A new report by the New York State Comptroller found that New York City construction site inspections and regulation enforcement need improvement.
The state watchdog found that nearly 90% of active New York City construction sites it visited had safety problems. It also said the city’s Department of Buildings doesn’t effectively prioritize which sites get inspected.
Officials from the Comptroller’s office visited 18 active construction sites last summer and reported that 16 of those sites had a total of 77 safety issues. The problems included not having a site safety manager, missing or incomplete site safety logs and daily inspection records, and no documentation of workers completing required site safety training or attending mandatory safety meetings.
In 60% of cases where hazardous conditions were present for more than 30 days, DOB did not issue a citation for failing to correct the problem, the report says. The DOB agreed with most recommendations made to improve practices as cited in the report, which included more timely action to fix hazardous conditions at job sites.
The city department’s chief also noted that conditions “may change on a daily, or even hourly basis; therefore, the types of conditions that the auditors noted may not be present at the time of DOB’s inspection.”
Related Stories
| Mar 26, 2012
Ball State University completes nation's largest ground-source geothermal system
Ball State's geothermal system will replace four aging coal-fired boilers to provide renewable power that will heat and cool 47 university buildings, representing 5.5-million-sf on the 660-acre campus.
| Mar 22, 2012
Hawaiian architecture firm chooses FRP trellis system over traditional materials
MGA Architecture plans to add five more trellis systems on the neighboring building.
| Mar 22, 2012
Moline Public Library uses copper as an exterior building material
Architects incorporate decorative copper panels to create the look of a heavy plate copper shingle.
| Mar 21, 2012
10 common data center surprises
Technologies and best practices provide path for better preparation.
| Mar 21, 2012
ABI remains positive for fourth straight month
Highest spike in inquiries for new projects since 2007.
| Mar 21, 2012
Iowa’s Mercy Medical Center’s new Emergency Department constructed using Lean design
New Emergency Department features a "racetrack" design with a central nurses' station encircled by 19 private patient examination rooms and 2 trauma treatment rooms.
| Mar 21, 2012
Clary, Hendrickson named regional directors for HDR Architecture
New directors will be responsible for expanding and strengthening the firm throughout the central region.
| Mar 20, 2012
FMI releases 2012 first quarter construction outlook
The last time construction put in place was at this level was 2000-2001.
| Mar 20, 2012
Ceco Building Systems names Romans marketing director
Romans joins Ceco Building Systems with over 15 years in marketing and customer service.
| Mar 20, 2012
UT Arlington launches David Dillon Center for Texas Architecture
Symposium about Texas architecture planned for April.