Int. No. 135-A

By Council Members Brooks-Powers, Hanif, Hudson, Louis, Schulman, Farías and Rivera

A Local Law in relation to a study on structural loadbearing capacity of parking garages

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

Section 1. a. Definitions. For the purposes of this local law, the following terms have the following meanings:

Department. The term “department” means the department of buildings.

Parking garage. The term “parking garage” means a structure or portion of a structure, other than a private garage or carport, used for the parking or storage of motor vehicles.

b. Loadbearing capacity study. The department, in collaboration with any other office or agency, shall study and report on the structural loadbearing capacity of parking garages, for the purpose of evaluating the efficacy of existing loadbearing capacity limits. No later than 1 year after the effective date of this local law, the department shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council, and shall post conspicuously on the department’s website, a report on the findings of this study, including any recommendations based on such findings. Such study and report shall include, to the extent practicable and based on a sampling and analysis of available information for a limited population of parking garages of varying ages and construction types, an assessment of the impact of the following factors on a parking garage’s loadbearing capacity:

1. The age of the material components of the parking garage;

2. The effect of exposure to environmental conditions, such as extreme temperature, fire, frost, and moisture;

3. The parking garage’s history of alterations, maintenance, and repairs;

4. The condition of the construction materials in the parking garage, including, but not limited to, the presence of any loose concrete in danger of falling, ceiling slab cracks, missing concrete covering steel beams, and defective concrete;

5. The frequency with which the parking garage is at or exceeds capacity;

6. The size of the parking garage, including the thickness and the height of the walls and supporting structures;

7. The type of material or materials used for loadbearing elements of the parking garage as it relates to its compressive strength, resistance to forces, bending, and vibration;

8. The structural design of the parking garage, for example, the shape of the structure or if the parking garage is braced;

9. The impact of increasing weights of individual vehicles, particularly electric vehicles, as well as charging stations and equipment; and

10. Any other information relevant to assessing the loadbearing capacity and safety of parking garages.

§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately.

Session 13

TZ

LS #13104

5/15/24 8:40pm

Session 12

TZ

LS #13104

7/6/23