New York City Department of Buildings (NYCDOB) has released its December 2018 enforcement bulletin, which provides highlights of what the agency says are its actions to sanction and deter bad actors in the construction industry through the enforcement of safety laws and codes of conduct for construction professionals. The Jan. 31 bulletin includes summaries of NYCDOB-imposed disciplinary actions, including penalties and license suspensions and revocations.
The actions below represent a portion of NYCDOB’s overall work to enforce the city’s building codes and safety laws, in addition to the thousands of inspections conducted and violations issued by the agency each month for illegal building and construction conditions, NYCDOB says in its statement.
NYCDOB took a number of major enforcement actions in December, including:
- Nine violations and $80,425 in penalties, including daily penalties, issued for illegal building alterations on three separate occasions.
- 14 violations and $165,843 in penalties, including daily penalties, issued for illegal transient use of buildings at four different locations.
- 55 violations and $625,000 in penalties issued for failure to safeguard construction sites on 46 separate occasions.
- 11 violations and $110,000 in penalties issued to 11 different individuals for failure to carry out duties as construction superintendents.
Below are some individual enforcement highlights for December focusing on construction industry-related offences.
$50,000 in penalties issued to CL Concrete Corp. and Forest Building Supply for operating a crane in an unsafe manner at 149 Church St., Manhattan, by hoisting two separate loads at different heights using one hook, which created an immediately hazardous condition endangering workers on the site.
$52,500 in penalties issued to safety registrant King Demolition Services for various site-safety related violations on a construction site at 2365 Hoffman St. in the Bronx, including lacking a required construction fence, failure to implement proper housekeeping, failure to protect neighboring properties from construction operations, and failure to safeguard the site.
$50,250 in penalties issued to registered general contractor Pacific Rim for various worker-and pedestrian-safety related violations on a construction site at 38-04 11th St., Queens, including not keeping required site safety plans on site, missing guardrails, obstructing a public sidewalk with tripping hazards, and constructing a work platform that was not on the approved safety plans.
$36,750 in penalties issued to registered general contractor M.N.C. General Contr. Corp. for various violating conditions at 286 Lenox Ave., Manhattan, including blocked fire escapes, performing construction work beyond the scope of the approved plans, failure to provide overhead protection, missing guardrails, and unsafe storage of combustible material.
$10,000 in penalties issued to safety registrant Sky Materials Corp. for failure to make the proper notification to the Department of Buildings regarding the arrival of a crane to the construction site at 140 West 24th St.
$10,000 in penalties issued to registered general contractor P & K Contracting, Inc. for operating a forklift on the sidewalk without flagmen, barriers, or other pedestrian protections at 2225 Lacombe Ave., Bronx.
$6,250 in penalties issued to Abraham Feingold for tampering with a stop work order posted by DOB at 1729 54th St., Brooklyn.
$4,100 in penalties issued to the licensed master plumber company, Einsteins Plbg & Htg Inc. for installing a boiler and gas fired hot water heater at 110 North 9th ST., Brooklyn, without proper permits.
$3,750 in penalties issued to tracking number holder Bagiana Construction Inc. for violations related to failure to comply with a tenant protection plan, failure to provide proper housekeeping, and failure to distribute the Safe Construction Bill of Rights to tenants.
$34,100 in penalties issued to safety registrant Ground to Sky City Builders for performing construction work without proper DOB permits, and various site-safety violations at 21 North Henry St., Brooklyn, including not having a construction superintendent for the project, not installing a sidewalk shed, missing guardrails, and improperly erected supported scaffold.
Following an investigation into technical report submissions filed by registered architect Sandor Weiss, which found the applicant signed-off on multiple special inspections despite not being the director of a registered special inspection agency, the applicant agreed to surrender all filing privileges with the department for three years.
Licensed master plumber and site safety manager Quin Rickman agreed to voluntarily surrendered his safety manager registration, and have his master plumber license suspended for 18 months effective Nov. 19, 2018, following an investigation that he made materially false statements on a form filed with the department related to his site safety manager registration application.
Licensed oil burner installer Michael Santoro was disciplined by the department for performing work without a permit, and agreed to pay a fine of $8,000 and have his license put on probation for one year effective Dec. 27, 2018.
Licensed master plumber Joseph Moehlenhoff was disciplined by the department for failure to have a properly established business location, and agreed to pay a fine of $800 and have his license put on probation for one year effective Dec. 21, 2018.
