What's happening
This bill raises the cost threshold for public works and building alterations requiring a licensed engineer or architect from $5,000 and $10,000 to $50,000.
Why it matters
Raises the minimum cost for requiring a licensed engineer or architect for public works or building alterations, meaning more small municipal projects and building changes can proceed without hiring these professionals. This could reduce costs and administrative burdens for local governments, schools, and property owners on lower-budget projects.
May speed up the process for small-scale repairs, upgrades, or alterations, as municipalities and owners would not need to wait for architectural or engineering plans and approvals for projects under $50,000. This could be especially significant in rural or lower-income areas where professional services are scarce or expensive.
Could have implications for safety and quality oversight, since more construction and alteration projects will be exempt from professional design and supervision unless they involve structural or public safety changes. While this might lower costs, it also places more responsibility on non-professionals to ensure work is done safely.
Likely to impact the demand for professional services among architects and engineers, as fewer small projects would require their involvement by law. This might reduce costs for clients but could also reduce work for licensed professionals in the state.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Raise Engineer Oversight Threshold
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
10 Co-sponsors
3 Multi-sponsors
History
- Referred to higher education
- Referred to higher education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
841
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER, SKARTADOS, STECK, PALMESANO, FRIEND, MONTESANO, CROUCH, WALTER, HAWLEY, GIGLIO, FITZPATRICK -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. BLANKENBUSH, McDONOUGH, RIVERA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to increasing the threshold at which certain buildings, structures and public works are required to be planned and supervised by a professional engineer, land surveyor or architect
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 7209 of the education law, as added by chapter 987 of the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
3. No county, city, town or village or other political subdivision of this state shall engage in the construction or maintenance of any public work involving engineering or land surveying for which plans, specifications and estimates have not been made by, and the construction and maintenance supervised by, a professional engineer or land surveyor; provided that this section shall not apply to the construction, improvement or maintenance of county roads or town highways, nor to any other public works wherein the contemplated expenditure for the completed project does not exceed [five] fifty thousand dollars. This section shall not be construed as affecting or preventing any county, city, town or village or other political subdivision of this state from engaging an architect licensed in this state for the preparation of plans, specifications and estimates for and the supervision of construction or maintenance of public works.
§ 2. Paragraph b of subdivision 7 of section 7209 of the education law, as added by chapter 987 of the laws of 1971, is amended to read as follows:
b. To alterations to any building or structure costing [ten] fifty thousand dollars or less which do not involve changes affecting the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02793-01-7
A. 841 2
structural safety or public safety thereof nor to farm buildings, including barns, sheds, poultry houses and other buildings used directly and solely for agricultural purposes; nor to residence buildings of gross floor area of fifteen hundred square feet or less, not including garages, carports, porches, cellars, or uninhabitable basements or attics.
§ 3. Subdivision 5 of section 7307 of the education law, as added by chapter 987 of the laws of 1971, paragraph 1 as amended by chapter 994 of the laws of 1971 and paragraph 2 as amended by chapter 591 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows:
5. This article shall not apply to: [1.] a. Farm buildings, including barns, sheds, poultry houses and other buildings used directly and solely for agricultural purposes; nor to residence buildings of gross area of fifteen hundred square feet or less, not including garages, carports, porches, cellars, or uninhabitable basements or attics; or
[2.] b. Alterations, costing ten thousand dollars or less, to any building or structure within the city of New York and [twenty] fifty thousand dollars or less, to any building or structure outside the city of New York which do not involve changes affecting the structural safety or public safety thereof.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.