ resources, linked from the Find Building Data page, are the authoritative place to confirm what it means rather than guessing from the label alone.

An open complaint with no violation attached may simply mean an inspection hasn't happened yet, or happened and found nothing. An open violation is different: it generally requires a specific correction and resolution process, which depends on the type of violation involved. If you find an actual open violation on a property, see our guide to resolving NYC DOB violations for what the general resolution process looks like.

This guide describes which official systems to use and what each one is documented to cover, based on DOB's own published descriptions. The exact on-screen navigation within BIS or the DOB NOW Public Portal can change over time, and this guide doesn't attempt to replicate every current screen or button. Treat the official tools themselves, not this summary, as the authoritative source for what a property's record actually shows at the moment you check it.

• Searching an informal or marketing address instead of the official address DOB has on file
• Assuming a single search result is the only building on the lot, when a BIN mismatch can mean another building exists at a related address
• Checking only BIS or only DOB NOW, rather than both, and missing records that live in the other
• Treating an open complaint as confirmation of a violation, or assuming no violation means no complaint has ever been filed
• Not confirming the correct borough, since similarly named streets exist across different boroughs

BIS and DOB NOW cover overlapping but not identical periods and record types, and DOB's own guidance acknowledges DOB NOW is intended to eventually succeed BIS rather than fully replace it today. NYC Open Data also separately publishes the underlying DOB Complaints Received and DOB Violations datasets, which can be useful for a bulk or exported view but require filtering to a specific property yourself. Checking more than one of these sources is a reasonable precaution, not a sign that any single one is unreliable.

ConstruDo's own NYC DOB alerts feature surfaces matching complaint and violation activity for eligible projects as a supplemental convenience. It does not replace checking a property's official record directly, and it isn't a guarantee of catching every complaint or violation or of immediate notification. For anything that matters to a real decision, the official systems described above are the authoritative source.

• NYC DOB: Find Building Data
• NYC DOB: Building Information System (BIS)
• NYC DOB: DOB NOW Public Portal
• NYC DOB: DOB NOW Public Portal FAQs
• NYC DOB: Guide to BIS, DOB NOW & eFiling
• NYC Open Data: DOB Complaints Received
• NYC Open Data: DOB Violations