Short answer: fixing the condition is only half of it. New York City requires you to certify the correction, within a period the order sets, and failing to certify is a separate violation carrying a minimum penalty of $2,500. For a signage condition, the sign is almost always the cheap part. The paperwork clock is the expensive part.
This is a plain reading of the Administrative Code. It is not legal advice, and your citation is the document that governs your case.
The three classes
Section 28-201.2, Classification of violations, hands classification to the department by rule:
"The commissioner shall promulgate rules classifying all violations of this code ... as immediately hazardous violations, major violations or lesser violations unless the classification of such violations is specifically directed by this code. Such classification shall be based on the effect of the violation on life, health, safety or the public interest or the necessity for economic disincentive."
Your notice of violation states its class. We are not going to tell you what class a missing sign is, because the code sends that question to rules that are not the code, and guessing at it in public would be worthless to you.
What each class costs
Section 28-202.1, Civil penalties, sets the ranges:
- Immediately hazardous: "not less than $2,500 nor more than $25,000 ... may be imposed for each violation", plus a separate additional penalty of "not more than $1,000 for each day that the violation is not corrected."
- Major: "not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 ... for each violation", plus "not more than $250 for each month that the violation is not corrected."
- Lesser: "a civil penalty of not more than $500 ... for each violation."
Read the daily and monthly add-ons again. On an immediately hazardous condition the meter runs per day. That is the reason lead time on a part matters more than its price.
One elevator item the code classifies for you
Most classification is left to the rules, but the code names some directly. Section 28-201.2.2, Specified major violations, item 2 reads:
"Failure to perform required façade, retaining wall, elevator and boiler inspections, or tests, structural inspections of buildings and structures that are potentially compromised as defined in section 28-217.1, and to file required reports within the applicable time period."
So missing the elevator inspection or its report is a major violation by the code's own direction. Note the phrase "and to file required reports". The inspection and the filing are both in scope.
The part that catches people: certifying
Section 28-204.4, Failure to certify the correction of a violation:
"Failure to comply with an order of the commissioner ... to correct and to certify correction of a violation within the applicable time period shall be a violation of this code for which penalties may be imposed in addition to the penalties that may be or have been imposed for the violation referred to in such order. Upon application, for good cause, the commissioner may extend the time for filing the certification of correction of a violation, but not for more than 30 days for each extension."
And the minimum is fixed. Section 28-202.1 carries an exception list, added by Local Law 70 of 2024 with an effective date of 21 December 2024, whose first item reads:
"The minimum civil penalty for a violation of section 28-204.4 shall be $2,500"
That is a $2,500 floor for not filing the paperwork, stacking on top of whatever the original condition cost you. It is also why the extension provision is worth knowing: it exists, it is discretionary, it requires good cause, and it runs 30 days at a time.
Do not certify something you have not done
Section 28-204.5: if the environmental control board finds a certification of correction "contained material false statements relating to the correction of a violation, such certification of correction shall be null and void and the penalties set forth in this code for the violation may be imposed as if such false certification had not been filed with and accepted by the department."
For an immediately hazardous condition it escalates past money. Section 28-219.3 makes a knowingly false certification unlawful and refers preparers and filers to prosecution under sections 175.05, 175.10, 175.30 and 175.35 of the New York State penal law.
If it is an elevator in a residential building
Section 28-219.4 adds a referral step. Where an immediately hazardous elevator violation affects a multiple dwelling and re-inspection finds the owner has not corrected it, the commissioner refers the violation to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development within one week, and DOB "may continue enforcement action against the owner of the multiple dwelling after referral."
Two agencies, one condition. Section 28-219.2.2 also has the commissioner re-inspecting such a condition every 60 days until it is found corrected or abated.
Where signage sits in all this
A sign is one of the few conditions you can genuinely clear the same week, which is why it is worth clearing before it starts accruing. The order tells you the condition, the class and the period. What you need is the correct plate, quickly, and a receipt.
The three items that answer most signage citations, each with its price and lead time on the page: the code data plate for the NYC-adopted ASME A17.1-2013 edition, the CAT 1 / CAT 5 maintenance tag, and the NYC elevator ID tag. Room and door legends are in Room and Equipment Signs.
If your citation names a plate or a tag and you are not certain which product answers it, the Code Finder asks two questions and returns one item with its price. If you would rather just show us, send a photo of the plate or the citation on WhatsApp.
Related reading: what elevator code edition NYC actually uses, and where CAT 1 and CAT 5 tags go, which is the placement question behind a large share of tag citations.
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