By Andrew J. Pisani The Department of Buildings has always had a policy which allowed for a space that was normally a non-Public Assembly space to act as a Public Assembly space for a special event. In the eyes of the DOB, Public Assembly is considered a group of 75 people… View more
By Austin Regan BC 403.5.2 Additional Exit Stairway “For buildings other than Group R-2 that are more than 420 feet in building height, one additional exit stairway… shall be provided in addition to the minimum number of exits required…” In other words, if your tall building normally requires two stairways to… View more
By Brian Lafferty Sometimes, FDNY Violations feel like parking tickets. Try as you might, they just happen. The good news is that it’s relatively straightforward to avoid the FDNY’s ‘low hanging fruit’ – the most obvious violations. 1. Keep all approved plans and documents on site. Make sure the site manager… View more
By Renee Sosnowski Last summer, the Mayor signed Local Law 47 of 2013, which required contractors and building owners to consolidate construction signage and permits into a single new standard format. The goal here was two-fold — to provide information that was more useful to the public and minimize the visual… View more
By Penny Laughlin The last thing most owners want to plan for is their property being deemed Structurally Compromised. If it happens, it’s best to be ready. If a building is deemed SCB, the owner has 60 days to have an initial inspection completed by a registered design professional. Within 30… View more
By Frank Fortino Recently, the Metropolis team met with the Development HUB directors to discuss the platform’s progress as well as address some issues to make everything work smoother on a daily basis. The Development HUB was created to facilitate faster approvals and permits by utilizing technology and electronic submissions of… View more
By Austin Regan Next October, a mere seven months from now, the updated 2014 Building Code will go into effect. Unlike the previous conversion from the 1968 Code to the 2008 Code, this time there will be no transition period where the applicant can choose which Code to follow. Once the… View more