NYC Council Approves Proactive Building Inspections
The New York City Council recently passed a bill mandating proactive inspections to identify potentially hazardous buildings and structures. The legislation (Int. 904-A) directs the Department of Buildings to create a risk-based inspection program to identify hazardous buildings.
One level deeper: According to a Committee on Housing and Buildings report, there are over one million buildings in New York City, approximately 75 percent of which were built before 1960. Existing construction and inspection requirements aim to ensure that these buildings are not only functional, but also safe from structural failures that may harm people inside the building or on the street below. Despite these requirements, the report highlights recent news indicating that these structural failures are happening with alarming frequency.
In December 2023, the façade on a corner of 1915 Billingsley Terrace, a building in the Bronx, partially collapsed, leaving rooms completely exposed. As a result of the collapse, over 170 people were displaced from their homes. And the owner of 1915 Billingsley Terrace is subject to thousands of dollars in penalties for violations issued by the DOB, including violations for work without a permit such as floor layouts being altered/changed, including creating additional bedrooms; illegal gas installation; installing water and waste lines; and excessive electrical wiring. Also, HPD had issued over 350 violations in the building over the five years prior to the collapse.
The legislation seeks to address deficiencies in the DOB’s current complaints-driven, reactive inspection process.
Bottom line: To proactively identify potentially hazardous buildings, the legislation tasks the DOB with creating a risk-based inspection program that can identify dangerous buildings using a model to predict the likelihood of structural failures by assessing factors such as qualified exterior wall inspector certification history, prior maintenance records, the number of 311 complaints filed, permit history, the date of the most recent alteration, and other building data, which includes the building’s age, occupancy type and size, ownership type, construction material, the number of floors from the ground level, and the number of public-facing exposures.
The DOB would be required to establish rules outlining when a corrective action plan is necessary upon the completion of a proactive inspection, or when other safety concerns warrant one. The corrective action plan would be prepared by a registered design professional in good standing, and must document each violating condition. The department then would be required to conduct follow-up inspections to verify progress of the corrective action plan and issue a notice of violation for failure to comply with it.
Mayor Eric Adams has earmarked $4.7 million for the DOB to implement the inspection program and the bill is on his desk for approval. If approved, it would take effect within 180 days of being signed into law.