NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5159
SPONSOR: Brennan (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the administrative code of the city of
New York, in relation to enacting the New York city department of build-
ings community accountability act
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: This bill creates the New York City
Department of Buildings Community Accountability Act.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1 - Legislative findings.
Section 2 - Names this the NYC Department of Buildings Community
Accountability Act.
Section 3 - Amends section 28-103.18.1 of the NYC Administrative Code to
require that any information in the complaint book that is kept by DOB
and is available to the public be posted on the departments website.
Section 4 - Adds a new section 28-103.18.2 requiring the department of
Buildings to maintain a record available for public inspection at their
office as well as on the department's website containing a list of all
construction and building accidents resulting in injury or death, and
all property damage due to damage arising out of violations of the
building code. All such accidents shall be investigated and a written
report of the findings must also be posted on the website.
Section 5 - Adds a new section 28-201.5 to require monthly reports to
community boards and borough presidents on the departments actions with-
in their jurisdiction. All enforcement actions at both the Environmental
Control Board and the department of Buildings must be included, and must
be presented clearly and completely to allow for accurate tracking of
the disposition of each action.
Section 6 - Adds a new subdivision i to section 28-207.6 (dangerous
buildings) to require that whenever the department issues an order
regarding a dangerous building that an investigation be made as to the
circumstances, and a report be written and posted on the department's
website describing these conditions.
Section 7 - amends §28-118.1 to prohibit the issuance of a certificate
of occupancy unless all fines, penalties and/or judgments are satisfied
with respect to the new building.
Section 8 - Adds a new §28-104.9 to require notification by department
of Buildings of the respective community board and borough president's
offices whenever a permit for construction is issued. If requested, the
full docket of plans, plus any updates or changes as they occur, must be
provided to the community board within 5 business days. A community
board may request department of buildings to do an audit-review of up to
30 plans per year. If requested, the department of buildings must
provide a preliminary report within 30 days and a final report within 60
days on whether the plan complies with the building code and zoning
resolution.
Section 9 amends section 28-105.1 to require DOB to publish on the
website all permits granted for construction, demolition or excavation
work by community board. The department shall make available a copy of
the permit and other documents within the docket upon request, either
electronically or within 5 business days,
Section 10 adds a new §28-110.3 to require a site safety coordinator be
designated and present at a construction site of a new building greater
than 5 stories.
JUSTIFICATION: The Cities Committee has held 2 hearings over the past
year as well as gathering much information from audits and reports about
construction in New York City. The following are some of the facts we
have uncovered which call out for reform:
Construction Safety
The Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration reported 80
deaths in New York City construction accidents between 2002 and 2005;
the New York Committee on Occupational Health and Safety reports that
construction is the most dangerous occupation, with death rates four
times the average for other workers.
The Construction Industry Partnership of New York City, a labor-manage-
ment alliance, estimates the cost of construction accidents in New York
City at $858 million in 2002.
A review of 2,500 OSHA construction site safety inspections in New York
City in 2003, released by the New York Trial Lawyers Institute in 2005,
determined that two thirds of inspections found at least one violation
of a safety standard. According to the Institute, OSHA classified virtu-
ally all the violations as "serious".
Enforcement
The NYC DOB issued 49,000 ECB and 46,000 DOB violations in FY '06, and
in FY '05 issued 626 vacate orders.
A 2003 NYC Comptroller's audit showed 67% of sampled construction plans
that were submitted to the Buildings Department through self-certifica-
tion contained errors.
A 2004 New York City Comptroller's audit found that 51 % of sampled ECB
building violations for 2002 were for hazardous violations and that no
evidence of a systematic DOB process existed for following up on hazard-
ous violations.
The DOB reported it re-inspected 11,548 hazardous violations in FY '05
and issued second violations in 17% of these-inspections.
No system-wide public summary of violation outcomes exists that corre-
lates the percentage of outstanding violations to how many are
corrected, nor did DOB report on enforcement outcomes at the September
7th Assembly hearing despite questions to that effect in the hearing
notice.
A 2006 New York State Comptroller's audit determined that NYC DOS track-
ing of enforcement of stop work orders and violations was inadequate, in
that DOB did not have a database that provided correlation between stop
work orders, violations, and enforcement outcomes. DOB responded to the
audit in an April 2006 letter stating it was attempting to develop such
a system.
DOB announced the beginning of adoption of three new rules at the
September 7th Assembly hearing: 24-hour notice of demolition and exca-
vation commencements, and a rule to require registered construction
superintendents at all new building and alteration construction sites.
The changes made in this bill will require the Department of Buildings
to much more closely monitor construction sites around the City which
will better protect the residents as well as workers at the worksites.
While many people have called in complaints when they see illegal activ-
ities, they feel like their complaints are being ignored. This bill will
require the department to investigate and follow-up any illegal activ-
ities they find. By requiring the tracking of complaints and citations,
stop work orders, and other violations on the department's website, the
average citizen can see that their complaint is being investigated and
acted upon.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: A77458 of 2007-08 - referred to rules
A.4770a of 2009-10 - on calendar in 2009
A1785 of 2011-12 - reported to Codes in 2011
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT:
EFFECTIVE DATE: 90 days following enactment.
