Creates a duty to reinspect and abate hazardous activities in violation of the New York city building code and zoning ordinance

6 Co-sponsors

• Ruben Diaz
• Ruth Hassell-Thompson
• George Onorato
• Bill Perkins
• José M. Serrano
• Antoine M. Thompson

Title of bill

An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to adding civil penalties for failure to certify correction of immediately hazardous violations that pose a threat of imminent danger and creating a duty to reinspect and abate hazardous activities in violation of the New York city building code

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill will create a duty to re-inspect all hazardous violations issued by the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Buildings.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 states the legislative findings. Section 2 adds a new article to the NYC Administrative Code, 217, which provides for a penalty of between $1500-$5000 if a person fails to submit certification of correction of an immediately hazardous violation as required by the administrative code. Furthermore, it requires the department to re-inspect all such sites where an immediately hazardous violation has been identified and a citation issued every 60 days until the violation is cured unless the respondent has filed a certification of correction; has obtained an extension of time for doing so, or corrected the condition in the presence of the commissioner or his/her agent. Each time the department visits and finds the violation not corrected, a new violation shall be issued along with a stop work order; or at the commissioner's discretion, a legal proceeding by the corporation counsel may be requested. This process shall continue every 60 days until the condition has been corrected or abated.

The bill makes clear that if one falsely certifies correction of an immediately hazardous violation they would be subject to prosecution under section 175.05 or 175.10 of the penal law. If one files such a certificate of correction, they would be subject to prosecution under section 175.30 or 175.35 of the penal law.

Section 3 contains the effective date.

Justification

As building proceeds at a rapid rate in New York City, many projects are cutting corners, bending rules, doing whatever they can get away with even when their work is creating hazardous situations for the public, the neighbors, the owners, and, even for the workers on site. The Department of Buildings has tools they can use to prevent such violations - by issuing stop work orders and requiring work to be done properly, with safety measures used to protect people and property in the vicinity. However, they do not monitor the sites that have received violations to see that they are corrected, and the construction companies are aware that they can get away with ignoring stop work orders, fines, court dates, etc. By requiring a regular re-inspection, with further fines or court appearances looming, the businesses who are proceeding with construction will have reason to follow the rules and correct the violations. Neighbors are able to check for open DOB or ECB violations on the DOB website.

Prior legislative history

A.7800 of 2007 - similar bill vetoed by the Governor. A.10188D of 2008 - referred to rules

Fiscal implications to state and local government

Undetermined.

Effective date

Six months following enactment.