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Mayor Announces Changes to Strengthen Safety, Oversight and Regulation of Construction, Demolition and Abatement Operations in New York City


Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, along with Chief of Department Salvatore Cassano, acting Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri and Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Commissioner Robert C. Avaltroni, today announced a series of changes in the way demolition and abatement operations are regulated and carried out in New York City. The changes are outlined in a report, Strengthening the Safety, Oversight and Regulation of Demolition and Abatement Operations, which is available online at www.nyc.gov.

The report details 33 specific recommendations to strengthen the practices of many City agencies, improve notifications between agencies, add new oversight, and ensure that the inspection and permitting process make fire safety a priority.

In the wake of the tragic loss of Lt. Joseph Graffagnino and Firefighter Robert Beddia at the Deutche Bank fire last August, a workgroup was appointed by the Mayor to conduct a comprehensive review of city policies, inspections requirements and procedures relating to oversight and responsibility at sites where construction demolition and abatement work were being done.

The 33 recommendations in the report encourage enforcement efforts focusing on common fire- and life-safety concerns, regardless of which agency is working at a site, creating a fully coordinated, systematic approach to improve overall safety at all these work sites. Already 31 of the 33 recommendations have been implemented or are underway.

Immediately after the fire at 130 Liberty St., the Department conducted an internal review of its uniformed inspection program and made a number of significant changes, which  increased the timely inspections of high-rise construction and demolition sites. Today’s report recommends further changes, including the FDNY’s development of an automated, computer-based system that facilitates the sharing of inspection data throughout the agency, as well as with DOB and DEP.

The Department is already redesigning these inspection systems to create a single, comprehensive database containing all FDNY-related information about every building in the New York City. This new Business Intelligence System being developed by IBM will incorporate historical data, and replace some current data storage and tracking systems that were created at different times to collect information for different purposes.

This plan has all the right elements – enhanced information sharing, cross-training, new technology to improve accountability, and new protocols and regulations to improve safety. The Department will implement these recommendations and continue to do everything possible to help ensure that a tragedy like 130 Liberty St. never happens again.

Fire Department staff who were part of the report’s workgroup are Legal Affairs Deputy Commissioner Don Shacknai, Strategic Planning and Policy Deputy Commissioner Bill Eimicke, Chief of Operations Patrick McNally, Assistant Chief of Fire Prevention Richard Tobin and Intergovernmental Affairs Associate Commissioner Caroline Kretz.

The 33 recommendations in the report are as follows. You can link to the full report at: http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/pdf/2008/pr277-08_safety_report.pdf

Abatement Operations

  1. DEP should regularly notify FDNY and DOB about large and/or complex abatement jobs that meet thresholds to be determined by DEP, FDNY, and DOB.
  2. DEP should establish a permit requirement for certain large and/or complex abatement jobs based on thresholds to be determined by DEP, DOB, and FDNY.    
  3. DEP should require building owners and/or air monitors on abatement jobs to notify DEP when abatement work at a particular site is complete.  
  4. DEP should promulgate clear guidance to contractors about how to maintain proper
    egress at abatement sites and enforce this requirement in the field. 
    5.         DEP should require that egress conditions be recorded daily in the abatement contractor’s logbook and kept on site.

6.         DEP should require that all materials used in the construction of temporary enclosures for abatement work be non-combustible or flame-resistant. 
7.         DEP should require the installation of a central negative air “cut-off switch” or similar mechanism at abatement jobs that meet thresholds to be established by DEP, FDNY, and DOB.
8.         DEP should develop written protocols, such as a checklist or other guidance, to ensure that its inspections are comprehensive and consistent at all abatement jobs.
9.         DEP inspectors should be trained to inspect and address egress and other safety requirements at abatement sites.   
10.       DEP should have the authority to enforce provisions of the Fire and Building Codes at abatement sites, including issuing Notices of Violation and other penalties.    
11.       DOB should make permanent its capacity to have inspectors and other personnel respond to abatement sites—based on criteria to be established by DOB, DEP and FDNY—to augment DEP and FDNY inspections at a particular site. DOB inspectors and other responders must have proper training and personal protective equipment to do this job.
12.       DEP should formally establish a policy that strictly limits simultaneous abatement and demolition work, and requires a variance—including review by DOB and FDNY—to undertake it.

Demolition Operations

13.       DOB should issue full demolition permits only after an applicant certifies that the site does not need to be abated, or that abatement is complete.

14.       DOB should amend its rules and/or seek legislation to increase permitting requirements for all building demolitions using hand-held mechanical devices, including the submission by an engineer of means and methods used and detailed mechanical equipment calculations and details.
15.       DOB should notify FDNY whenever a construction or demolition permit is issued.  
16.       DOB should amend its rules and/or seek legislation to require additional site safety coordinators at certain stages of the demolition process for buildings that are 25 stories or more, and at demolition jobs over 500,000 square feet, regardless of height. 
17.       DOB should require that Site Safety Managers conduct daily checks of standpipe connections and valves, and a weekly tracing of the standpipe to verify that it has not been breached.

18.       DOB should amend its rules and/or seek legislation to require uniform color-coding of standpipe and sprinkler system lines.
19.       DOB should amend its rules and/or seek legislation to require a plumbing or fire­suppression license and a permit to cut and cap standpipes or sprinklers during full demolition.
20.       FDNY and DOB should study the feasibility of requiring the installation of a pressurized standpipe alarm system (or other security measures) on new building and full demolition jobs.
21.       DOB should amend its rules and/or seek legislation to require pressure testing by a licensed plumber or fire suppression contractor of every 75 feet of standpipe in buildings under construction.
22.       The Citywide smoking ban at construction, demolition and abatement sites should be strengthened and enforced with a zero-tolerance approach.

Inspection Processes at DOB, DEP and FDNY

23.       DOB, FDNY, and DEP should review their inspection criteria and make changes to ensure that, to the extent possible, inspections are prioritized on the basis of risk.   
24.       DOB, FDNY, and DEP should create common safety protocols incorporating high­priority safety issues within the inspection capacity of all three agencies, and should cross-train inspectors to address these common safety issues.
25.       DOB, FDNY, and DEP should implement a system to share relevant results of inspections of buildings that meet agreed-upon criteria. As part of this effort, FDNY should develop a computer-based process to share inspection data internally and with DOB and DEP.
26.       DOB, FDNY, and DEP should review their inspection programs to ensure that they have sufficiently robust quality assurance controls in place.  
27.       DOB should identify “high-risk” alteration sites and develop an appropriate inspection program; FDNY should determine whether and how frequently these high-risk alteration sites should be inspected.

FDNY Demolition Inspections

28.       FDNY should amend Rule 11-01 and other inspection requirements to establish the appropriate frequency and scope of demolition inspections by the Department.
29.       FDNY should incorporate inspections of buildings under demolition that take place every 30 days or at any higher frequency into its Building Inspection Safety Program (“BISP”) Tracking System.
30.       FDNY should develop an automated, computer-based system that facilitates the sharing of inspection data throughout the agency, as well as with DOB and DEP.  The Department should also accelerate its transition from paper-based to computer-based data collection and storage for inspections and other processes. 
31.       FDNY should streamline its process for referring non-emergency conditions to DOB.
32.       DOB, DEP and FDNY should update their websites and publications to provide comprehensive and coordinated guidance about the construction, demolition and abatement processes, including how to file for and conduct these operations safely, and the regulatory schemes that are triggered by these operations.

Non-Jurisdictional Buildings

33.       The City should pursue state and federal legislation to require that any building built or demolished in New York City is subject to the City’s Building and Fire Codes, regardless of owner. Until that requirement is in place, the City should seek to enter into agreements with Federal, State and international building owners to allow DOB and FDNY to conduct inspections and assure code compliance so that these agencies have critical information about conditions at these properties that could affect public safety.