Courtesy of Comptroller DiNapoli’s Office
By Forum Staff
The City Department of Buildings is not doing enough to protect construction workers on building sites, according to an audit released Thursday by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. The audit found DOB needs to be more aggressive in its oversight, inspections and use of enforcement powers to make sure violations are corrected to help prevent construction-related accidents, injuries and fatalities.
From 2018 through 2020, 26 percent of all worker deaths in NYC were related to construction. The 2,003 construction incidents reported to DOB, between Jan. 1, 2018 and May 15, 2021, resulted in 36 deaths and 2,066 injuries.
DiNapoli’s audit found DOB’s monitoring of construction sites was inadequate and did not ensure contractors and building owners followed the Building Code’s safety requirements. Auditors visited 43 constructions sites in all five boroughs, of which 18 had active work in progress at the time. They found 77 safety issues at 16 of the 18, including no site safety manager, missing or incomplete safety logs and inspection records, and no proof that workers were given required safety training.
DOB had issued summonses for unsafe conditions that appeared to mirror what auditors found at some sites, indicating that the agency’s enforcement was not successful in getting contractors or owners to comply with the Building Code.
DOB has different levels of violations that it can issue based on the severity of the hazard. For example, the most serious — Class 1 Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) Summonses — are for violations that present an immediate hazard to life, health, safety or property. Class 1 violations are supposed to be fixed immediately with a Certificate of Correction sent to DOB. Auditors found the vast majority of Class 1 violations were still open 30 days after they were issued, giving DOB no assurance the hazard was addressed.
In the four years from Jan. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2021, DOB issued 31,701 construction related summonses, of which 77 percent (24,451) were Class 1. The Class 1 Summons were open for 170 days on average, with 3,403 of them open for an average of 488 days.
If a contractor or building owner fails to certify they fixed a violation, DOB can issue a violation for failing to fix the problem and potentially a Stop Work Order. However, DOB did not often issue such violations, according to the audit.
Among its recommendations, DiNapoli’s audit called on DOB to:
- Identify high-risk contractors and construction sites and proactively inspect them.
- Address inspection issues identified by the audit.
- Create policies and procedures to issue violations when builders fail to certify they’ve fixed immediately hazardous conditions on time.
- Develop procedures, and coordinate with OSHA and other agencies, to identify construction site incidents.
DOB officials agreed with most of the report’s recommendations and indicated actions they have taken or will take to implement them, but they disagreed with some of its conclusions. The agency’s full response is available at osc.state.ny.us/files/state-agencies/audits/pdf/sga-2022-21n3.pdf.
“Construction is key to New York City’s economy, but as the sector recovers from the COVID pandemic, the Department of Buildings needs to do more to prioritize workers’ safety,” DiNapoli said.
