From December 28, 2020 through January 5, 2021, DOB NOW: Safety had unexpected downtime. This impacted a few end-of-year filings for requirements like elevator inspections, boiler inspections, and facade submissions.
As a result, the DOB announced a grace period through January 15, 2021 for any filings that were supposed to be submitted during that time. If you were unable to submit a required filing and may face penalties or fines as a result, here’s what you should do. Please note that all refund requests noted below should be made using the RF1: Refund Request Application Form – fill it out and send it to the appropriate agency email address as noted.
Boiler Filings
Boiler compliance filings must be made within 45 days from the inspection date. If your 45-day deadline was within the downtime period, submit your filing before 1/15/21 and pay the monthly late fee in DOB NOW. Afterwards, you can submit a refund request to boilrefunds@buildings.nyc.gov.
If your filing deadline was set to expire completely (if it’s a late filing 12 months from the date of inspection), it is considered expired and can no longer be submitted in DOB NOW. A violation will be issued for failure to file as part of the DOB’s typical annual process. That said, once the violation is issued, submit a Civil Penalty Waiver Request in DOB NOW: Safety including “the report that shows the inspection date was exactly one year prior to a date within the system outage period”, along with any supporting documents.
If you were filing an Affirmation of Correction due during the outage (180-day deadline from the initial inspection date), submit the AOC in DOB NOW: Safety by January 15, 2021 and pay the monthly late fee(s). Then submit a refund request to boilrefunds@buildings.nyc.gov.
Elevator Cat 1 and Cat 5 Filings
For the 2020 cycle, if the filing deadline (60 days from the inspection date) was during the downtime, submit the inspection/test report in DOB NOW: Safety by January 15, 2021 and pay the monthly late fee. Afterwards, submit a refund request to elevrefunds@buildings.nyc.gov.
For reporting cycle 2019 or 2020, if the report filing deadline was set to expire completely during the downtime (late filing 12 months from the date of inspection), it is considered expired and can no longer be filed in DOB NOW Safety. A violation will be issued for failure to file as part of the DOB’s typical annual process. That said, once the violation is issued, submit a Civil Penalty Waiver Request in DOB NOW: Safety including “the report that shows the inspection date was exactly one year prior to a date within the system outage period”, along with any supporting documents.
If you were filing an Affirmation of Correction due during the outage (180-day deadline from the initial inspection date), submit the AOC in DOB NOW: Safety by January 15, 2021 and pay the monthly late fee(s). Afterwards, submit a refund request to elevrefunds@buildings.nyc.gov.
Facade Filings
For unsafe reports filed during the current cycle, if the 90-day deadline (from the Effective Filing Date of the unsafe TR6) or extension end date (for extensions) of when the amended TR6 or FISP 1 or FISP 2 extension report was due fell during the downtime period, submit the report in DOB NOW: Safety before 1/15/21. Afterwards, submit the Facade Waiver of Civil Penalties form to facades@buildings.nyc.gov.
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