Int. No. 208-A
By Council Members Williams, Hudson, Salamanca, Feliz, Riley, Stevens, Holden, Dinowitz, Hanif, Farías, Louis, Velázquez, Avilés, Schulman, Menin, Narcisse, Restler, Barron, Krishnan, Joseph, Gutiérrez, Ayala, Richardson Jordan, Hanks, Nurse, Abreu and Gennaro
A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to inspections of self-closing doors and fire safety notices in residential buildings
Be it enacted by the Council as follows:
Section 1. Article 11 of subchapter 2 of chapter 2 of title 27 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding new sections 27-2041.2 and 27-2046.5 to read as follows:
§ 27-2041.2 Self-closing doors; required inspections. a. General. The department shall develop a process, to be implemented by July 1, 2023, to periodically inspect certain self-closing doors in class A multiple dwellings in accordance with this section.
b. Multiple dwellings to be inspected. The department shall establish by rule criteria for annually selecting 300 class A multiple dwellings to be inspected pursuant to this section. Such criteria shall include, but need not be limited to, buildings identified in consultation with the fire department. Notwithstanding the criteria established by the department, the annual selection of multiple dwellings to be inspected pursuant to this section shall not include any building that: (i) is currently the subject of a court order appointing or a proceeding brought by the department seeking the appointment of an administrator pursuant to article 7-A of the real property actions and proceedings law, or (ii) has been included in the alternative enforcement program pursuant to section 27-2153 and has not been discharged from such program. Any multiple dwelling inspected under this section shall not be subject to inspection under this section again for at least five years.
c. Inspection process. Self-closing doors shall be inspected and tested in accordance with this section and applicable rules of the department promulgated pursuant to this section. The commissioner shall develop criteria to be used during the inspection of a self-closing door.
d. Inspection requirements. At each inspection conducted pursuant to subdivision c of this section, the department shall inspect self-closing doors in common areas, public spaces, hallways and corridors and reasonably accessible self-closing dwelling unit doors.
e. Annual report on self-closing doors. 1. No later than September 30, 2024, for the period of the prior fiscal year, and annually thereafter, the commissioner shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council and shall post conspicuously on the department’s website a report regarding self-closing doors inspected by the department pursuant to this section.
2. The report shall include a table in which each separate row references a building inspected by the department pursuant to this section in the previous year. Each such row shall include the following information, as well as any additional information the commissioner deems appropriate, set forth in separate columns:
(a) The address of the building where such inspection was attempted;
(b) The building or property owner at the time of inspection;
(c) The date on which an inspection of such building occurred;
(d) The number of floors contained in such building;
(e) Whether or not the building was accessed;
(f) The number of self-closing door violations issued as a result of the inspection; and
(g) The number of self-closing door violations that were corrected by the owner.
§ 27-2046.5 Inter-agency coordination on fire safety violations. a. By July 1, 2022, the department shall provide the fire department with access to records of all fire safety violations issued by the department on or after January 1, 2017.
b. By July 1, 2022, the department shall develop and implement a process, to be followed in the course of the department’s normal procedures while conducting inspections within dwelling units for violations of this chapter, to check for compliance with the posting requirements related to building fire and emergency preparedness information set forth in item 1 of subparagraph A of paragraph 5 of subdivision e of section 401-06 of title 3 of the rules of the city of New York or any successor provision. If the department finds that an owner has failed to comply with such requirements, the department shall notify such owner and the fire department of such failure.
§ 2. Title 15 of the administrative code of the city of New York is amended by adding a new section 15-141 to read as follows:
§ 15-141 Fire safety violations. a. The department shall review and audit records of fire safety violations provided to it by the department of housing preservation and development pursuant to section 27-2046.5. The results of this audit shall be used to inform the department’s building inspection program.
§ 3. This local law takes effect immediately.
CP/AS
LS #7053/7055/7058/7298/7299/7863
5/25/22 10:31 PM