Inspections

Section 8 Inspections

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) inspects subsidized apartments prior to lease up and annually thereafter to ensure compliance with federal Housing Quality Standards (HQS) requirements. These standards establish a minimum basis for habitability and must be maintained in order for the owner to receive monthly Housing Assistance Payments (HAP).

HPD's Division of Code Enforcement conducts the HQS inspections for the HPD Section 8 Program, while the Division of Tenant Resources (DTR) oversees the enforcement of HQS compliance related to the Section 8 subsidy. The inspectors are following Section 8 standards for apartments and public areas, New York City Housing Maintenance Code (HMC), and the New York State Multiple Dwelling Law (MDL).

Smoke Alarms:

  • Effective December 29, 2024, the NSPIRE mandate requires all smoke detectors to be either hardwired or equipped with sealed 10-year batteries.
    • At least one working smoke alarm on every level of the property.
    • At least one working smoke alarm outside every sleeping area.
    • At least one working smoke alarm inside each bedroom.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors:

  • Statutory requirements for carbon monoxide alarms align with the 2018 International Fire Code:
    • If the unit contains a fuel-burning appliance or fireplace in the bedroom, sleeping area, or attached bathroom, a carbon monoxide alarm must be installed inside the bedroom or attached bathroom.
    • NOTE: this requirement for Carbon Monoxide Detectors is already in place. While the inspection, notification and enforcement process may look different, this is not a new requirement for owners.

To learn more about the timing of these changes, please review the NSPIRE Standard for Smoke Alarms and the NSPIRE Standard for Carbon Monoxide Alarms.

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Tenant HQS Responsibilities

All Section 8 tenants are required to provide access to HPD employees to allow them to perform the inspection. A family that repeatedly fails to provide access may be terminated from the program.

Tenants are responsible for maintaining HQS and HPD will hold them responsible for damage or violations that cause a unit to fail inspection. HPD generally holds tenants responsible for the following HQS violations:

  • Nonfunctioning smoke detectors (battery-operated, battery dead)
  • Nonfunctioning smoke detectors (electric, tenant pays electrical utilities)
  • Missing smoke detectors (smoke detector was present on initial or last annual inspection)
  • No electricity (tenant pays electrical utilities)
  • No gas (tenant pays gas utilities)
  • Double cylinder lock on exit door
  • Illegal gates on fire escape windows
  • Debris that blocks access to exit doors or fire escape windows
  • Kitchen grease that constitutes a fire hazard
  • Damage caused by tenant or tenant's guest
  • Nonfunctioning carbon monoxide detector (battery-operated, battery dead)
  • Nonfunctioning carbon monoxide detector (electric, tenant pays electrical utilities)

If a unit fails an HQS inspection, the owner will be notified of what specific violations were found, and whether the violations are the responsibility of the owner or the tenant. A re-inspection is automatically scheduled for the 30th day from the date of the violation. The responsible party must correct the deficiencies within that 30 day period. If additional time is required to correct the problem, an extension of the deadline must be requested from the HQS Unit in writing.

If an owner fails to correct HQS violations within the 30 day period or any HPD approved extension, HPD MUST abate the Housing Assistance Payment until the violations are corrected. Chronic or serious HQS violations may result in the termination, suspension or reduction of Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) or the termination of the HAP contract. The owner is not responsible for tenant-caused breaches of HQS. If a tenant fails to correct an HQS violation, they risk losing their subsidy.

Property Owner HQS Responsibilities

Landlords can prevent failed inspections by providing access to all public areas of the building on the inspection date. Any failures in the public areas – including no access to the basement or boiler room – will result in a failure and/or violation and cause any apartment inspected on or after that day to fail the HQS Inspection until the failure and/or violation is validly certified or closed. Landlords may correct HQS deficiencies in advance of inspection:

  • Emergency Failure Items must be corrected within 24 hours. The following deficiencies will result in an emergency failure:
    • Gas Leaks
    • Smoking/sparking electrical outlets or wiring
    • Building in imminent danger of collapse
  • The most common non-emergency HQS deficiencies are:
    • Missing or broken smoke detector(s)
    • Missing electrical outlet covers
    • Defective windows (no window stops or broken balances)

Owner Responsibilities Related to Lead-Based Paint Hazards

Owners of buildings with federally assisted units are required to follow specific correction and reporting procedures if a lead-based paint hazard is detected in the building. This may occur as the result of an HQS inspection, or following an Elevated Blood Lead Level (EBLL) result of five micrograms or more per deciliter in a child under six years old who lives in an assisted unit. For more information on owner responsibilities related to lead hazards, see Owners’ Responsibilities and Reporting Requirements Related to Lead-based Paint Hazards in Federally Assisted Units.

Property Owner Responsibilities for Failures or Violations

Timelines for clearing up HQS Failures and/or violations of the HMC/MDL have remained distinct. In order to satisfy both HQS and HMC/MDL requirements, the condition must be corrected by the earliest correction date appearing on the notice and certified as corrected by the earliest certification date appearing on the notice. Please note that within a package of violations, different violations may have different HMC/MDL dates for correction. All HQS Failures will have the same date.

Owners will receive notice of HMC/MDL violations and HQS Failures in one package for each apartment and one package for any public area violations or failures. All Notices of Violation(s)/HQS Failure(s) that result from the inspection will be sent to the managing agent indicated on the most recent valid HPD Property Registration; please make sure that your Property Registration is current. If your registration is not current, you may not receive your notice. It is your responsibility to be validly registered under NYC law. Owners can register or confirm the same by using HPD's Property Registration Online System (PROS), calling 212-863-7300, or sending an email to register@hpd.nyc.gov.

Owners should ensure that the managing agent is aware that he/she should act immediately upon receipt of a notice. You may also include an e-mail address on your HPD Property Registration. HPD will send a preliminary notification e-mail when a Violation/HQS Failure that results from the inspection is issued.

Appointment notices and abatement notices will be sent to the contact address listed on the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) Contract.

Certifying Corrections

Paper Certification: Submit a notarized paper certification document using the form on the backside of the AGENCY Copy of each notice. Only an Owner, Managing Agent, Officer of the Corporation that owns the property or party otherwise responsible for the property listed on a valid Property Registration filed with the Department may certify the correction of an HMC violation.

eCertification: Certify the correction of a Notice of Violation/HQS Failure online using HPD's eCertification application. This service eliminates the need for the notarization and mailing of each certification of a Notice of Violation/HQS Failure, allows owners to certify multiple violations at one time, and reduces processing time. All failures will remain accessible through eCertification until they are certified as corrected; HMC violations will only remain accessible until the certification date.

Please be advised that false certification is a crime and may result in a penalty. Section 8 HAP will be retroactively suspended to the 1st of the month following the original certification due date of the failure item. Once the HAP is suspended due to a false certification, you will no longer be able to certify the correction of that failure and/or violation. HAP will be suspended until a re-inspection is requested and an inspector confirms the repairs have been made.

Additional Questions

Questions about appointments and correction time periods for HQS should be directed to Code Enforcement at: Brooklyn/Queens/Staten Island– 212-863-5416 Manhattan/Bronx– 212-863-5502

Certification questions should be directed to the Code Enforcement Borough Offices.

Questions about Section 8 HAP abatements, HAP re-instatements and requests for new inspections should be directed to the HQS Unit at 917-286-4300. As of January 2019, owners and property owners may view inspection notices and inspection failure details through the DTR Owner Portal.