Skip to content
English
Contact us
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Local Law 33: Resolving Energy Grading Violations

Steps for Paying or Challenging Violations, Fees, and Compliance under Local Law 33

LL33: Energy Grading Violations

The status of a violation can be found online by using the Department’s Building Information System (BIS) at any time. To follow up by email, please send inquiries to sustainability@buildings.nyc.gov with the BBL, BIN, address and violation number for the building.

 

Resolving Violations

To resolve an EGRADE violation, pay the penalty for failure to timely display the energy efficiency score and energy efficiency grade as per Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York §103-06 (l).

To pay a penalty, follow the instructions included in the DOB NOW: Safety Local Law 33 of 2018 guide as follows:

 

DOB NOW: Safety

LOCAL LAW 33 OF 2018

LOCAL LAW 33 OVERVIEW

This guide will provide step-by-step instructions on how to pay or challenge a Local Law 33 violation.

  • The first part of the guide, beginning on page 5, will walk you through the payment process for Local Law 33 violations.
  • The second part of the guide, beginning on page 18, will walk you through the process to challenge a Local Law 33 violation.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 OVERVIEW

  • Local Law 33 of 2018 requires buildings on the Covered Building List to post their Energy Grade and Score conspicuously near each public entrance.

  • DOB will issue violations to owners who fail to post the Energy Grade Label by October 31.

  • Owners who receive these violations can:

    • Pay the penalty

    • Submit a challenge to the violation within 30 days of the postmark on the violation.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

 

LOCAL LAW 33

VIOLATION PAYMENT PROCESS

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • Hover over DOB NOW: Safety and select Violations.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • Energy Grade Violation Payments may be seen in the Energy Grade Violations tab.

    • Click + Energy Grade Violations Payment to make a payment.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • In the General Information tab, search for the violation by:

    • Violation Number; or
    • Address; or
    • BIN; or
    • Borough, Block and Lot
  • Enter your search criteria and click Search.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • A pop-up window will appear with the search results. Click the radio button next to the violation you are paying and then click Add.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • The Violation Information and the Location will auto populate in the tab.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • Either the Owner or an Owner’s Representative can be the Respondent.

  • The Respondent information will be auto populated based on the login of the user.

  • Use the drop-down option to select your role. If you are an Owner’s Representative, you must enter your Relationship to the Owner.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • A Secondary Contact may be added if desired.

  • You must save the Transaction before moving to the next tab. A pop-up Notification will appear to remind you of the process.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • The Respondent must click the checkbox on the Statements and Signature tab to Attest.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • Click Proceed to Pay.

  • A pop-up will appear with payment details.

    Click Yes to continue.

  • You will be brought to the CityPay site.

  • The payment amount is $1,250 and may be paid by credit card or by eCheck.

  • There is a 2% ($25) processing fee for credit card payments.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • Once payment is complete, you will receive an electronic receipt that can be printed for your records.
  • A pop-up will appear confirming your payment.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 PAYMENT PROCESS

  • Payments made by credit card will be processed immediately and the Violation Payment Status will be updated to Violation Dismissed.

  • Payments made by eCheck will take up to 10 days to be processed. Once the eCheck has been processed, the Violation Payment Status will be updated to Violation Dismissed.

 

LOCAL LAW 33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York Section 103-06:

(m) Challenge to violations.

  1. An owner may challenge a violation for failure to post issued pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (l) of this section. Proof in support of such challenge may include, but not be limited to, photographic proof of timely posting of the energy efficiency grade and the energy efficiency score, as directed in section 28-309.12.3 of the Administrative Code.

  2. Such challenge must be made in writing to the Department within thirty (30) days from the postmark date of the violation served by the Department.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

  • Select the Energy Grade Violation Challenge Requests tab to view existing Challenges.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

  • To start a new challenge, click + Energy Grade Violation Challenge .
  • You will be brought directly into the Challenge Request. First, search for your violation by Violation Number, Address, BIN, or BBL.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

  • Search results will appear in a pop-up window. Select the appropriate violation using the radio button. Another pop-up will appear reminding you of timing requirements. Click OK. Then click +Add.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS


  • In the Violation Challenge Information section, click the drop-down to select your Challenge Reason.
    • Label Printing Issue
    • Property Exempt
    • Label Temporarily Removed
    • Label Posted (Violation Incorrect)

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

  • Location Information will be auto-filled from the details of the Violation.
  • The user who started the process will be automatically added to the Respondent section. The Respondent must be either the Owner or the Owner’s Representative.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

  • Select the correct option in Owner Type drop-down. If Owner’s Representative is selected, the Relationship to Owner must be filled out.
  • A Secondary Contact may be added if desired.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

  • In the Documents tab, the system will show the required documents for the Challenge Reason selected.

Click on +Add Document to see what can be uploaded.

  • Click on the Document Type drop-down menu to see what documents are required. Give the document a name and navigate to the document on your computer in order to upload it.
  • More than one document may be uploaded for each Document Type.
Challenge Reason Documents
Label Printing Issue  
Property Exempt  
Label Temporarily Removed  
Label Posted (Violation Incorrect)  
  • Proof of Technical Issue (Required)
  • Other Supporting Documentation (Optional)
  • DOB Confirmation of Exemption (1 of 2 Required)
  • DOF Confirmation of Exemption (1 of 2 Required)
  • Other Supporting Documentation (Optional)
  • Photos – Posted Label (Required)
  • Reason for Removal (Required)
  • Other Supporting Documentation (Optional)
  • Photos – Posted Label (Required)
  • Description of Entrance(s) Location (Required)
  • Other Supporting Documentation (Optional)

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

  • The Respondent must attest to their Challenge in the Statements and Signature tab.
  • The Challenge can now be Submitted.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

  • Click Submit to submit your challenge.
  • If there is missing information, you will be notified via a pop-up message.
    • You will also see a red exclamation point on the tab(s) where action is needed.
    • Make your changes and then press Submit again.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

  • You will receive an email with the result of your LL33 Challenge.
  • You can also see the result of your Challenge on the Energy Grade Violation Challenge Requests dashboard in the Request Status column.

 

DOB NOW: Safety – LL33 CHALLENGE PROCESS

  • The violation will be dismissed in BIS if your challenge request is accepted.

Please note:

  • payments can be made by echeck or credit card
  • credit card payments include a 2% non- refundable service charge
  • if you need to create an eFiling account, visit nyc.gov/dobnowtips
  • penalty is $1,250 per violation.

 

Challenges

If you believe that you received a violation in error, you may challenge it. The challenge request form must be submitted to the Department within 30 days of the Notice of Violation postmark.

The challenge request form is accessible in the DOB NOW portal. You will need to have previously created an account in eFiling to log into DOB NOW.

To challenge an EGRADE violation, follow the instructions included in the DOB NOW: Safety - Local Law 33 of 2018 guide.

Per Title 1 of the Rules of the City of New York §103-06 (m), you may challenge the EGRADE violation. The challenge request may include, but is not necessarily limited to one of the following:

  1. For requests related to the label printing issues, provide correspondence related to the issue, screenshot of outage, and email sent to the Department of Buildings within 30 days of Oct 31st to notify the Department of the issue.
  2. For properties exempt from benchmarking requirements, submit an email from the NYC Department of Finance or Department of Buildings with the confirmation of exemption;
  3. If the label was temporarily removed, provide photographic proof of display and the reason for removal;
  4. If the label was posted (Violation incorrect), provide photographic proof of the display and description of the entrance(s) location.

 

Fees

The penalty is a DOB violation and a fine of $1,250.

 

Contact for Questions

Questions pertaining to your Building Energy Efficiency Rating can be addressed by the NYC Sustainability Help Center, Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Email Help@NYCsustainability.org or call (212) 566-5584.