Key takeaways
- The Department updated the fees for parking structure compliance reports and added fees to several requests in DOB NOW: Safety, effective February 2, 2026.
- The increases are not small. Under the Department's fee rules, a subsequent filing went from $85 to $485, and an amended filing from $85 to $940.
- Requests that previously carried no payment in the system now do, including a verification request and a civil penalty waiver request, the latter on both parking structures and facades.
- The new amounts apply to filings created on or after February 2, 2026 and to filings sitting in pre-filing status with a fee still due. A pre-filing that was already paid is not touched.
In this article
Fee changes rarely make anyone's reading list, which is why they are usually discovered by an accounts department three months later. This one is worth five minutes, because two of the increases are an order of magnitude.
What the Department published
The notice is dated January 28, 2026 and took effect on February 2: Fee Updates for Parking Structure Compliance Reports and Facade Inspection Reports in DOB NOW: Safety. The fees themselves are set under 1 RCNY §101-03, §103-04 and §103-13.
On timing, the Department is precise: "Updated fees will apply to all new filings created in DOB NOW: Safety on or after February 2, 2026." They also reach filings already in pre-filing status where a fee is still due. And then the sentence that saved some owners money: "Fee updates will not apply to filings in Pre filing status that have already been paid."
What went up
For parking structure compliance reports, under its fee rules, the Department raised the initial filing from $305 to $485 and the subsequent filing from $85 to $485, so the two now cost the same. An amended filing went from $85 to $940, and a repair extension request from $65 to $95.
The initial filing rose by about half. The subsequent filing rose nearly sixfold, and the amended filing by a factor of eleven. For an owner with a handful of garages on a cycle, that is a budget line that stopped being a rounding error.
What now carries a fee at all
These were not increases but additions — a payment is now required in DOB NOW where previously none was taken. Under its fee rules, the Department now charges $695 for a partial protection removal request on parking structures, $685 for a verification request, and $140 for a civil penalty waiver request, on parking structures and on facades alike.
The civil penalty waiver is the one to notice. Asking the Department to waive a penalty now costs money up front, which makes the decision to ask a calculation rather than a reflex.
The practical reading
Three things follow for anyone managing buildings on the parking structure or facade cycles.
An amended filing is now expensive. At the Department's current rate it costs roughly double an initial filing, which is a strong argument for getting the first submission right rather than planning to correct it.
Budget the cycle, not the filing. A garage does not have one fee; it has an initial filing, subsequent filings and, often enough, an amendment and an extension request.
A waiver request is a decision. With a fee attached, it is worth asking whether the request has a real basis before filing it.
The inspectors who sign those reports are themselves changing status, in from approval to annual registration. On reducing a penalty rather than paying it, see the revised L2 form.
Frequently asked questions
Do the new fees apply to a filing I started before February?
They apply to filings created on or after February 2, 2026, and to filings in pre-filing status with a fee still due. A pre-filing that was already paid keeps its old amount.
Why did the subsequent filing rise so much more than the initial one?
The notice states the amounts without explaining them. What it changes in practice is that subsequent and initial filings now cost the same, so there is no longer a cheap follow-up.
Does the facade cycle have the same increases?
The notice lists the increases for parking structure filings and adds a civil penalty waiver request fee for facades. Check the Department's current fee schedule for a facade filing itself.
Is the civil penalty waiver fee refundable if the waiver is granted?
The notice does not say. Treat the fee as the cost of making the request.
Where can I read the notice?
It is on the Department's service updates page, and the link is in the first section of this article.
Conclusion
Nothing here changes what has to be inspected or when. It changes what the paperwork costs, in two places by a factor that is easy to miss until the invoice arrives. If you hold garages, put the new numbers into the cycle budget now, and treat an amended filing as something to avoid rather than something to plan on.
Written by the engineers and laboratory technicians of Metric Consulting and Inspection, a Class 1 special inspection agency with a DOB-licensed concrete testing laboratory in Hicksville, New York, serving NYC construction since 2003.