Please note: this text may be incomplete. For more information about this OCR, view
About OCR text.
^N REAL > ESTATE
BUILDERS
AND
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 28, 1914
piiiiiiiii^^
BllllliiliiilliilllliPiilllllllllllliiilM^^ .....'â– â– '*'*'!'â– !!
NEW IDEAS FOR IMPROVING REAL ESTATE
A Model Ordinance Drafted By Ernest Flagg Would Transfer Work of |
Tenement, Fire Prevention and Factory Inspectors to Building Department. |
ii«.iiiiiiiiiiliillllllMMilliliiliM^ .....'Bl'BHaP......ail.......et:*......iiHatiiii.......MlilliiillllllllllillillilB .....Iill.....â– Illlllililll......IIBIIIIIIilllllllllllillllMllliWiliW^^
IT is a comparatively brief period of
years since the first building code
was made for this city. Like the pres¬
ent one, it consisted of a miscellaneous
collection of ordinances which had been
enacted in the past as cures for some of
the most flagrant abuses in building
operations. From time to time the code
was revised in the effort to make it fit
every possible contingency, but not with
success. A building law made up of
specifications is necessarily unelastic and
soon becomes out of date. It is always
in need of revision. . â– ,â– ,
Ernest Flagg, believing that it is high
time to abandon this old plan, offered
some weeks ago to draft for the benefit
of the city a more reasonable ordinance.
He said a good model could be found
in the building regulations of almost any
European city of the first class and that
it would be a comparatively easy matter
to adapt it to the needs of this "ty. It
would be a law, when once made, which
would stand in little need of revising
in the future because it would be broad
enough to cover new conditions as they
cLfOSC*
Heretofore our building codes have at¬
tempted to tell builders what they shall
do and what they shall not do; to specify
not only the kind of materials to be used
for particular purposes but also how
they shall be used; they have even gone
so far as to embody engineering formu¬
las and technical methods.
Mr. Flagg has frequently declared that
if the matter were approached from the
other way around—if the builder were
required to tell the city what he pro¬
posed to use and how he proposed to
use it, and if the city were to pass upon
the merits of his proposition, all these
difficulties would disappear. This is the
European method. With such a law
here the builder would be able to use
any materials and any methods which
were safe.
Objects to Be Accomplished.
Mr. Flagg has in the short interval
prepared the draft of such a code. It is
unlike anything the city has seen be¬
fore, and is more than a mere collection
of building regulations, as it covers the
whole field of operative real estate. It
contains regulations for safety against
fire, as well as against collapse, for light
and air, and for safety in the use and
installation of mechanical appliances and
engines. It contains principles for con¬
trolling the height and area of buildings
and also their occupancy. It provides
for sanitary plumbing and drainage, and
for justice between neighboring land
owners. A fundamental principle of the
new code is the least possible interfer¬
ence with private interests.
It is recommended in the code that
changes shall be made in the charter
and State laws so as to provide for but
one Superintendent of Buildings with a
deputy in each borough, that the Tene¬
ment Department be consolidated with
the Building Department, and all other
matters relating^ to the construction of
buildings now in charge of the Fire
Commiggipner and other public officials
ERNEST FLAGG.
be placed in the jurisdiction of the Su¬
perintendent of Buildings.
Plan of the Code.
The plan- used for the arrangement of
the new code is to separate the different
matters dealt with into chapters so as
to make it easy for use, to throw out
everything unnecessary and present what
is necessary in as simple and direct a
manner as possible. To help in this
plan, many words and phrases have been
defined, and wherever they are used in
that sense they are underscored in the
text, so that in reading one may be
warned of the special meaning attached
to them.
Chapter One is all definitions, and
they are definitions which "really define.
Thus, the word "approved" means ap¬
proved by the Superintendent. (Mr.
Flagg pins his faith on the Superintend¬
ent.) "Cement mortar" means approved
mortar made of natural or Portland
cement. "Fireproof," a construction
which will withstand an approved fire
test, as applied to constructions; or a
building in which only fireproof or in-
combustilile materials have been used.
"Fire-resisting" means materials which
will not warp, twist or disintegrate.
Discretionary Power
While the office of Superintendent of
Buildings is in the hands of the type of
the present incumbent, there is little
danger to be apprehended from giving
him much discretionary power; but, even
if it were certain the power would never
lie abused, it is unwise to grant it, Mr.
Flagg says in a note. Over many of the
provisions of the law discretion should
be left to no one, in his opinion; while,
on the other hand, there are many mat¬
ters specifically dealt with in the present
code which should be left entirely to
the discretion of the Superintendent of
Buildings. "About one-half of the text
of the proposed revision of the code re¬
cently presented for consideration was
made up of matter of this kind, but there
should be a sharp line of demarcation
between what is discretionary with the
Superintendent of Buildings and what is
not. Unfortunately, the City Charter
gives him power to change the law, and
he can do so until that provision is re¬
pealed. But if this code or a similar
ordinance is adopted, the necessity for
placing such dangerous discretionary
power in the hands of anyone would
disappear, and in time the Charter would
be amended in this particular."
Powers of the Superintendent.
The new code in Cliapter Two gives
the Superintendent ample power to carry
out the provisions of the law in every
respect, for it provides that no building
shall be occupied except in accordance
with a certificate of occupancy issued by
him, and it also gives him power to re¬
voke certificates of occupancy for any
violation of the terms, and requires him
to make regular periodical inspections
of all buildings to see that they conform
to the requirements of the law. When
he makes rules he is required to record
and publish them. A Board of Survey
is provided.
Classification of Buildings.
Chapter Three divides all buildings in¬
to three general cjasses: Public, Ware¬
house and Domestic, and these are sub¬
divided according to their characteristics,
much after the manner of the London
building law. Like the preceding tenta¬
tive codes, this one also tells what shall
go to make up a fireproof building, but
only in general terms; it does not tell in
detail how that building shall be con¬
structed and with what kind of materials.
It simply fixes the degree of strength
and the degree of safety from fire to
which the buildings shall conform, and
leaves it to the builder to choose his
own methods and materials in fulfilling
the conditions, provided he accords with
the rules of good engineering practice,
and sound workmanship.
Nothing is to enter into the construc¬
tion of a fireproof building that can burn.
Floors are to be strong enough to stand
a specified test, metallic structural mem¬
bers are to be protected against fire and
rust, and the means of exit are to be
protected by enclosures of assured suffi¬
ciency. That is all. But the builder
must remember that the terms "firc-
pronf." "incombustible" and "fire-resist¬
ing" have distinct and definite meanings,
and that he will be judged thereby.
Building Heights.
Chapter Four limits the heights of
buildings; no frame building to be
higher than three stories; no non-fire¬
proof building to have more than four
stories; no semi-fireproof building to be
more than one hundred feet high; fire¬
proof buildings may be carried to any
height (a) on thirty per cent, of the
area of any inside lot, but not nearer
to the street than one-third the width of
that street; (b) on forty per cent, of
the area of any corner lot, on fifty per