As construction work in New York City continues to pick up with subsequent reopening phases, the City’s Department of Buildings (DOB) is picking up the pace of their inspections to ensure compliance with both City and State restart requirements. DOB spent most of June conducting a compliance sweep of permitted sites, but didn’t issue financial penalties. Effective July 8, 2020 sites found out of compliance will be subjected to a penalty of $5,000 per violation, with the pote

Construction activity in New York City is officially approved to start June 8th. All NYC property owners and contractors, with job site permits, are required to follow the Department of Buildings Phase 1 Reopening Guidance. Employers will also be required to develop a site-specific health plan that should be visibly displayed at all worksites, along with an affirmation to the state stating they have read and understood all reopening requirements. For more information click h

Cycle 8 Building Owners, a new announcement from the DOB states: "The Department’s Façade Inspection and Safety Program (FISP) is offering an amnesty period to begin July 1, 2020. The program will run for three months and may be extended at the Department’s discretion. The amnesty program is only open to non-compliant Cycle 8 owners." Review this official notice from NYC DOB here. The RJSA team has the architectural and building knowledge to help building owner's navigate fa

The new Cycle 9 requirement regarding probes was added as a result of QEWI’s (Qualified Exterior Wall Inspectors) inspection of buildings built during the late 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s when cavity wall masonry construction became popular. What the inspectors have found is that a large majority of these buildings do not have sufficient wall ties, if any at all, as the building code did not have any requirements or inspections for them until the 1968 edition. Therefore, this i

OSHA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is a necessary resource for the building industry. OSHA Guidance on Preparing...

As we prepare for the return to job sites and our commercial buildings in and surrounding New York City, it is important that we have...

With only Essential Construction still underway, NYC DOB has released an Essential Active Construction Sites map. At the time of this...

TCO renewal payments can be done electronically with an eCheck or credit card though the NYC DOB eFiling website. Once you are logged...

Starting today, April 7, 2020, you can e-file your Certificate of Correction’s by logging into your DOBNOW account. Once you are logged...

NYC DOB is requiring anyone who wants to continue Construction work fill out an Essential Work Request through DOBNOW. Some quick points:...