Require Building Safety Reports

Section 2 - Names this the NYC Department of Buildings Community Accountability Act.

Section 3 - Amends section 28-103.18.1 of the NYC Administrative Code to require that any information in the complaint book that is kept by DOB and is available to the public be posted on the department's website which shall be maintained by the city of New York, subject to such regu- lations as the commissioner may prescribe.

Section 4 - Adds a new section 28-103.18.2 requiring the Department of Buildings to maintain a record available for public inspection at their office as well as on the department's website containing a list of all construction and building accidents resulting in injury or death, and all property damage due to damage arising out of violations of the building code. All such accidents shall be investigated and a written report of the findings must also be posted on the website, which shall be maintained by the city of New York subject to the commissioner's regulations.

Section 5 - Adds a new section 28-201.5 to require the department to provide biannual reports to community boards and borough presidents on the department's actions within their jurisdiction. The report shall show all specified immediately hazardous and specified major violations, the number of such violations corrected, enforcement actions commenced, and the disposition of enforcement actions, within the period, separated by community board and borough president. Such enforcement actions shall include court actions, orders of closure, and environmental control board actions and orders, including fines and penalties. The report shall also show all unsafe building orders, vacate orders and stop work orders issued.

Section 6 - Adds a new section 28-207.6 to require that whenever depart- ment issues an order regarding any dangerous conditions pursuant to section 28-216.4 of the NYC Admin Code or any vacate order, that an investigation be made as to the circumstances, and a report be written and posted on the department's website describing these conditions. This report shall be made available for the public to review and maintained by the city of New York pursuant to such regulations as the commissioner may prescribe.

Section 7 - This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become law

Justification

The Cities Committee has held hearings in the past and has gathered information from audits and reports about construction in New York City. The following are some of the facts we have uncovered which call out for reform:

Construction Safety

The Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration reported 80 deaths in New York City construction accidents between 2002 and 2005; the New York Committee on Occupational Health and Safety reports that construction is the most dangerous occupation, with death rates four times the average for other workers.

The Construction Industry Partnership of New York City, a labor-manage- ment alliance, estimates the cost of construction accidents in New York City at $858 million in 2002. A review of 2,500 OSHA construction site safety inspections in New York City in 2003, released by the New York Trial Lawyers Institute in 2005, determined that two thirds of inspections found at least one violation of a safety standard. According to the Institute, OSHA classified virtually all the violations as "seri- ous".

Enforcement

The NYC DOB issued 49,000 ECB and 46,000 DOB violations in FY '06, and in FY '05 issued 626 vacate orders.

A 2003 NYC Comptroller's audit showed .67% of sampled construction plans that were submitted to the Buildings Department through self-certifica- tion contained errors.

A 2004 New York City Comptroller's audit found that 51% of sampled ECB building violations for 2002 were for hazardous violations and that no evidence of a systematic DOB process existed for following up on hazard- ous violations.

The DOB reported it reinspected 11,548 hazardous violations in FY '05 and issued second violations in 17% of the re-inspections. No systemwide public summary of violation outcomes exists that correlates the percent- age of outstanding violations to how many are corrected, nor did DOB report on enforcement outcomes at the September 7th Assembly hearing despite questions to that effect in the hearing notice. A 2006 New York

State Comptroller's audit determined that NYC DOB tracking of enforce- ment of stop work orders and violations was inadequate, in that DOB did not have a database that provided correlation between stop work orders, violations, and enforcement outcomes. DOB responded to the audit in an April 2006 letter stating it was attempting to develop such a system.

The changes made in this bill will require the Department of Buildings to much more closely monitor construction sites around the City which will better protect the residents as well as workers at the worksites.

While many people have called in complaints when they see illegal activ- ities, they feel like their complaints are being ignored. This bill will require the department to investigate and follow-up any illegal activ- ities they find. By requiring the tracking of complaints and citations, stop work orders, and other violations on the department's website, the average citizen can see that their complaint is being investigated and acted upon.

Legislative history

S.555 of 2023-2024 (Hoylman-Sigal): Died in Finance A.1027 of 2023-2024 (Carroll): Died in Cities

S.6948-A of 2021-2022 (Hoylman): Died in Housing, Construction and Community Development

A.0499-A of 2021-2022 (Carroll): Passed Assembly

A.7745B of 2007-08

A.4770A of 2009-10

A.1785 of 2011-12

A.5159 of 2013-14

A.3617 of 2015-16

A.4705 of 2017-18

A.3115a of 2019-2020

Fiscal implications

None to the State.

Effective date

One year following enactment.