The Health Department writes more OATH cases than anyone. Its rules also get quoted wrong more than anyone’s.
Three facts do most of the work here. A B or C can never come from a first inspection. You get seven days to fix something. And one violation at the worst condition level is 28 points, which is a C grade all by itself.
The price lists moved. Restaurants are 24 RCNY Appendix 23-C, from 15 November 2025. Everything else is 24 RCNY Chapter 7 and Appendix 7-A, from 12 July 2025. The old lists in 48 RCNY were thrown out in December 2018. If someone quotes you 48 RCNY § 3-110, they are reading a dead rule.
How points turn into a letter
| Points | Grade |
|---|---|
| 0 to 13 | A |
| 14 to 27 | B, on a re-inspection only |
| 28 or more | C, on a re-inspection only |
A first inspection can only give you an A. Score 14 or more and you get no grade at all. They come back for a re-inspection at least seven days later.
So a 30-point first inspection is not a C. It is a scored inspection with no grade, and a second visit coming.
In between, you keep posting last cycle’s card. If you have never been graded, you post nothing.
That gap is the most useful working time you will ever get. Most people spend it thinking the grade already happened.
You don’t have to hang a B or C before your hearing
When a re-inspection comes back at 14 or more, they give you two cards. The grade card, and a “grade pending” card. You pick which one goes up.
You can post “grade pending” until you have had your chance to be heard.
Nobody does this for you. You have to choose it.
What goes in the window afterward:
| What happened | What you post |
|---|---|
| You went, and the score change didn’t change the letter | Take down “grade pending”, put up the grade card |
| You didn’t go by the hearing date | Put up the grade card that day |
| You went and got the hearing moved | Keep “grade pending” until the new date, not past it |
| Violations were dropped and the letter changed | They give you a new card. Put it up |
| You settled | Put up the re-inspection grade card right away |
The card goes on the front window, door or outside wall. Within five feet of the front door, four to six feet off the ground. Shred old cards so they can’t be reused. Never take down a current card unless the Department says you can.
Fighting it matters even when the fine is fixed
After your hearing, they re-grade the inspection using only the violations you admitted or that were upheld. Anything dropped comes off the score completely, and the grade is worked out again from what is left.
So the fine and the letter are two different fights. The letter is usually worth more.
Condition levels decide everything
Scored violations are not priced by how many times you have offended. They are priced by condition level, I through V. That is how bad the inspector wrote it up. There is no second-offence multiplier on a scored violation.
Points by type:
| Type | I | II | III | IV | V |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public health hazard | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 28 |
| Critical | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| General | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | a few carry 28 |
Condition V is 28 points, and 28 points is the whole C threshold. One public health hazard written at Condition V gives you a C on its own, however clean the rest of the visit was.
Get that one violation down from V to IV and it drops from 28 points to 10. That is very often the difference between a C and a B.
Now the part worth reading twice. For a public health hazard, Condition V means you didn’t fix it while the inspector was standing there. It is not about how big the problem was. It is about not fixing it on the spot.
Most other condition levels are simple counts. One item, two items, set quantities. So “we disagree with the condition level” is a real argument, not just talk.
Two general violations also carry 28 at Condition V: pesticide misuse or an open bait station, and back-siphonage or sewage. “It’s only a general violation” does not mean a small score.
The violations that actually get written
| Code | Violation | Price by condition level |
|---|---|---|
| 10F | Non-food surface or equipment not clean | $0 if fixed, otherwise $100 flat |
| 08A | Conditions that attract pests | $200 at levels III and IV only |
| 10B | Back-siphonage, drainage or sewage | $0 if fixed, otherwise $100 flat |
| 02G | Cold food held above 41°F | $250 / $300 / $350 / $400 / $500 |
| 02B | Hot food not held at 140°F or above | $250 / $300 / $350 / $400 / $500 |
| 06C | Food or equipment not protected | $200 / $200 / $250 / $300 |
| 06D | Food surface not washed and sanitized | $200 / $200 / $250 / $300 |
| 04L | Mice, or signs of mice | $200 / $200 / $250 / $300 / $350 |
| 04M | Live roaches | $200 / $200 / $250 / $300 / $350 |
| 04K | Rats, or signs of rats | $200 / $200 / $250 / $300 / $350 |
| 04A | Supervisor has no Food Protection Certificate | $400, level V only |
| 04H | Food spoiled or cross-contaminated | $250 / $300 / $350 / $400 / $500 to $600 |
| 09C | Food surface chipped, cracked or not cleanable | $0 if fixed, otherwise $100 flat |
The priciest everyday charges have nothing to do with food. They are about the card:
| Code | Violation | If you show up | If you don’t |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20-07 | Card removed, damaged, covered or tampered with | $1,000 | $2,000 |
| 20-05 | Card not posted where it can be seen | $500 | $1,000 |
| 20-06 | Current card or “grade pending” card not posted | $500 | $1,000 |
Messing with a grade card costs more than almost any food safety violation on the list.
Seven days. Not thirty, not sixty.
| Agency | Time to fix | Starts from |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 7 calendar days | the date the violation was issued, per your summons |
| Consumer and Worker Protection | 30 days | the date on the summons |
| Buildings | 60 days | the day you were served |
Fix-it windows are not the same across agencies. This is where a well-meaning adviser does real harm. Run a restaurant on the Buildings clock and the window shuts before your first hearing notice even lands.
A first-time violation you prove you fixed carries no fine. It goes to zero. But know what you are signing:
- Proving you fixed it counts as admitting the violation, and you can no longer fight it at OATH.
- Fixing it does not change your score or your grade. It still counts. You save the money, not the letter.
- Whether it counts as “first-time” is decided only by the Department’s records.
- If a first violation is already at OATH, you cannot fix a later identical one.
Only violations marked on the price list can be fixed. The list separates a real fix, where you correct it and prove it, from a flat $0 first-time price that needs no proof. One violation runs on its own clock: the workplace smoke-free policy posting gets 30 days.
No reduced fines, no deals, no compliance meeting
Say this plainly, because clients get promised otherwise. The rule says a hearing officer must impose the price on the list for any violation that is upheld. There is no Health Department version of the Buildings reduced fine or the pre-hearing deal. Nobody at that tribunal can decide to go easy on the amount.
What does cut your exposure, in order of real value. Fix it within seven days. Fight the condition level, which is the only reduction actually built into the list. Get violations dropped, which kills the money and re-grades the inspection.
Not showing up costs double, not the maximum
Most OATH agencies set the no-show price at the legal maximum. The Health Code does not. Not appearing makes the fine double what it would have been, capped at $2,000. That is kinder than the usual rule.
One definition worth knowing. You count as having appeared if you turn up in person, join by phone or internet, or accept a settlement offer. Settling gets you the appearance price instead of the no-show price. So settling always beats ignoring it.
Rats and mice
Charged under Health Code § 151.02, which puts the duty on “the person in control of such premises.”
| Stage, within 24 months | Fine | If you don’t show |
|---|---|---|
| First | $300 | $600 |
| Second | $600 | $1,200 |
| Third | $1,200 | $2,000 |
| Fourth or more | $2,000 | $2,000 |
Watch the two clocks. Rodent increases look back 24 months at the same address under the same owner. The Department’s general repeat rule looks back 12 months. Mix them up and you get the wrong number.
Nearby charges: pests other than rodents $200, conditions that attract them $300, uncovered garbage $300, not following a pest management plan $1,000, and conditions not cleared after an order $2,000.
Standing water and mosquitoes are graded minor $300, moderate $600, extensive $1,200. The definitions of minor, moderate and extensive are real numbers in the rule: container sizes, gallons, tyre counts, square feet of water. So that grading can genuinely be argued.
Check the return line on a rat summons. These can be sent to the Environmental Control Board instead of the Health Tribunal. Buildings, HPD and Sanitation can all write them too.
Tobacco and vapes
The flavoured product rule, § 17-715, is enforced by three agencies. Health, Consumer and Worker Protection, and the Sheriff. Each sends it to its own tribunal. The same shop can get hit from more than one direction over the same product.
If you are buying an existing shop, read this twice. Violations follow the address to the next licence holder unless that new holder can document an arm’s length sale. That paperwork is worth more than it looks.
Who pays
The permit holder, and “the person in control” of the place.
A property owner can also be liable for someone else’s unpermitted business operating on their property. Most landlords have no idea they carry that.
Appeals
You can appeal a Health Tribunal decision. Three traps. You usually have to pay in full first. The deadline is around 30 to 35 days. And you cannot appeal a no-show or a plea at all. That last one is why settling a summons you meant to fight is hard to undo.