Seek Tighter Control of City Construction

Seek Tighter Control of City Construction


The Bloomberg administration and the City Council June 4 introduced new construction safety legislation in response to 15 fatalities so far this year - including the May 31 death of two workers due to a West 91st St. crane collapse - compared to 12 deaths in all of 2007.

The Chief-Leader/Michel Friang A GREATER EMPHASIS ON SAFETY: Mayor Bloomberg lays out a plan to improve safety and hold contractors more accountable in the wake of a rash of construction-related deaths. 'Building for the future and building safely are not mutually exclusive,' he told reporters.

The head of the union representing Building Inspectors said, however, that unless a shortage in their ranks is addressed, the charges may not help much.

The 13-point legislative package includes increased construction site regulations and stiffer fines for violations, and requires all general contractors to register with the city.

'Hold Them Accountable'

Contractors must register with the city before receiving a building permit, allowing officials to monitor their safety records. Companies with poor safety records will be held to more rigorous standards and could have permits suspended or revoked if they do not improve. The city will also assign safety monitors to sites whose operators have poor track records.

The legislation, Mayor Bloomberg said, "will help enable the Buildings Department to hold contractors accountable to their safety records, and introduces new training requirements and safety rules in key areas, including crane operations, that will make construction sites safer. Building for the future and building safely are not mutually exclusive. We can and will do both - but public safety is our top priority."

"City government will not sacrifice the safety of New Yorkers in the name of development," said Council Speaker Christine Quinn. "Today's legislative solutions will ensure the people working on and around construction sites are as safe as possible." Ms. Quinn said that the Council would begin holding hearings immediately and work to pass the legislation as quickly as possible.

Union: Shortage Hurts Quality

But Joseph Corso, the president of Local 211 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents Building Inspectors, said that while he supports the legislation, the city does not have enough inspectors.

"My biggest concern is accountability and productivity of inspectors. We can't have quality and quantity at the same time," he said. "We have to allow inspectors enough time to do a thorough inspection, and make sure the inspector isn't forced to run to another job to meet any sort of objective of the agency." He said that often inspectors do not spend enough time at sites to determine if they are safe.

"The media is quick to note that there was an inspector on site, even if he was there for something totally unrelated," Mr. Corso added. "Well, an inspector was out there, but wasn't required [to] - and shouldn't - have gone beyond the scope of what he is there to do." He noted that if something goes wrong, the inspector is immediately branded as "incompetent."

Hiring 56 More

The Mayor said that the city plans to add 56 inspectors, bringing the total number of Building Inspectors to 461, compared to 277 when he took office in 2002.

The legislation also proposes no longer requiring the Building Commissioner to be a registered architect or licensed engineer. The Mayor said that this will allow the city to recruit the person with the best managerial skills.

The acting Commissioner, Robert D. LiMandri, is a trained engineer but does not have a license.

Mr. LiMandri called the legislative safety agenda "an unprecedented step forward."

"Nothing is more important to the 1,200 members of the Building Trades Employers' Association (BTEA)," said its president, Lou Coletti, "than making sure that every person who comes to work each day will return home safely to their family every night."