How to read a NYC building report — and what the numbers actually mean

Your prospective apartment has a Weverit page. It shows a grade, a violation count, and several colored sections you have never seen before. Here is what each piece means, and which ones should actually change your decision.

The grade: what it measures and what it doesn't

The grade on a building report — A through F — reflects the building's HPD violation history: how many open violations exist, what class they are, and how long they have been unresolved. It is not a rating of the apartment itself, the neighborhood, or the landlord's personality. It is a signal of how the landlord responds to documented problems.

A grade of A means few open violations, mostly low-severity. A grade of D or F means the building has accumulated serious unresolved violations — Class C items that HPD has cited as immediately hazardous and the landlord has not fixed.

One thing the grade does not capture: violations that were closed on paper but reappear. A building that cycles through the same violation repeatedly is a different problem than one with a clean record. The violation history section shows this pattern.

HPD violation classes: what A, B, and C mean

HPD categorizes every violation it issues by severity.

A building with 40 open Class A violations is annoying. A building with 3 open Class C violations is a different story — those are conditions HPD has certified as immediately dangerous and the landlord has not corrected.

Open vs. closed violations

Every violation in the report has a status. Open means the condition was cited by HPD and has not been certified as corrected. Closed means the landlord submitted documentation and HPD accepted it.

What the report does not show you automatically: how long the violation was open before it closed, and whether the same condition reappeared. Look at the violation dates. A Class C violation that stayed open for 8 months before closing is a signal about how this landlord operates — even if it is technically resolved today.

DOB section: permits and complaints

The DOB (Department of Buildings) section is separate from HPD. Where HPD tracks habitability violations reported by tenants, DOB tracks construction and structural compliance.

Active DOB permits mean construction work is currently authorized at the building — this is useful context if you heard the building is being renovated. Open DOB complaints mean someone reported a structural or construction concern. DOB violations — separate from complaints — mean an inspector confirmed a problem.

A building with active renovation permits and no DOB violations is being improved. A building with open DOB complaints and unresolved violations may have structural work happening without proper oversight.

What to look at before signing a lease

Five things worth checking on any building page before you sign:

First, the grade and the Class C count. If there are open Class C violations, ask the landlord what they are and when they will be corrected — in writing.

Second, the heat violation history. In a building with a pattern of heat complaints every winter, the pattern is the landlord's policy, not a one-time oversight.

Third, the total open violation count relative to the number of units. Ten violations in a 200-unit building is different from ten violations in a 10-unit building.

Fourth, active DOB permits. If major construction is planned, your quality of life during the lease may be different from what you toured.

Fifth, the landlord response rate on violations. A landlord who consistently corrects violations quickly is different from one who lets them age.

None of this tells you whether to sign. All of it tells you what questions to ask.

Sources: NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development — Violation Classes and Compliance; NYC Department of Buildings — Complaints and Violations; Weverit building report methodology.