QUESTION
What are the potential costs for buildings to comply with the NYC fire code?
2:26:34
·
114 sec
Christopher Ruch explains that buildings compliant with the NYC fire code should see no additional costs, with significant costs only for those neglecting their obligations.
- Building owners, both public and private, should not face added maintenance costs if already compliant with the NYC fire code.
- Significant costs may arise for buildings that have not followed their fire code obligations, likened to neglecting car maintenance for 20 years.
- The goal is to integrate fire code compliance checks into existing building inspections to minimize added costs.
- Examples from cities like Philadelphia are cited, where fire code compliance is simply added to existing inspection checklists, showcasing a streamlined and cost-effective approach.
Pierina Ana Sanchez
2:26:34
And the other concern we heard from FDNY was about the cost of implementation.
2:26:39
They couldn't they didn't articulate why they thought it would be so costly, but can you share how much it would cost the building potentially?
Christopher Ruch
2:26:48
Yes.
2:26:49
Cost is always a concern.
2:26:50
I think we all deal with that every day.
2:26:53
For building owners, rather public or private, would in theory see no additional maintenance cause because they're already required to do this under the New York City fire code.
2:27:03
And so it'd be hard to argue for added cost.
2:27:05
Now for buildings that I've seen that do have a large cost to this is ones who have not been following their regional fire code, and now they're doing an inspection after say 20 years of not doing it would be like bringing your car to the mechanic after 20 years and hoping that there wouldn't be any fees.
2:27:21
Now on the inspection side, again, anytime you're doing anything, I I I agree there's always some kind of added cost.
2:27:27
However, the goal here would be to add the add this requirement to existing inspections.
2:27:33
So part of the reason that there's workforce standards there was to address that.
2:27:38
So that way when an inspector goes out, they would they would simply say, can I see your smoke damper report?
2:27:44
And then they would verify that it was done by a qualified technician.
2:27:49
A way to simplify it, more would be to work with the fire department and come up with a New York city specific cover sheet that would address exactly what they need.
2:27:57
That way, very quickly, they can look at it, and so you've already done it.
2:28:01
You've seen this happen in cities like Philadelphia, where they just added it to their existing programs.
2:28:07
So high rise buildings that are part of the program that we're already submitting data, just submit that same data over to the city, it's an additional checkbox.
2:28:15
So when they're doing those 78,000 inspections that they were talking about from the uniform side, in addition to the ones on the fire prevention side, they would add it to their list.
Pierina Ana Sanchez
2:28:26
Thank you.
2:28:27
Thank you so much, Chris.