Deadline for Initial Assessment Reports on Most Parking Garages Is Aug. 1

Red tape alert! Co-ops and condos with parking garages located in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Upper Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island have until Aug. 1 to submit their required initial assessment reports to the Department of Buildings (DOB).

These initial assessments, designed to detect and correct imminent dangers, are in addition to the more extensive structural integrity assessments required every six years for all city garages on revolving two-year cycles. The current cycle, for 2024-25, covers garages in the Upper East Side, Upper Manhattan and Brooklyn. The 2026-27 cycle will cover the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. (The Upper West Side and Manhattan below Central Park conducted the first round of inspections in 2022-23. The cycles will start over in 2028.)

The one-time initial assessments that's due Aug. 1 must be performed by or under the direct supervision of a state-licensed professional engineer who is designated by the DOB as a Qualified Parking Structure Inspector.

“What is due in August is an initial observation report, which is less comprehensive (than the six-year inspection),” says David Maggiotto, DOB’s deputy press secretary. However, if any unsafe conditions are found, DOB needs to be informed immediately. The owner has to either put in shoring, close off the area or add any other protection the engineer specifies to maintain the safety of the structure.

The Aug. 1 deadline for the one-time report is an attempt to get all garage owners to look into the condition of their parking facilities. It was prompted by the collapse of a parking garage on Anne Street in Lower Manhattan last year that killed one person and injured five others. The more extensive, six-year inspections were passed before that garage collapse.

Failure to submit the initial assessment reports will lead to enforcement actions by the DOB. The penalty for late filing of a mandated six-year parking structure inspection report is a civil penalty of $1,000 a month, for 12 months. If an owner fails to file a report for 12 months, an additional $5,000 penalty will be issued, taking the total penalty to $17,000.