It seems every municipality has discovered a way to boost their income by levying fines, and NYC is the absolute best at building code violation fines. Hundreds of millions, if not billions, have been levied against building owners over the past 10 years, with much of that amount in the past 2 years. Real estate owners are bearing the brunt of NYC’s aggressive tactics to raise more money to feed an ever-growing bureaucracy. Congestion pricing, fines, and penalties—NYC is desperate to fill its coffers. Bureaucrats will never consider scaling back spending, working within a budget, or letting a good catastrophe go to waste… their words, not mine.
What can you do to blunt this? Work with your elevator contractor and expediter. Check the NYC DOB website weekly or sign up for a service to scan and alert you to violations. Beyond that, authorize the work needed to clear the violation, see to it that the work is completed, and most importantly, sign and send in the paperwork. Many times, all the work is done, and the paperwork is ready but not signed or submitted. It is imperative to stay on top of inspections and test results. Elevator companies have entire divisions to schedule tests, correct violations, and submit paperwork. If not entire divisions, they have personnel to complete the cycle. Do your part, get the work done, and don’t rest until the submittal is finished and accepted.
As a building owner, there are many violation conditions you can directly prevent, such as dirty pits, inoperative phones, expired fire extinguishers, faulty or unguarded lighting in the machine room, etc. Get ahead of the curve and stay on top of these simple things. Make sure your phone line is live!We can all do better in preventing violations and fines. It takes cooperation and clear communication with your elevator contractor.
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