Buildings News - December 2018

Buildings news

December 2018

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bis

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2018
Buildings Year In Review

2018 was a busy year for the
Department of Buildings, amid the continued boom in construction
activity in New York City. The agency implemented a number of new laws,
reforms and rule changes that affect the construction and development
industries across the five boroughs.

The first milestone date was reached for

construction site safety training requirements in New York City on March 1,
2018, requiring all workers on site safety jobs in the city to have at
least 10 hours of safety training. The next milestone, requiring workers
on site safety jobs to have 30 hours of safety training,

is coming up on June 1, 2019.

2018 was a big year for the rollout of our online portal DOB NOW. In December,
Place of Assembly and Temporary Place of Assembly filings were moved to
DOB NOW: Build in addition to other work types earlier in the year. We launched
DOB NOW: Licensing with Journeyman Registrations, Gas Work Qualifications, and Welder
Licenses in November. Elevator compliance filings were added to DOB NOW: Safety
in September. And, DOB NOW: Inspections
was expanded to allow for more kinds of inspection requests. As the
agency continues to implement DOB NOW, the public will be able to do
more and more transactions with DOB completely online.

Holding bad actors in the
construction industry accountable has always been a top priority at DOB,
and that was no different in 2018. New laws have increased penalties for
working without a permit and working in violation of a Stop Work Order (SWO),
while increasing reporting requirements for construction accidents. To
help ensure compliance with the Code, DOB is staffing up across our
enforcement units with new inspectors and support staff. New this year
are DOB's
Enforcement Action Bulletins, a monthly release which highlights the agency's
actions to sanction bad actors under our jurisdiction, calling them out
by name.

Improving the customer service experience across our various units has been a
major goal for the Department since the launch of our Building Once City
modernization plan. In October, DOB held a
ribbon cutting for our new

Customer Service Atrium located on the first floor of the DOB headquarters building at 280
Broadway in Manhattan. This public space is a one-stop shop for DOB
customers and will host more than 150,000 transactions a year between
members of the public and the Department. We also began modernizing how
we issue violations in 2018, with our

Mobile Summons Pilot Program. This program does away with handwritten violations, by enabling our DOB
inspectors to use DOB NOW: Inspections to electronically issue
and print OATH summons and DOB violations while out in the field, in an
easier to read format, and available to the public on our website within
a few days.

DOB, along with our partners
at the city and state level, implemented a number of new reforms to
fight construction-based tenant harassment. We

cracked down on false filings related to occupied and rent-regulated buildings on construction
documents,
beefed up requirements for tenant protection plans, increased oversight
of construction projects in occupied buildings, and created the new

Office of the Tenant Advocate within the Department over the summer.

Some of our greatest strides
in 2018 have been on the public transparency front, with the release of
new public-facing digital analytics reports like our

Real-Time NYC Active Major Construction Map, our

Real-Time Sidewalk Shed Map, and DOB's comprehensive

New York City Elevator Report. These interactive resources, combined with our continued data reporting
both on our

website and on the
NYC Open Data portal are giving members of the public an unprecedented view of our changing
city.

Stay tuned for more changes
and updates in 2019!

Is
Your Property Ready for Winter?

Winter is here, and DOB is reminding contractors and property owners that
construction sites and buildings are required to be properly maintained.

DOB provides guidelines for

winterizing construction sites and provides

winter-weather tips for homeowners on our website. Multifamily
building owners are also required to observe �Heat
Season�, maintain minimum interior temperatures of at least 68
degrees during the day and 62 degrees at night between October 1st
and May 31st.

Raising
Awareness About Illegal Conversions

In an effort to educate the public about the dangers of illegal conversions,
the Department recently teamed up with News12 to highlight the work of
inspectors in DOB�s Quality of Life Unit in

the Bronx and
Brooklyn as they respond to complaints and investigate reports of
suspected illegal conversions and illegal living spaces.

Reporting Rent-Regulated and Occupied Buildings on Construction Applications

As of December 18, 2018, applications in the

Buildings Information System (BIS) will be stopped if data obtained
from NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) indicates the building
contains at least one rent-regulated unit and the owner checks �No� in
response to either statement in Section 26 of the PW1. If the answer to
either statement is �No,� the applicant must submit supporting
documentation, such as an order or letter from HCR, to proceed with the
application.

Applicants are reminded they must certify occupied units on the PW1 and
identify the occupied units on the construction documents. If units are
occupied, the applicant must submit a

Tenant Protection Plan.

See the
related Service Notice for more information.

Reminder:
Unpaid Fines and Civil Penalties Can Lead to Revoked Permits

Based on

Local Law 160 of 2017, DOB will seek to revoke active permits for
buildings whose owners owe $25,000 or more to the city in unpaid fines,
civil penalties, or judgments entered by a court or OATH.

The Department will send a letter to the owner, permit holder, and applicant
notifying them of the Department�s intent to revoke the permit, and give
them an opportunity to respond.

See the

Service Notice for more details.

Major
Disciplinary Cases

$47,500 in penalties issued to Rahman
Layekur, owner of 170-20 90th Avenue, Queens, for the illegal
alteration of a two-family home to a four-family residence with the
addition of apartments in the cellar and on the second floor.

$60,000 in penalties issued to Fabio
Lazoski Fonseca, owner of 20 Bayard Street, Brooklyn, for the
illegal transient use of the building, which was listed for short
term rentals on Airbnb.

$25,000 in penalties issued to Hoist
Machine Operator Patrick Tarrant for inadequate safety measures in
operating a crane at 16 East 204th Street, Bronx, after the crane
sling broke and fell on top of a car.

$27,500 in penalties issued to General
Contractor Rafael Friedman for various conditions at 561 4th Avenue,
Brooklyn, including failure to keep plans on site and failure to
maintain the fa�ade of the building resulting in falling brickwork
that struck a vehicle.

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

Industry Code of Conduct for Construction
Professionals

Sign up for Weather Advisories

Follow DOB on

Facebook and

Twitter

Service Updates

Follow-up #6: Elevator Compliance Filings Service Notice (Category 5 Inspection/Test Reports)

2014 Construction Code Updates

Update Page # 66 reflects changes made by
Local Law 233 of 2017 (effective 12/01/2018), in relation to creating an office of alternative
energy.

Update Page # 67 reflects changes made by

Local Law 190 of 2018 (Sec 4 effective 12/01/2018), in relation to conducting education and
outreach regarding single-occupant toilet room requirements.

Update pages are printable
inserts to keep your hard copy Construction Codes up to date.

All

update pages for the 2014 NYC Construction Codes.

Local Laws

Local Law 117 of 2018 (effective 12/06/2018), A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of
New York, in relation to stove knob covers.

Local Law 191 of 2018 (effective 08/27/2019), A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the
city of New York and the New York city building code, in relation to
requiring carbon monoxide detectors in commercial spaces.

Local Law 195 of 2018 (effective
05/30/2019), A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York,
the New York city building code, the New York city mechanical code and the New York city fire code,
in relation to approval processes for alternative automatic fire
extinguishing systems, fire alarm systems, emergency alarm systems, fire
department in-building auxiliary radio communication systems and fire
protection plans.

Hearings +
Rules

All Department Rules

Buildings
Bulletins

2018-013: Establishes acceptance criteria for Grade 100 high-strength steel reinforcing bars
conforming to ASTM A1035/A1035M1 as an alternative material in the NYC
Construction Codes.

All Buildings Bulletins

Website
Updates

Padlock Forms

Resolving Violations/Summonses: OATH ECB

Electrical Advisory Board

OATH Office Locations

Energy Conservation Code

Construction Related Accident Reports

Office of the Tenant Advocate Quarterly Report

Approved Fabricators

DOB NOW: Build FAQ

Place of Assembly Certificate of Operation

DOB NOW: Build Place of Assembly/Temporary Place of Assembly Info Session Presentation

DOB NOW: Build Place of Assembly/Temporary Place of Assembly Step-By-Step Guides

DOB NOW Build - LAA - Submit Emergency Work Notification

DOB NOW Build - LAA - Submit Limited Alteration Application Filing

DOB NOW Build � LAA - Corrections Requested-Submit Post Approval Amendment

DOB NOW: Build � LAA - Respond to Objections in PAA

DOB Now: Build � LAA � Submit a Rescind Intent to Revoke Justification

Licensing

Department Approved Course Providers

Course Provider Application

Design Professional/Licensee Form Seal and Signature Form for DOB NOW

Obtain a: Journeyman Plumber/Fire Suppression Piping Installer Registration Gas Work Qualification

Licensed Sign Hangers

Approved Agencies to Qualify Pipe Welders

Did You Know?

The NYC
Benchmarking Law requires annual energy and water consumption data to be
submitted for public disclosure annually by May 1st by owners of
buildings that meet the criteria outlined in the law.

Buildings will now be given
energy efficiency scores and grades for these buildings based on the
benchmarking results for their energy and water consumption.

Benchmarking

Rick D.
Chandler, P.E., Commissioner

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