Section 155.4 of the Regulations states that all buildings which are owned, operated, or leased by a public school district or board of cooperative educational services must be inspected for fire safety at least once annually. Recent legislation increased Department responsibilities but did not provide any additional Department staff. Additional staff are needed to handle the increase in construction projects and to provide technical assistance and monitoring of environmental health and safety problems. Five staff are needed to monitor New York City projects. Three staff are needed to monitor upstate projects.
Outside expertise is needed to develop electronic data systems to monitor school facility needs.
As required by law, standards were developed to ensure the safety of building occupants during construction, maintenance, repair or reconstruction activity. All buildings are required to be inspected by a certified inspector once every eleven months to ensure buildings are inspected at a different time every year. Resources under our care will be used or maintained in the public interest.