Thursday, December 22, 2011

DOB can't handle 2 roles

From the Huffington Post:

Today, the DOB is responsible for both approving and policing building construction and maintenance. These conflicting roles under one roof do not serve the public's safety. An independent office of inspections would address the consistent need for stronger enforcement and bolster the city's capacity to inspect buildings, cranes and, yes, elevators -- all pieces of our urban super-structure that have failed in recent years, with tragic results. As it is, there is an enormous backlog of violations that remain unfixed, many of them serious.

The needless death last week of ad executive Suzanne Hart in a Madison Avenue office is just one example of how flawed our current system is. Since 1995, the city DOB has allowed privately hired companies to inspect a range of routine building components -- from roofs and boilers to sidewalk sheds and elevators. These private inspectors then "self-certify" their findings, meaning that the city takes their word that the inspection results are faithful and accurate.

That is the regulatory equivalent of the fox guarding the hen-house, and it needs to end. The FDNY's own data offers more proof that something is wrong: In FY 11, more than 36,000 people have been rescued from New York City elevators, a number that has more than doubled over the last two years. Clearly, something is not right.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The solution, more $ for budget...

The reality, there isn't any...

The buildings department is one of the few agencies that makes money, and they still have to suffer through the same attrition that the other agencies do...

There are far fewer boiler and elevator inspectors than you think...

Anonymous said...

It’s obvious to all that the New York City Buildings Department has serious issues that need to be fixed. WHY ISN’T THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL ADDRESSING THIS VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM?

Anonymous said...

In 2004, a worker broke a gas main on a work site in Hillcrest Estates. The FDNY issued a stop work order. After the FDNY left, the DOB allowed those builders to keep working because an FDNY SWO is not enforced by DOB. Yes, this was a long time ago, but we wonder whether this is still the DOB's position on such an issue.

Anonymous said...

Handle two roles?

They are given the funding and the mandate to do the things they do at the level they do it. This is intentional.

There is no such thing as a rogue agency or one that is grossly underfunded (except things like libraries, schools, hospitals and the like.)

Ask your City Councilman about this - if they wanted to - the problem would be solved quick.

Gary the Agnostic said...

I didn't know that they could handle one role, let alone two.