Metropolis Group -

Grid ‘Unlocked’ at City Hall: Local Laws

By Austin Regan, R.A.

The populace has become numb to news out of Washington about the dysfunctional, “do-nothing” Congress that can’t seem to agree on anything more substantial than what to name a post office. Congress’s approval rating hovers somewhere between speeding tickets and root canal surgery.

Our local city government does not share this lack of legislative accomplishment. While researching an old local law on the DOB website, I came across the following list of 2017 City Council actions that the Department of Buildings (DOB) has determined affects the Building Code and construction industry.

Everything from requiring GPS devices on cranes and increased safety training for construction workers to modification of storm-water disposal requirements for buildings and new civil penalties for construction violations. A council member proposed it, the city council passed it, and the mayor signed it. Voila! A local law was born.

For your holiday reading pleasure, we offer a list of the local laws that DOB deemed relevant in 2017. Relevant local laws from previous years are available under the “Codes” section of the DOB website.

It’s a long list and a lot to digest. Many of the laws are very specific and may not impact individual companies or projects, but others will have significant impact on how business is done. Perhaps a 2018 New Year’s wish should be for some of that Washington gridlock to find its way to City Hall and give us time to digest 2017’s changes.

  • Local Law 233 of 2017 (No. 1644-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to creating an office of alternative energy.
  • Local Law 224 of 2017 (No. 1436-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the Department of Buildings to report on site safety managers and coordinators.
  • Local Law 219 of 2017 (No. 1307-A). A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to Department of Buildings inspectors.
  • Local Law 206 of 2017 (No. 1444-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring site-specific safety orientations for workers at construction sites.
  • Local Law 205 of 2017 (No. 1437-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to increasing the civil penalties for construction sites with excessive violations.
  • Local Law 204 of 2017 (No. 1429-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring pre-shift safety meetings for workers at construction sites.
  • Local Law 203 of 2017 (No. 1404-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to penalties for violations of site safety provisions of the construction codes.
  • Local Law 196 of 2017 (Int. No. 1447-C). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to construction site safety training and repealing section 3310.10.2 of the New York City building code.
  • Local Law 188 of 2017 (Int. No. 934-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the creation of a real time enforcement unit in the department of buildings.
  • Local Law 187 of 2017 (Int. No. 139-C). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the regulation of non-tobacco smoking products, and to amend the fire code of the city of New York, and the New York City mechanical code, in relation to the operation of non-tobacco hookah establishments.
  • Local Law 184 of 2017 (No. 1550-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to harassment in private dwellings.
  • Local Law 165 of 2017 (Int. No. 1556-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to penalties for tenant harassment.
  • Local Law 164 of 2017 (Int. No. 1549-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to repeated acts of harassment.
  • Local Law 163 of 2017 (Int. No. 1548-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to amending the definition of harassment to include repeatedly contacting or visiting a tenant under certain circumstances.
  • Local Law 162 of 2017 (Int. No. 1530-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to creating a rebuttable presumption regarding harassment.
  • Local Law 161 of 2017 (Int. No. 1523-A). A Local Law to amend the New York City charter, in relation to the creation of an office of the tenant advocate within the Department of Buildings.
  • Local Law 160 of 2017 (Int. No. 1133-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the denial of certain building permits where outstanding charges are owed to the city.
  • Local Law 159 of 2017 (Int. No. 960-A). A Local Law to amend the New York city administrative code, in relation to creating a safe construction bill of rights.
  • Local Law 158 of 2017 (Int. No. 944-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to construction work permits.
  • Local Law 157 of 2017 (Int. No. 940-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to increasing the penalties for a violation of a stop work order.
  • Local Law 156 of 2017 (Int. No. 939-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to increasing the penalties for work without a permit.
  • Local Law 155 of 2017 (Int. No. 938-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring increased oversight of construction contractors who have engaged in work without a required permit.
  • Local Law 154 of 2017 (Int. No. 936-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York and the New York City building code, in relation to tenant protection plans, and to repeal section 1704.20.10 of the building code of the city of New York, in relation to special requirements for work in occupied multiple dwellings.
  • Local Law 153 of 2017 (Int. No. 931-B). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to building violations adjudicated before the office of administrative trials and hearings.
  • Local Law 152 of 2017 (Int. No. 930-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to distressed buildings subject to foreclosure by action in rem.
  • Local Law 151 of 2017 (Int. No. 926-A). A Local Law in relation to creating a task force on construction work in occupied multiple dwellings.
  • Local Law 150 of 2017 (Int. No. 924-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to vacate orders.
  • Local Law 149 of 2017 (Int. No. 918-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to professionally certified applications for construction document approval and final inspections of permitted work.
  • Local Law 148 of 2017 (Int. No. 347-B). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to remedies for the breach of the duty of an owner to refrain from harassment of tenants.
  • Local Law 116 of 2017 (Int. No. 1219-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to reporting and publication of information about privately owned public spaces.
  • Local Law 109 of 2017 (Int. No. 1586-A). A Local Law to amend local law 50 for the year 2015, relating to the preservation of certain hotels, a moratorium and report relating to such preservation, and the expiration and repeal of such amendments, in relation to extending the effective period of the provisions of such local law and requiring a supplemental report relating to such preservation.
  • Local Law 97 of 2017 (Int. No. 1346-A). A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, the administrative code of the city of New York, the New York City plumbing code and the New York City building code, in relation to water pollution control, including provisions relating to storm water management and control of discharges into storm sewers.
  • Local Law 94 of 2017 (Int. No. 1218-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to illegal conversions.
  • Local Law 87 of 2017 (Int. No. 823-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to reporting on illegal conversions of dwelling units for other than permanent residence purposes.
  • Local Law 86 of 2017 (Int. No. 722-A). To amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to minimum temperatures required to be maintained in dwellings.
  • Local Law 81 of 2017 (Int. No. 1448-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring construction superintendents at certain construction sites.
  • Local Law 80 of 2017 (Int. No. 1446-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to licensing for operators of certain complex cranes.
  • Local Law 79 of 2017 (Int. No. 1435-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to maintaining crane event records.
  • Local Law 78 of 2017 (Int. No. 1433-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring the Department of Buildings to report on all construction incidents that result in an injury or fatality to a member of the public or a construction worker.
  • Local Law 77 of 2017 (Int. No. 1421-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to requiring cranes to be equipped with global positioning systems or similar locating devices.
  • Local Law 68 of 2017 (Int. No. 81-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to the OSHA notification act.
  • Local Law 46 of 2017 (No. 247-A). A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to criminal and civil penalties for the performance of unlicensed electrical work.