Section 641.
§641. Department; commissioner. There shall be a department of
buildings, the head of which shall be the commissioner of buildings. The
commissioner or the first deputy commissioner shall be a registered
architect or a licensed professional engineer in good standing under the
education law.
Section 642.
§642. Deputies. The commissioner shall appoint two deputies, one of
whom shall be the first deputy commissioner. The commissioner may, by
instrument in writing filed with the department, designate a deputy
commissioner who is a registered architect or a licensed professional
engineer to possess any of the powers granted to the commissioner by
subdivision (b) or (d) of section six hundred forty-five of this
chapter. The deputy commissioner so designated shall possess such powers
in addition to any other powers that may be assigned to him or her by
the commissioner pursuant to any other provision of law.
Section 643.
§ 643. Department; functions. The department shall enforce, with
respect to buildings and structures, such provisions of the building
code, zoning resolution, multiple dwelling law, labor law and other
laws, rules and regulations as may govern the construction, alteration,
maintenance, use, occupancy, safety, sanitary conditions, mechanical
equipment and inspection of buildings or structures in the city, and
shall perform the functions of the city of New York relating to
(1) the designation of buildings and structures as unsafe and the
necessary legal action in relation thereto prior to the removal of the
unsafe condition through demolition or sealing except as provided in
section eighteen hundred two of this charter;
(2) the shoring of hazardous and unsafe buildings and structures;
(3) the testing and approval of power-operated cranes and derricks
used for construction, alteration, demolition, excavation and
maintenance purposes, including such uses in highways or sewers, or used
to hoist or lower any article on the outside of any building, excluding
cranes and derricks used in industrial plants or yards;
(4) the location, construction, alteration and removal of signs,
illuminated or non-illuminated, attached to the exterior of any building
or structure;
(5) (i) all surface and subsurface construction within the curb line,
including curb cuts and driveways, the covering thereof and entrances
thereto, and the issuance of permits in reference thereto, (ii) in
conjunction with the issuance of permits for surface and subsurface
construction within the curbline, such surface and subsurface
construction outside the curbline as shall be expressly delegated to the
department in the administrative code and the issuance of permits in
relation thereto and, (iii) notwithstanding any inconsistent provision
of section fourteen hundred three of this charter, in conjunction with
the issuance of a permit for the construction of a building, the
commissioner may approve the installation of and issue a permit for the
construction of an individual on site private sewage disposal system for
the premises. Such permit shall be issued in accordance with standards
and specifications prescribed by the commissioner, in consultation with
the commissioner of environmental protection, for the installation of
individual on site private sewage disposal systems;
(6) the regulation, inspection and testing of gas and electricity used
for light, heat and power purposes, electric, gas and steam meters,
electric wires and all lights furnished to the city; and
(7) the regulation, inspection and testing of electric wires and
wiring apparatus and other appliances used or to be used for the
transmission of electricity for electric light, heat, power, signaling,
communication, alarm and data transmission in or on any building or
structure in the city; provided, however, that the jurisdiction of the
department, except for the testing and approval of power-operated cranes
and derricks used for construction, alteration, demolition, excavation
and maintenance purposes and the licensing of the operators of such
equipment, the regulation, inspection and testing of gas and electricity
used for light, heat and power purposes, electric, gas and steam meters,
electric wires and lights and the regulation, inspection and testing of
wiring and appliances for electric light, heat and power, shall not
extend to waterfront property owned by the city and under the
jurisdiction of the department of ports, international trade and
commerce, or to the following structures on any such waterfront
property; wharves, piers, docks, bulkheads, structures wholly or partly
thereon, or to such other structures used in conjunction with or in
furtherance of waterfront commerce or navigation, or to bridges, tunnels
or subways or structures appurtenant thereto.
Section 645.
§ 645. Offices of the department; powers and duties. (a) There shall
be a main office of the department and in each borough at least one
branch office and a borough superintendent. Persons appointed as
inspectors to perform functions of the department shall have such
qualifications as shall be prescribed by the commissioner of citywide
administrative services after consultation with the commissioner;
provided however that such qualifications shall include:
(1) a minimum of five years acceptable experience working at a
construction trade; or
(2) a license as a professional engineer or architect issued pursuant
to the education law; or
(3) a minimum of three years of acceptable experience working at a
construction trade and a minimum of two years of formal training or
education in an acceptable construction program, with an emphasis on
construction, in a college, technical school or trade school; or
(4) a minimum of two years of acceptable experience working at a
construction trade or a minimum of two years of formal training or
education in an acceptable construction program, with an emphasis on
construction, at a college, trade school or technical school and a
minimum of three years participation in an apprentice inspection program
approved by the commissioner and the commissioner of citywide
administrative services.
(b) With respect to buildings and structures, the commissioner shall
have the following powers and duties exclusively, subject to review only
by the board of standards and appeals as provided by law:
(1) to examine and approve or disapprove plans for the construction
or alteration of any building or structure, including the installation
or alteration of any service equipment therein, and to direct the
inspection of such building or structure, and the service equipment
therein, in the course of construction, installation or alteration;
(2) to require that the construction or alteration of any building or
structure, including the installation or alteration of any service
equipment therein, shall be in accordance with the provisions of law and
the rules, regulations and orders applicable thereto; but where there is
a practical difficulty in the way of carrying out the strict letter of
any provision of law relating to buildings in respect to the use of
prescribed materials, or the installation or alteration of service
equipment, or methods of construction and where equally safe and proper
materials or forms of construction may be employed in a specific case,
he may permit the use of such materials or of such forms of
construction, provided that the spirit of the law shall be observed,
safety secured and substantial justice done, but he shall have no power
to allow any variance from the provisions of any law in any respect
except as expressly allowed therein, or from any appellate ruling of the
board of standards and appeals;
(3) to issue certificates of occupancy for any building or structure
situated in the city, provided that:
a. no building or structure hereafter constructed may be occupied or
used in whole or in part for any purpose until a certificate of
occupancy has been issued;
b. no building or structure or part thereof for which a certificate
of occupancy has not been previously issued or required shall be
occupied or used for any purpose whatever in case such building shall
hereafter be altered or converted so as to decrease or increase the
number of living rooms or apartments, until a certificate of occupancy
has been issued, except that this requirement shall not apply to any old
law or new law tenement wherein two or more apartments are combined
creating larger residential units, the total legal number of families
within the building is being decreased, and the bulk of the building is
not being increased;
c. no buildings hereafter altered or converted from one class to
another class shall be occupied or used for any purpose whatever in case
such building was vacant during the progress of the work, until a
certificate of occupancy has been issued; in case such an alteration
does not necessitate the vacating of the building during the progress of
the work, the occupancy or use of the building shall not continue more
than thirty days after the completion of such alteration, unless a
certificate of occupancy has been issued;
d. a certificate of occupancy of a building or structure shall
certify that such building or structure conforms to the requirements of
all laws, rules, regulations and orders applicable to it and shall be in
such form as the commissioner shall direct;
e. every certificate of occupancy shall, unless and until set aside,
vacated or modified by the board of standards and appeals or a court of
competent jurisdiction, be and remain binding and conclusive upon all
agencies and officers of the city, and shall be binding and conclusive
upon the department of labor of the state of New York, as to all matters
therein set forth, and no order, direction or requirement affecting or
at variance with any matter set forth in any certificate of occupancy
shall be made or issued by any agency or officer of the city, or by the
department of labor of the state of New York, or any commission, board,
officer or member thereof, unless and until the certificate is set
aside, vacated or modified by the board of standards and appeals or a
court of competent jurisdiction upon the application of the agency,
department, commission, officer or member thereof seeking to make or
issue such order, direction or requirement. All such applications shall
be made in writing and filed with the board or court for hearing
thereon; and copies of the application and order, direction or
requirement sought to be made or issued shall be served upon the owner
of the building or structure and upon the commissioner of buildings, if
he is not the applicant, and upon such terms and conditions as to
service, notice, time and place of hearing as the board or court shall
direct;
f. the commissioner may, on request of the owner of a building or
structure or his authorized representative, issue a temporary
certificate of occupancy for any part of such building or structure
provided that such temporary occupancy or use would not in any way
jeopardize life or property;
g. the commissioner may permit in specific cases experimental or
demonstration construction not in compliance with the building code in
order to obtain knowledge and information not supplied from other
experiments within the city; the owner of such construction shall
conduct such periodic tests and evaluations as the commissioner may
specify and submit results and reports to the department of buildings as
the commissioner may require; except as otherwise specifically
permitted by the commissioner, the construction shall be erected and
maintained in accordance with all provisions of applicable laws, rules
and regulations.
(c) The commissioner may, by instrument in writing filed in the
department, designate a borough superintendent of the department to
possess within a borough any of the powers granted to the commissioner
by subdivision (b) of this section and to exercise the same within such
borough in the name of the commissioner for such times and under such
conditions as he may specify. The borough superintendent shall also
perform such other duties as the commissioner may direct.
(d) The commissioner shall review and certify any proposed subdivision
of a zoning lot with any building thereon, in order to ensure that the
subdivision will not result in any violation of the applicable zoning
laws.
For such purposes, the subdivision applicant shall file with the
commissioner, prior to recordation with the city register or the county
clerk in the case of Staten Island the following:
(1) a subdivision map of the entire original zoning lot with any
building thereon; and
(2) a statement by the subdivision applicant assuring compliance of
the proposed subdivision with applicable zoning laws.
Section 646.
§ 646. Conduct of investigations. The commissioner shall have the
power and duty to conduct such inquiries as may assist him in the
performance of the functions of the department where the public safety
is involved and for such purpose he shall have subpoena power to compel
the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths, examine witnesses and
to compel the production of books, papers and documents.
Section 647.
§ 647. Definition of "class". The term "class" as used in this
chapter refers to the classification of buildings in the building code
or other applicable laws and shall be deemed to refer also to the terms
"class" or "kinds" as used in the multiple dwelling law where such law
is applicable.
Section 648.
§648. Appeals. Appeals may be taken from decisions of the commissioner
and of a deputy commissioner or the borough superintendent acting under
a written delegation of power filed in accordance with the provisions of
section six hundred forty-two or subdivision (c) of section six hundred
forty-five of this chapter, to the board of standards and appeals as
provided by law.
Section 649.
§ 649. Inspection. The commissioner, any deputy commissioner,
borough superintendents, inspectors, or any officer of the department
authorized in writing by the commissioner or a borough superintendent to
act in his borough may, in accordance with law, for the purpose of
performing their respective official duties, enter and inspect any
building, structure, enclosure, premises or any part thereof or anything
therein or attached thereto; and any refusal to permit such entry or
inspection shall be a misdemeanor triable in criminal court and
punishable upon conviction by not more than thirty days imprisonment or
by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars, or both.
To the extent possible under law, Friends of Devin Balkind for Public Advocate has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to New York City Administrative Code. This work is published from: United States.
Special thanks to Benjarmin Kallos and Thom Neale who made this content publicly available as a bulk download.