Increases to $50,000 the cost of the construction of a building, structure or public work, above which a professional engineer, land surveyor or architect must be utilized to plan and supervise the construction thereof.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5827
SPONSOR: Gunther TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the education law, in relation to
increasing the threshold at which certain buildings, structures and
public works are required to be planned and supervised by a professional
engineer, land surveyor or architect
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To amend the Education Law in order
to adjust the threshold at which the services of a professional engi-
neer, land surveyor or architect are required.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: This bill amends section 7209, and
section 7307, of the Education Law; to increase the threshold at which
construction and maintenance of certain buildings, structures and public
works must be supervised by professional engineers, land surveyors, and
licensed architects.
JUSTIFICATION: The current thresholds of $5,000 for public projects,
and $10,000 for private projects have not been changed for over 30 years
and have not kept up with the dramatic rise in building costs. Raising
the threshold to $50,000 is a sensible and necessary step to keep the
law current and encourage affordable construction, improvement and main-
tenance of buildings, structures and public works, and reflects an
inflation adjusted figure in keeping with current costs.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2009-2010: A.8257 Assembly Higher
Education/S.5487 Senate Higher Education 2008 A.6686-a/S.3225-a Assembly
Higher Ed, Passed Senate.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5827
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 2, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to increasing the thresh-
old at which certain buildings, structures and public works are
required to be planned and supervised by a professional engineer, land
surveyor or architect
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 and paragraph b of subdivision 7 of section
2 7209 of the education law, as added by chapter 987 of the laws of 1971,
3 are amended to read as follows:
4 3. No county, city, town or village or other political subdivision of
5 this state shall engage in the construction or maintenance of any public
6 work involving engineering or land surveying for which plans, specifica-
7 tions and estimates have not been made by, and the construction and
8 maintenance supervised by, a professional engineer or land surveyor;
9 provided that this section shall not apply to the construction, improve-
10 ment or maintenance of county roads or town highways, nor to any other
11 public works wherein the contemplated expenditure for the completed
12 project does not exceed [five] fifty thousand dollars. This section
13 shall not be construed as affecting or preventing any county, city, town
14 or village or other political subdivision of this state from engaging an
15 architect licensed in this state for the preparation of plans, specifi-
16 cations and estimates for and the supervision of construction or mainte-
17 nance of public works.
18 b. To alterations to any building or structure costing [ten] fifty
19 thousand dollars or less which do not involve changes affecting the
20 structural safety or public safety thereof nor to farm buildings,
21 including barns, sheds, poultry houses and other buildings used directly
22 and solely for agricultural purposes; nor to residence buildings of
23 gross floor area of fifteen hundred square feet or less, not including
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09877-01-1
A. 5827 2
1 garages, carports, porches, cellars, or uninhabitable basements or
2 attics.
3 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 7307 of the education law, as added by
4 chapter 987 of the laws of 1971, paragraph 1 as amended by chapter 994
5 of the laws of 1971 and paragraph 2 as amended by chapter 591 of the
6 laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows:
7 5. This article shall not apply to: [1.] a. Farm buildings, including
8 barns, sheds, poultry houses and other buildings used directly and sole-
9 ly for agricultural purposes; nor to residence buildings of gross area
10 of fifteen hundred square feet or less, not including garages, carports,
11 porches, cellars, or uninhabitable basements or attics; or
12 [2.] b. Alterations, costing ten thousand dollars or less, to any
13 building or structure within the city of New York and [twenty] fifty
14 thousand dollars or less, to any building or structure outside the city
15 of New York which do not involve changes affecting the structural safety
16 or public safety thereof.
17 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
