Correcting Department Of Buildings OATH Violations

OATH is the acronym for the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. When there is a violation of NYC building codes, such as improper functioning of an elevator, the offense needs to be corrected before the building can be sold, refinanced, a new certificate of occupancy obtained, or letter of completion obtained for the fixed violation.

Correcting Department Of Buildings OATH Violations

There are three simple steps in the process of correcting an OATH violation:

• Admit guilt or attend a hearing of OATH to contest the violation.
• Correct the condition that the violation cites and certify the correction
  is made with the DOB.
• Pay the applicable penalties.

The Function Of The Form

What appears simple can be complicated. For this reason, we have the Violation and AOC (Affirmation of Correction) Department at Champion Elevator. The professionals of Champion Elevator work with the NYC DOB and administrators of municipalities in Westchester and Long Island, expediting the paperwork of the above steps to resolve violations promptly, avoiding consequences of costly penalties and fines.

All paperwork needs to be in order before AOC (Affirmation of Correction) is recognized.

1. The admission of guilt to PVT (private) elevator violations requires a private elevator inspection company to correct the offenses of the ELV3 elevator and inspection report.

Whether the violation was hazardous or non-hazardous is a crucial factor in knowing the course of action to pursue. Non-hazardous violations may be re-inspected by the certified elevator inspection company with an AOC ELV29 form, along with a copy of the violation to the DOB Elevator Unit. Hazardous violations or a failure to permit access to the device or machine room requires the certified inspection company to submit a letter by mail, or in-person, and request a re-inspection of the elevator.

Once a private inspection firm has been hired, and the violations corrected, the building owner or representative of the owner will need to:

• File the AOC (Affirmation of Correction) form OR
• File a satisfactory Cat (Category) 1 inspection form and comment: resolved by
  Cat 1 inspection, OR
• File a satisfactory Affirmation of Correction for a Cat 1 unsatisfactory inspection with comment PVT: satisfied by the submission of AOC for Cat 1
  inspection, OR
• Submit an ELV1 elevator permit application and be approved by the DOB, who will issue a Final Elevator Certificate with the BIS (Building Information System) update indicating PVT: Satisfied by the issuance of final EA/EBN. (Elevator Application / Elevator Building Notice)    

For the failure to file an elevator inspection and test report, the building owner, or representative, will need to submit a letter and copy of the inspection and ELV3 test report.

A failure to correct elevator violations or appear at an OATH trial hearing to contest the violation or pay the civil penalties involved with OATH violations — will result in the violations remaining in the on-line NYC Business Information System that will show in property title searches.

To ensure you don’t miss a beat, Champion Elevator can help you navigate the waters of elevator violations, not to mention maintenance, modernization, repairs, testing, and more. Contact us today to give your building a clean bill of health.