NYC toughens requirements for facade inspections
New York City has adopted some tough new revisions to laws governing the inspection of facades on buildings W more than six stories high, and property owners would be wise to assess the impact of this new legislation.
The revised municipal codes make four substantial changes that will dictate how future inspections of building facades will be handled. And in light of the problems some Manhattan structures have experienced recently - collapsing walls and falling parapets - the revised laws are very timely.
The changes in the city codes will mandate; 1) inspection reports; 2) immediate notification of the Department of Buildings (DOB) if an unsafe condition is found during an inspection; 3) creation of a new rating system for wall safety; 4) elimination of the ongoing maintenance program option.
The DOB is developing specific regulations to clarify exactly what building owners must do to comply with the new law.
Inspection Reports
The owner of a building more than six stories high must hire a licensed architect or professional engineer every five years to inspect its facade. The inspecting architect or engineer must file an inspection report with the DOB detailing the structural soundness of the building.
The new law requires owners to inspect all walls, except those facing an adjacent building less than 12 inches away Previously, the code exempted inspection of walls set back more than 25 feet from a street, paved walkway, plaza, or a play area.
All walls previously exempt from the inspection requirements must now be inspected by March 1, 2000 and file an inspection report.
The DOB is expected to adjust inspection cycles to give building owners more time to get all walls inspected in a timely fashion.
Notify DOB if Unsafe Condition Found
The architect or engineer must now immediately notify the DOB in writing if an unsafe condition is discovered during the inspection.
Previously, there was no such requirement, the architect or engineer only had to list any existing unsafe condition on the inspection report filed with the DOB for the building.
Alternatively, the architect or engineer could have avoided listing the unsafe condition by holding off filing the inspection report until after an owner corrected the unsafe condition.
New Rating System
Under the new law, the architect or engineer can rate the condition of a wall as safe, unsafe, or safe with a repair and maintenance program.
The safe with a repair and maintenance program is a new rating category. The architect or engineer may not give this rating to a building in two consecutive inspection reports rating was for items that weren't immediately hazardous but could become dangerous if left unattended.
Although DOB expected owners to do the necessary work before the problem turned into an unsafe condition, it neither issued fines for the precautionary items nor imposed deadlines for repair action.
The city eliminated the precautionary rating because the DOB discovered that many architects and engineers were citing the same precautionary conditions from one inspection cycle to the next.
Option to Declare a Maintenance Program Eliminated
The new law eliminates the option of declaring there is an ongoing maintenance program underway. With that option, an owner could hire a registered architect or engineer to conduct ongoing maintenance instead of having a building inspection every five years.
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