Violation Removal

ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL BOARD (ECB) VIOLATION An ECB violation is a notice that a property does not comply with a provision of the NYC Building Code and/or NYC Zoning Resolution. ECB violations are resolved at the Environmental Control Board, an administrative law court, where a civil penalty may be imposed although the violations are entered against the property in the Department of Buildings Information System (BIS).

Resolving an ECB violation imposes two obligations: (a) to pay a civil penalty and correct the violating condition, and (b) to file a Certificate of Correction with the Department of Buildings at its main office either by mail or in person. To certify correction, file a Certificate of Correction form with accompanying proof that the condition has been corrected. If the Department accepts the proof, the property’s record in BIS will show that the violation was corrected and certificate accepted. If a violation is dismissed at ECB, it will continue to appear as “open” in BIS until acceptable proof is submitted that the violating condition has been corrected even if the penalty imposed at ECB has been paid. Check Resolving Department of Buildings Violations for further information.

ECB Penalty Schedule

The most common type of violation issued by the Department of Buildings is called an ECB Notice of Violation because it can result in a hearing at the Environmental Control Board (ECB), an administrative court. The ECB Notice of Violation contains a notice that a property does not comply with applicable provisions of law. View the complete ECB Penalty Schedule and penalty information in pdf or Excel.

Definitions List for ECB Penalty Schedule Penalty:

The civil penalty associated with a particular ECB violation. If the violation can be “cured” and the Administrative Enforcement Unit at the DOB accepts the correction within 35 days of the service of the violation, no appearance in ECB court is necessary and no penalty is imposed.

 Mitigated Penalty:

This is the reduced penalty (generally, one-half) imposed for a first-offense violation for which satisfactory evidence of compliance has been submitted and approved by the first scheduled hearing date. In some second-offense cases a mitigation penalty also may be available.

Default Penalty: 

This is the penalty imposed by ECB for the failure to appear for a first offense violation. 2nd Offense Penalty: This is the board-approved penalty imposed for a second or multiple-offense violation for the same condition.

 2nd Offense Maximum Default Penalty:

This is the penalty imposed by ECB for the failure to appear for a second or multiple offense violation. *Information obtained from Dept. of Buildings