February '16

CONTENTS:

The Building Block Volume 7 , Issue 2

February 12, 2016

1

BUZZ OF THE MONTH 2

ARTICLE– A HOLISTIC

APPROACH TO SITE

SAFETY COMPLIANCE

3

HORROR STORIES 4

SERVICE UPDATES 5

MEET CRSG

SANDRA MATTEI

6

RECRUITMENT 7

CRSG NEWS 9

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

FEBRUARY

10

CONSTRUCTION & REALTY SERVICES GROUP

68 Whitehall Street

Lynbrook, NY 11563

Tel: (516) 256-0317

Fax: (516) 256-0335

307 West 38th Street, Suite 1218

New York, NY 10018

Tel: (212)736-6900

Fax: (212) 736-6910

www.crs-group.com

DOB Best Squad, Development Hub New Protocols and Confirmation of

Procedures

The DOB Best Squad has enacted a new Protocol relating to on site incidents and Stop Work

Orders. Currently the new protocol is an internal operating procedure and the DOB as of now has not

issued any formal memos or directives. If a Full SWO is issued due to a fatality or major incident/

accident, BEST Squad will either issue a verbal or handwritten, SWO on the spot. Once the SWO is

issued they then reach out to the DOB internal attorneys who make the determination as to whether or not

involve the District Attorney in relation the incident. If no further action is required, paper violations will be

issued (this can take several days and we have seen up to a week) and The Chief of the DOB unit

involved will call for a meeting at the DOB BEST Squad office. At said meeting the DOB will likely ask for

the most current SSP, any related Design Drawings & written means and methods describing what

preventative measures will be put in place to help make sure the incident or something similar does not

happen again. After the meeting with the Chief, the next step would be the DOB entering a Partial SWO in

place of a full SWO allowing the team to do safety remediation on site. Once this is all done, the next step

would be to call for an inspection to lift the SWO.

As for the DOB Development Hub, they have begun to strictly enforce internal administrative rules when it

comes to their procedures for plan submissions and plan review appointments. The NYC Development

HUB is where design professionals electronically submit applications and construction plans to the

Department. Their rule is that they will not grant plan review appointment requests until a new set of

plans has been uploaded or submitted. In the past it has been common to upload a set just to get an

appointment and then the applicant will continue revising the plan set and submit a new one after the

appointment has been scheduled. The HUB is putting a stop to this and will only acknowledge the plan

submission that was originally made when the appointment time comes. The alternative now is that the

appointment will have to be pushed back and rescheduled if a new set of plans is submitted any time

after the initial appointment is granted leading to longer lead times on appointments and approvals. In

addition the Development HUB is pushing to have less in person appointments and more virtual

appointments. They will review in person appointments now on a case by case basis and when an in

person plan review appointment is granted they are limiting the number of attendees to three. Virtual

appointments allow for more members of a design or development team to be part of the plan review.

DOB BULLETINS

High– Strength Steel

Reinforcing Bars

Bulletin 2016-001

This document establishes

acceptance criteria for threaded

high-strength steel reinforcing bars

as alternative materials in the NYC

Construction Codes.

TPPN 5/99

Bulletin 2016-002

This bulletin rescinds Technical

Policy and Procedure Notice (TPPN)

5/99 that is no longer applicable

under any code.

Grease Duct Enclosure

Assemblies

Bulletin 2016-003

This document establishes criteria for

grease duct enclosure assemblies

not prescribed in the Mechanical

Code as alternative to the NYC

Construction Codes.

02

BUZZ OF THE MONTH

Word is initial data review yields findings that construction safety

is not affected by collective bargaining but rather job size.

Will new training initiatives by minority organizations for constriction

training break the unionized hold on statewide DOL approved

“apprenticeship” programs?

What will the DOB requirement for the submissions of “framework”

drawing design for concrete jobs?

DID YOU KNOW…?

NYC Buildings newest technology enhancement makes browsing Policy

and Procedure Notices (PPN) simple using a keyword search in a sin-

gle comprehensive database.

The recent reluctance of DOB to entertain CCD1’s and ZRD1’s has put

more on the owner and the design professional to accept a greater

degree of compliance requests.

DOB’s new initiatives/protocols on legal area review of violations on

SWO and DA and DOI review on fatalities have created a severe

“back to work” delay in the industry.

How will the industry deal with the new 2015 Code requirement of

designing for 90mph wind loads for temporary structure?

Alteration 1 work poses its own set of compliance issues depending

upon it occupancy conditions and existing life safety systems.

Construction compliance has to be planned taking into account the

particular and selective demo means portion and the appropriate

regulatory agency approval garnered. The site safety plan and/or

demo means and methods (as part of structural application) become

more complicated and phased for the job and may spin into a myriad

of variances to accommodate the phasing and work of the project.

03

ARTICLES

A HOLISTIC

APPROACH TO

SITE SAFETY

COMPLIANCE

Changes to the OSHA regulations, as well as localities adoption of the international building codes has set up situational

compliance never experienced before by the construction industry. Compliance to these changes require sweeping

modifications in enforcement of construction safety program components.

OSHA’s definition of “controlling contractor” and local codes that have codified and qualified safety representatives on site

have thrust safety to the forefront in construction and made safety elements as important a component of the pre-construction

process as the purchase of concrete or steel.

The explosion of the OCIP and CCIP insurance programs have made safety a benefit-cost to the project, not only centralizing

the cost of insurance so as to get better purchase numbers from the contractors, but as well as getting a benefit to positive job

safety performance which will cause it to be a profit center for the job.

All these items point to the need for our industry to plan for all elements of safety for a project, from the development of the job

site safety plan and program to the designation of the project safety organization (involving both the overall projects and indi-

vidual contractor qualified safety representative). Also, job site training programs for OSHA’s required qualifications for people

working on the job, to orientation programs, to weekly contractor tool box meetings, to accident analysis and lessons

“learned” training becomes the highest of priorities. In addition, plan development has expanded, now requiring logistics for

various phases of construction as well as engineering of safety protection (nets, barricade, perimeter protection). Designing

the use of new perimeter protection based systems (peri, net cocoon, etc.) and development of standard protection details

(guardrails, toe boards, hole protection, job ladders, etc) are also a primary goal.

The administration of the job also now includes daily safety logs, safety recommendation logs, accident reports and analysis,

deficiency notices, fines and backcharge programs as well as contractor report cards and performance assessments, etc.

These elements now call for a “holistic” approach to safety– one where it may be a consideration to engage a single contractor

who will handle the safety completely on the site for all the elements mentioned.

This “single responsibility contract” identifies a one stop presence– where finger pointing doesn’t exist. The contractor–

through the job safety representative– must be responsible for identifying deficiencies and then— if not corrected by the

offending contractor– correcting it with their team and identifying the backcharge. This protection “team” will also be the team

installing the initial protection and performing the routine “maintenance” during the job (although contractors will contractually

be responsible to replace the protection they remove to do their work).

The safety contractor will also be responsible for developing the job site safety program and logistics. The safety contractor is

also responsible for creating the job site safety organization by accepting the required safety representative for each contractor

and establishing that representative as the point person for each contractors safety compliance. The safety contractor would

also be responsible for the review and acceptance of all contractors safety plans and the development of the contractor safety

plan requirement that will be incorporated into each contract. The job safety representative will also be responsible for

monitoring performance with permit requirements both from a governmental and job site (hot work, etc.) perspective.

Also incorporated into the safety program the job site safety representative and its Professional Engineer (P.E.) will develop an

engineered protection program– showing protection details and location of these elements that will be installed by the safety

protection crew.

On a daily basis the job safety representative of the safety contractor will conduct inspection of compliance, identify deficien-

cies and safety recommendations and issue fines for non compliant activities. The safety representative will also make sure

that the contractors are performing their weekly tool box/training requirements as well as all paperwork requirements. The

safety representative will conduct weekly safety meetings with contractor safety representatives as well as monthly owner/job

safety steering committee meeting where accident/incident and contractor performance will be reviewed.

The owner/CM/GM should evaluate this concept of a single source, holistic, construction safety contractor and evaluate it as a

“line item” cost– one outside of general conditions and guided by a separate contract.

The potential for fines, work stoppages and accidents as well as the cost benefit associated with successful OCIP/CCIP

insurance programs would more than pay for these changes in culture and will eliminate cloudy responsibilities, finger pointing

and non compliance.

Inspection Ready is a disaster. The system that was designed to speed up inspection scheduling and make results quicker than before is still causing huge issues in each borough for different types of inspections. There was an inspection during the last week of January where the inspector advised me 9 of 10 objections would be removed and I would receive the results by the end of the day. Needless to say, 3 days later I receive the results and half of the objections still remain. I went to the borough to have the objections removed and met with the Construction chief. After providing him with supporting documents to remove the objections, he removed the objections in the system. Not trusting the Inspection Ready program, I logged into my Inspection Ready account to make sure the objections were removed before I left and my suspicions were proven true. The objections remained in the system and actually listed 1 additional objection that was not there before. When I went back to see the chief, I showed him what I was looking at on my Ipad and he showed me what was on his computer. Both my account and DOB’s account are supposed to show identical information but showed completely different info. When I asked what the problem was, I was given a number for Inspection Ready and was told that it was a computer glitch that Inspection Ready would have to fix. I called the number

and was told they will look into it but it could take a few weeks.

06

HORROR STORIES

Inside Scoop

From Domani

Expediters

I recently met with the construction chief in the Department to obtain an in-house construction sign off where I submitted an R.A. affidavit and photos to comply with several outstanding construction objections. The chief approved the temp. sign off update and was even receptive to my request to have the entry into the required items expedited so I could have my TCO renewed since it was already expired. I watched him hand his report to one of the secretaries and he told me it would be in the system by that afternoon. Sure enough, it was not. First thing the next morning I called the construction

counter and was told the following by a clerk.

1. “Regardless of what he said, the reports get entered in the order that they were received”.

2. You have to be patient.”

3. And When I asked to speak to him directly – he was on the phone and it would do any good to call back and try and speak to him because it wouldn’t change anything.

DOB staff- at their best!

Currently a C of O for one of our malls has lapsed. The Department of Buildings has reused the renewal of the entire building because of some open permits which exist on the BIN for the building. They are an open PA and FA permit for a tenant which no longer exists at the mall. The Department has been informed that these permits are to be withdrawn, we are waiting for the current tenant to simply sign off their open permits in order to get the withdraw approved. This is a requirement of the building department. However as long as the permits are open, they will not issue TCO. This catch twenty two of sorts, has been caused by the Department of Buildings . And they have offered no solution to it. I proposed approval of a withdrawal inspection for the applications and was denied. I proposed renewal of all spaces excluding this one and was told that they will not do it. Until the applications are closed, they refuse to renew TCO or to approve

withdrawal. This is even though they know for certain that the permits are invalid.

The DOT has a new policy where every time you update a general contractors general liability insurance you must submit a new permittee registration application. This permittee registration application used to be a one time submission to state who the contractor is and who has permission to pull permits under their name. Now, for whatever reason they are requiring us to submit a new permittee application every single time the general liability insurance is updated. This typically happens yearly. You can ONLY submit this when updating the insurance. Lets say you've hired someone and you want to put their name on the form to pull permits, you will not be allowed to submit the permittee application until you need to update insurance. Ridiculous, right? About 99% of the time the information on this application does not change. This has been difficult for us when asking contractors to fill out, sign and notarize a new application because they've already done it and don't understand why it needs to be done again. It has just become one more step to slow

down the process of updating insurance prior to permit expiration.

05

40 Hour Safety 30 Hour Concrete 30 Hour OSHA 7 Hour SSM Refresher

Tues. 2/2: 4-9:30pm

Thurs. 2/4: 4-9:30pm

Tues. 2/9: 4-9:30pm

Thurs. 2/11: 4-9:30pm

Tues. 2/16: 4-9:30pm

Thurs. 2/18: 4-9:30pm

Tues. 2/23: 4-9:30pm

Tues. 2/25: 4-9:30pm

Mon. 2/1: 4-9:30pm

Wed. 2/3: 4-9:30pm

Mon. 2/8: 4-9:30pm

Wed. 2/10: 4-9:30pm

Mon. 2/15: 4-9:30pm

Wed. 2/17: 4-9:30pm

Mon. 2/22: 4-9:30pm

Wed. 2/24: 4-9:30pm

Wed. 2/3: 4-9:30pm

Fri. 2/5: 4-9:30pm

Fri. 2/12: 4-9:30pm

Fri. 2/19: 4-9:30pm

Fri. 2/26: 4-9:30pm

Wed. 2/24: 4-9:30pm

Sat. 2/6: 8-3:30pm

Sat: 2/20: 8-3:30pm

10 Hour OSHA

Sat: 2/13: 8-7pm

Sat: 2/27: 8-7pm

SAFETY COURSES

SERVICE UPDATES

As of January 25, 2016

Tenant Protection Plans: Available on BISWeb

A stand alone Tenant Protection Plan document must be submitted for all buildings being

altered or demolished, containing one or more dwelling units that will remain occupied

during construction.

The TPP will be available to the public through the Department’s website.

The TPP notes and any supporting drawings should continue to be on the building plans

for all filings.

A new form has been created, TPP1, to satisfy the required item– Tenant Protection Plan

and notes.

The form must adhere to the six Tenant Protection areas cited in the Code (28-104.8.4)

that apply to the work being done and must contain supporting drawings, if required.

As of February 1, 2016

eFiling: New Enrollment Process for Professional Engineers and Registered

Architects

All Design Professionals (including individuals that hold an additional professional license

and/or tracking number) must submit their Authentication/ Enrollment Form for eFiling en-

rollment to the Limited Alteration Application (LAA)/ Permit Renewal and Hub Authentica-

tion Unit in person or by mail accompanied with the following documentation:

In person: The P.E. or R.A. whose name appears on the Authentication/ Enrollment

Form must be present at the time of submission with a Department issued ID card.

The original form must be dated, signed and sealed by the P.E or R.A.

By mail: Include the original Authentication/ Enrollment Form which must be dated,

signed and sealed by the applicant whose name appears on the form and provide a

copy of either a New York State issued ID card or a Department issued ID card that

matched the name of the applicant reflected on the Authentication/ Enrollment Form.

06

MEET CRSG

SANDRA MATTEI

FILING REPRESENTATIVE

NYC FUN FACTS

New York City subway musicians actually go through a rigorous

selection process. Many of the musicians have even performed at

famous venues such as Carnegie Hall before moving to the subways.

Q: What are the various jobs available in this field?

A: The various jobs available in this field are filing representative, code and zoning

consultant, project manager, applications coordinator and field coordinator, among

several others.

Q: Is this industry heavily regulated?

A: The construction industry as a whole is very well regulated. There are several agencies

in place to implement codes and zoning regulations. Although working through the

system can be somewhat tedious, the regulations created by the agencies makes the

construction industry a safer place to work.

Q: Do other people in your company with the same job title that you hold have the

same responsibilities?

A: In order for Domani Consulting to meet the needs of our many clients, we employ a

number of filing representatives. Each of us has our own set of responsibilities. We

have people designated to specific boroughs for DOB work, we also have several of us

going to DOT, and others going to other city agencies in order to expedite the work and

give our clients the best service possible.

Q: What is the typical entry-level salary?

A: Class 1 entry level no experience about $25,000 to $30,000. Class 2 no experience

college graduate about $35,000 to 40,000. Class 2 with over 5 years of experience

would ring in $50,000 a year or more– depending on the levels of experience.

Q: What do you like and not like about working in this job?

A: as with any job, there are things you like and dislike. I like the diversity of the work

and even enjoy the challenges of the every day situations that I deal with. Having to

deal with the bureaucracy of the system and dealing challenging deadlines can be very

frustrating at times.

Q: Is your work primarily individual or is it a in groups or teams?

A: My work is 100% a team effort. We all have our fair share of work but we often seek

each other out when facing with a challenging problem.

Q: What do you like most about the company?

A: I like the transparency of the company with its employees as well as the family

atmosphere.

07

CRSG NEWS

Please visit www.crs-group.com and check it out!

You can find useful information on our companies, our services, personnel,

recruitment, and safety training and events.

Tell us how we’re doing! Send an email to [email protected]

CRSG is a “one stop” compliance, safety and engineering entity for the NYC

real estate and construction industry.

Domani Consulting can provide all compliance services from the filing and ap-

proval of plans to the signoff of D14 applications; to obtaining TCO/C of O for

Alt 1 or NB applications. Domani’s expeditors work through all agencies (DOB,

DOT, NYCFD, Landmarks, DEP, etc.) to prepare, file, approve and signoff pro-

jects. In conjunction with Domani Design, plans can be prepared and engi-

neering and architectural services can be provided. Combine these services

with Domani Inspection for either Alt II D14, special inspection requirements

and/or all controlled inspections/test requirements (with its certified affiliate-

Labs) for either major alterations or NB’s. Our “one stop” filing, controlled com-

pliance program/mechanism completes the full service package.

EWBC offers full scale labor services that will provide all required collective bar-

gaining labor as well as fully managed general condition labor.

CR Safety offers services for safety management combining program, plan and

safety design development, safety inspection, management, record keeping,

physical protection and training to meet any or all safety needs on a site.

ABOUT US

Don’t forget to check

out our website at

www.crs-group.com

08

Our Construction &

Realty Services Group

seeks dynamic

individuals to join our

team!

RECRUITMENT

08

Our Construction &

Realty Services Group

seeks dynamic

individuals to join our

team!

RECRUITMENT

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

The following will be some of your tasks, but will not be limited to:

1. Responsibilities of the Site Safety Manager (SSM), Site Safety Coordinator (SSC) and Concrete Safety

Manager (CSM) are to monitor compliance with the safety requirements of Chapter 33 of the NYC Building

Code, as well as OSHA and to perform all other safety duties assigned by CRSG, the owner or contractor to

meet legal requirements by record-keeping and reporting on major buildings in New York City.

2. The SSM, SSC CSM shall maintain a daily log book notating any unsafe acts or deficiencies with locations as

well as maintain a permit log.

3. Check Site Safety Plan daily to ensure that the approved Plans are current and up to date.

4. Meet on a weekly basis with the designated representative of each subcontractor to ascertain that all

subcontractors are complying with the applicable provisions of Chapter 33 of

the NYC Building Code, OSHA, FDNY and any applicable local or federal agen-

cies.

5. Any additional tasks identified by your supervisor

Qualifications:

NYC Site Safety Managers License

Must be a team player and have the ability to effectively multi-task

Detail-oriented and ability to work independently with moderate supervision and

guidance

Good written and verbal communication skills

Architecture and/or construction experience a plus

Must be internet savvy & have experience with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel,

Word, etc.)

General knowledge of NYC building codes and/or filing process a plus.

Safety Management, Analyzing Information, Informing Others, Written Communication, Legal Compliance,

Judgment, Integrity, NYC DOB Chapter 33, OSHA, FDNY & DOT Compliance, Presentation Skills. Microsoft

Word & Excel.

SITE SAFETY MANAGERS

CONSTRUCTION FIELD INSPECTOR

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

1. The following will be some of your tasks, but will not be limited to:

2. Performing field inspections at construction sites per Department of Buildings requirements.

3. Prepare written reports on multi-discipline inspections per Management.

4. Coordination of drawings and field conditions during onsite inspections.

5. Other miscellaneous tasks requested by your supervisor.

Company will support obtaining necessary ICC certifications to perform various special inspections.

Qualifications

Construction, Architecture, and /or Engineering experience desired

General knowledge of NYC construction codes and/or filing process a

plus

Request 5 years minimum experience in related fields.

Must be internet savvy & have experience with Microsoft Office

(Outlook, Excel, Word, etc.)

Good written and verbal communication skills

Ability to interpret engineering/architectural plans and specifications

Must be a team player and have the ability to effectively multi-task

Detail-oriented and ability to work independently with moderate super-

vision and guidance

Ability to prioritize and meet deadlines

09

DOB INFO

Building One City

Commissioner Chandler’s plan that will fundamentally reform the agency

to enhance public safety, reduce wait times and delays, and modernize all

aspects of the agency to meet the needs of a 21st century city.

2/3: REBNY– Retail Committee @ Cornell Club 12-2pm

2/4: REBNY– RLS Technology and Vendor Committee Meeting @

LMHQ 12-2pm

2/5: REBNY– Commercial BOD Meeting @ REBNY Boardroom 8:15-

9am

2/9: REBNY– Residential Breakfast Club Seminar @ Mendik Edu.

Center 9:30-11am

2/10: REBNY– Sales Brokers Deal of the Year Submissions

@REBNY 5-5:05pm

2/12: REBNY– Residential Brooklyn Committee @ Cushman and

Wakefield 9:30-11am

2:16-17: REBNY- Certified Buyer Representative (CBR) Designation

Course 9am-5:30pm

2/18: REBNY– RLS Board of Directors Meeting @ REBNY Board-

room 2-4pm

2/19: REBNY– Commercial Northern Manhattan/Bronx Committee @

Litwin Classroom 8:30-9:30am

2/22: REBNY– Commercial Real Estate Finance Luncheon @ The

Yale Club

2/23: REBNY– Residential Ethics Course for New Members @

Mendik Edu Center 9-10:30am

2/24: REBNY– 18th Annual Residential Management Leadership

Breakfast @ The Roosevelt Hotel 8:30-10am

2/25: BTEA– Board of Governors @ Le Parker Meridien 8am

2/25: BOMA– 2016 Pinnacle Awards @ Pier 60 6-10pm

For More Events, please visit

www.crs-group.com

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

1 2 3

REBNY– Retail

Committee @

Cornell Club

4

REBNY– RLS

Technology and

Vendor Commit-

tee

5

REBNY– Com-

mercial BOD

Meeting @

REBNY Board-

6

7 8 9

REBNY– Residen-

tial Breakfast Club

Seminar

10

REBNY– Sales

Brokers Deal of

the Year Submis-

sions

11 12

REBNY– Resi-

dential Brooklyn

Committee

13

14 15 16

REBNY- Certified

Buyer Representa-

tive (CBR) Desig-

nation Course

17

REBNY- Certified

Buyer Representa-

tive (CBR) Desig-

nation Course

18

19

REBNY– Com-

mercial Northern

Manhattan/Bronx

Committee

20

21 22

REBNY– Commer-

cial Real Estate

Finance Luncheon

23

REBNY– Residen-

tial Ethics Course

for New Members

24

REBNY– 18th

Annual Residential

Management

Leadership Break-

25

BTEA– Board of

Governors

26 27

28 29

FEBRUARY 2016

10