Buildings news update - April 3rd, 2024

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April 3rd, 2024

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Construction
Safety Training Provider Indicted

Earlier this week, Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo
announced that the Department of Buildings has issued a notice of intent
to revoke the DOB-approved course provider status for Valor Consulting,
a Brooklyn-based company that was previously providing OSHA courses and
Site Safety Training (SST) courses to construction workers in New York
City. As a result of this announcement, all training certificates and
all Site Safety Training (SST) cards issued by this company have been
invalidated.

This action was taken in the interest of protecting
the public, and follows a criminal indictment that was filed in
Manhattan Criminal Court against senior executives and employees at
Valor Consulting for allegedly selling construction safety training
identification cards to workers, without providing any of the required
safety training.

Over 17,000 active SST cards that have been issued as
a result of training certificates issued by Valor have been deactivated,
and construction workers with these SST cards are no longer allowed to
work on the larger and more complex work sites in New York City until
they are able to acquire a new SST card from a legitimate DOB-approved
course provider.

Read Our Press Release About Our Recent Actions

Read the Manhattan District Attorney's Press Release About the
Indictment

Find out How to Register For Site Safety Training Courses

Get Summonses
Corrected Campaign Launched

The Department of Buildings is increasing its
education and outreach efforts to help New Yorkers resolve open
DOB-issued summonses related to their properties through our new Get
Summonses Corrected (GSC) campaign.

Open violations on a property can be a serious
impediment to selling a property or qualifying for a mortgage, and can
even result in additional follow up enforcement actions from DOB. Some
open violations are indicative of ongoing hazardous conditions at a
building. By resolving DOB-issued summonses and violations, owners can
ensure their property has a clean bill of health.

DOB's Administrative Enforcement Unit (AEU) started
host virtual and in-person events last month to assist individuals
experiencing difficulties with certifying correction of violations at
their properties. In addition, the Department has been mailing out
information cards to property owners with information about how to
resolve specific violations at their properties.

Find Out More About Upcoming Events

Learn More About Resolving Violations

Firms
Selected for New Shed Designs

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Department of
Buildings Commissioner Jimmy Oddo, and the Mayor's Office of Contract
Services (MOCS) Director Lisa Flores recently announced the selection of
two companies – Arup US and Practice for Architecture and
Urbanism (PAU) – to deliver six new better-looking, more
cost-efficient designs for sidewalk sheds and pedestrian safety
equipment in New York City.

The new designs that will be created by these
companies are a key component of our Get Sheds Down plan, which seeks to
reduce the total number of sheds around the city, and improve the ones
that are still necessary to have in place. The new designs will improve
the pedestrian experience, beautify the streetscape, keep costs low for
building owners, and provide more aesthetically pleasing pedestrian
safety equipment. The city will incorporate the new designs into the
building code and make them available for public use, improving upon the
current hunter green pipe-and-plywood sheds that are used today.

Read Our Press Release

Find out More About The 'Get Sheds Down' Plan

REMINDER:
Parking Structure Inspections

Under new rules for the city's Periodic Inspection
for Parking Structures (PIPS) program, parking structure owners in the
Upper East Side of Manhattan, Upper Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens,
and Staten Island must submit an initial assessment observation report
for their parking structures to DOB by August 1, 2024.

These initial assessment reports are submitted in

DOB NOW: Safety, and are in addition to the full
PIPS engineering reports due by December 31, 2025, or December 31, 2027.

These initial assessment observation reports are
critical to helping property owners identify potential safety issues at
their properties. Failure to submit these reports will lead to
enforcement actions by the Department.

Read our Service Notice About the Initial Observation Reports

Check out our Interactive Parking Structure Inspections Map

Learn More About Periodic Inspection for Parking Structures

Brick Facades
Construction Advisory

Facade collapses are one of the most common types of
structural failures that can happen at a building, especially if these
exterior walls are allowed to fall into disrepair.

Property owners who have older brick masonry walls
with the appearance of a running bond (no header courses visible) should
be aware that they may have been built using concealed headers also
known as diagonal, blind, or herringbone headers. This type of brick
masonry construction was popular around the turn of the 19th century,
and is commonly found in low-rise residential row houses and multiple
dwellings.

The use of these diagonal headers in historical
construction has become an issue as these buildings continue to age. In
recent years, DOB has responded to numerous instances of diagonal brick
header failures. This type of failure can pose a serious hazard to
members of the public. Building owners that have concerns about the
condition of their buildings should contact a registered design
professional to arrange an inspection.

Read Our Construction Advisory

Coney Island Ride Inspections

Every spring inspectors from the Department of
Buildings' Elevator Unit visit the Coney Island amusement parks ahead of
opening day to conduct extensive ride inspections, checking that that
every ride is safe for operation.

Over the course of several days, all of the rides at
Luna Park and Dino's Wonder Wheel were recently inspected and tested by
our dedicated team.

While these inspections might not be the first thing
that comes to mind when one thinks of the work of DOB, they are a
critical component of our mission to keeps New Yorkers safe.

Check Out the Story on NY1

Read More in the Brooklyn Paper

Service
Updates

CD8-TR: Identification of Special Inspections Form Updated

NEW REQUIREMENT: Initial Observations of Parking Structures in Certain
Community Districts

Get
Help Certifying Corrections

Request for Consideration of a Refund: RF1 Form Revised

All Department Service Updates

Hearings +
Rules

1 RCNY 105-02 � Amendment of Rules Relating to Property Tax
Abatement for Installation of Solar Electric Generating System or
Electric Energy Storage Equipment

Online Public Hearing: 04/22/2024 @ 11:00am

All
Department Rules

Buildings
Bulletins

All Buildings Bulletins

Local Laws

All
DOB-Related Local Laws

Small
Businesses

Small business owners and entrepreneurs in New York
City can receive one-on-one guidance and helpful consultations for their
projects by reaching out to

DOB's Small Business Team (SBT).

Whether opening a new place of business or renovating
an existing one, SBT gives the City's small business owners and
entrepreneurs the dedicated support they need. The first step for your
small business is filling out a

SBT support request form on our website.

Upcoming
Events

Every week, DOB holds online and in-person events for
industry professionals and members of the public.

Have questions and need answers? Join us of for a
live online Q&A session, or one of our in-person industry meetings.

See Our Schedule for All Upcoming Events

Stop Work
Orders

In an effort to better educate the industry on why
DOB issues Stop Work Orders at construction sites, we publish a
quarterly list of the top 10 reasons why these enforcement actions are
taken.

DOB will issue a Stop Work Order at a work site if it
is necessary to protect public safety, so make sure to keep your work
sites in safe condition to avoid any unnecessary project delays.

We have also added a new, interactive map where the
public can see all active Stop Work Orders across the city.

Check out our Top 10 List

Read Our Stop Work Order Guidance

See the
new Stop Work Order Map

Enforcement
Bulletins

DOB publishes monthly bulletins detailing the
agency's efforts to sanction and deter bad actors in the construction
industry. You can find this information posted on the

Enforcement Action Bulletin page of our website.

Additional Disciplinary Actions & Voluntary Surrenders

Weather
Advisories

When severe weather strikes, it pays to be in the
know.

The Department of Buildings emails out weather
advisories when NYC is expected to face high wind events and other types
of severe weather.

Sign-Up For Weather Advisories

Jimmy Oddo, Commissioner

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