After a stretch without any issuances, AEUHAZ violations are back with a vengeance. In 2026, the Department of Buildings resumed issuing them, this time in regular batches. We first wrote about this after spotting this change, and tracking it throughout the year.

The good news? There’s now a built-in grace period. Every new AEUHAZ starts with a $0 penalty and a 30-day window to fix the underlying Class 1 before a $5,000 civil penalty kicks in.

Here’s how these violations get issued, why they land on the building even when someone else caused the problem, and the two steps that keep your properties from paying:

It Always Starts With A Class 1

Every AEUHAZ traces back to a Class 1 DOB-OATH (ECB) violation. Class 1 is the most serious classification DOB issues: conditions here are considered immediately hazardous.

Resolving a Class 1 takes two separate things:

• A Certificate of Correction, filed online with the DOB and accepted, showing the condition has been fixed
• The OATH hearing and fine, handled by the violation’s named respondent (or a building representative, if owners choose to act here)

Class 1 violations typically aren’t offered a cure date, so the hearing and fine usually can’t be skipped. But the hearing only covers half the picture- without an accepted Certificate of Correction, the violation is still on track to become an AEUHAZ.

Why The Building Always Pays (In A Way)

Like other OATH violations, DOB-ECB violations are issued to a named respondent. That could be the owner or managing agent, but it could just as easily be a commercial tenant, a residential tenant, a contractor or a vendor . The respondent is responsible for the hearing and the OATH fine.

An AEUHAZ works differently . It isn’t tied to the original respondent – it’s issued directly to the building.

Say a first-floor retailer gets a Class 1 violation and never resolves it. The retailer may have handled (or ignored) the hearing, but if no Certificate of Correction is accepted, the AEUHAZ and its $5,000 penalty land on the building. That’s why Class 1 violations deserve attention no matter whose name is on them.

What’s Changed

	Before	Now (2026)
When AEUHAZ Was Issued	Individually and automatically, following violations	Batch drops as DOB catches up to newer Class 1 issuances
Civil penalty	$1,500 later raised to $3,000	$5,000
Grace period	None	30 days at $0 before the $5,000 penalty hits

As a reminder, the AEUHAZ penalty is in addition to any fine assessed at the OATH hearing.

The 30-day window is the biggest change. A new AEUHAZ is issued with a $0 penalty . If a Certificate of Correction is filed and accepted within 30 days after the issue date, the building avoids the $5,000 fine. If not, the penalty updates to $5,000.

One caveat – the DOB previously had language describing the above penalty delay on their website. That language is gone now. That said, the data still very much shows this delay in practice. If the city changes their process, we’ll let your team know ASAP.

Avoiding The Penalty

An AEUHAZ is issued when there’s no accepted Certificate of Correction on a Class 1 violation. That covers two situations, and the result is the same either way: a certificate was never filed, or one was filed but not accepted. Citywide, “never filed” is typically more common, especially if the Class 1 belongs to a tenant or contractor.

1. Ensure fixes are done, and file a Certificate of Correction as soon as a Class 1 is issued. Don’t wait for the hearing, and don’t assume the respondent is handling it. An accepted certificate keeps the violation from turning into an AEUHAZ in the first place.

2. If an AEUHAZ is issued, file ASAP within the 30-day window. File as early as possible – the DOB can take up to two weeks (and possibly more) to review CoCs. 30 days is the magic number for penalty prevention AND challenges.

Stay Ahead With SiteCompli

The teams that avoid AEUHAZ penalties are the ones that see Class 1 violations the moment they’re issued, regardless of whose name is on them, and track each one until a Certificate of Correction is accepted.

Here’s how SiteCompli helps:

• Alerting your team to Class 1 violations when they’re issued, and tracking compliance status on the DOB side
• Sending correction reminders for open Class 1 violations
• Surfacing metrics on Class 1 violations, including how many remain open and when they were issued
• On-demand data surfacing for both DOB-ECB violations and DOB violations
• For Managed Services clients, coordinating with your team to ensure corrections are submitted ASAP

Want help building a process for Class 1 violations across your portfolio? Reach out to our team at sales@sitecompli.com.