By Helen Klein
Legislation that would impose penalties upon engineers or architects who wrongly self-certify building plans is under consideration at the City Council. The bill, Intro 309-A, which is co-sponsored by Brooklyn City Councilmember Michael Nelson, provides sanctions for, “professional engineers and registered architects who knowingly or negligently certify a false or noncompliant building permit application or plans.” These sanctions include suspension or revocation for a year or more of self-certification privileges. In addition, the legislation mandates the Department of Buildings (DOB) to, “Create and maintain a database of all professional engineers and registered architects whose privileges to professionally certify applications or plans or other documents have been revoked, suspended or otherwise conditioned.” Such checks on self-certification have long been sought by community activists. As development has speeded up around New York City, with streetscapes rapidly changing as one and two family homes are razed to make way for multi-family condominiums, one of the constant outcries has been against architects or engineers who self-certify plans that turn out to be not in compliance with either the building code or zoning regulations. On the other hand, self-certification is favored by the development community. Initially introduced during the Giuliani administration as a way of streamlining development, it relies on the professionalism and integrity of architects and engineers rather than on DOB experts acting as watchdogs. This enables projects to get permits far more quickly than would be possible if DOB plan examiners had to go over every one, a situation that has intensified as the number of permit applications has soared. Telling members of Community Board 14 about the bill, which may be voted on as soon as next month, Nelson was optimistic that the bill, if it becomes law, could make a major difference in the battle to make sure that development occurs within the law. Speaking to the group gathered at Edward R. Murrow High School, 1600 Avenue L, for the board’s January meeting, Nelson opined that architects and engineers, “Are not going to risk their licenses and their reputations” by falsely self-certifying projects. “We’re trying to do something, because there’s been such an abuse of building codes,” Nelson stressed. Other Brooklyn councilmembers who co-sponsored the legislation include Lewis Fidler, Vincent Gentile, Letitia James, Kendall Stewart and James Oddo. If Intro 309-A becomes law, it will join two other recent laws that aim to make it harder for developers to thumb their noses at building and zoning regulations. One raises the fine for demolition of one and two-family homes without the proper permit, to between $5,000 and $10,000, with those who are convicted also facing a possible jail term. The other ups the ante for violating stop work orders, imposing a penalty of $2,000 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second, and $10,000 for a third violation, as well as all other subsequent violations. In addition, it doubles the penalty for work without a permit from twice the cost of the permit to four times the cost of the permit, with a minimum penalty of $500, for smaller buildings, with developers of larger buildings having to pay 14 times the cost of the permit for such an infraction, with a minimum fine of $5,000.
