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REAL ESTATE
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 2, 1915
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ANOTHER ARTICLE FOR BUILDING CODE I
Issued in Preliminary Form for Public Consideration—Gen¬
eral Provisions—Unsafe Buildings—Enforcement of the Code
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ONE of the most important parts of the
work of the revision of the Build¬
ing Code prepared by Rudolph P. Mil¬
ler, expert to the Building Committee of
the Board of Aldermen, is Article 1 on
General Provisions, which has just been
issued in preliminary form. Much of
the matter that is contained in this ar¬
ticle is from the old code, but some im¬
portant changes have been made, mainly
as additions.
Section 1 provides a short title, indi¬
cates the matter covered by the Build¬
ing Code, provides for a liberal inter¬
pretation of its contents, requires all new
work and alterations to be in accor¬
dance with the provisions of the code,
allows a greater freedom in construction
in such parts of the city as are not yet
developed, and designates the buildings
to which the provisions apply.
In Section 2 definitions are provided
for terms that appear in the several ar¬
ticles of the code.
Applications for Permits.
Section 3 deals with the matter of
making application for a permit to erect
a new building or alter an existing one.
The procedure doesn't materially differ
from the present requirements. A state¬
ment in triplicate giving the specifica¬
tions of the construction, with such de¬
tailed drawings of the proposed work as
may be needed for the Superintendent's
information, is required; besides which
a sworn statement as to ownership and
a survey of the lot or plot on which the
building is or is to be situated. If the
work is to be done by any one other
than the owner the necessary authoriza¬
tion to do it or make the application
must be filed.
In a manner somewhat similar to ap-
. plying for a permit an application or
notice must be filed with the Superin¬
tendent for demolition or removal of
a building. Such notice must be sub¬
mitted forty-eight hours before the work
is commenced. All applications and no¬
tices must be filed at the office of the
Superintendent of Buildings, where they
become public records.
For purposes of identification the
street number of every building, where
possible, is required, and the lot and
block number. Provision is made for
the filing of amendments to applications
already made. Ordinary repairs as here¬
tofore are not required to be the sub¬
ject of an application or notice.
Issuance of Permits.
Section 4 deals with the permits is¬
sued by the Superintendent and makes
it unlawful to start any building opera¬
tion before the application is approved
and a permit is issued. Under the sec¬
tion the Superintendent may issue an ap¬
proval and permit for part of a building
operation_ when conditions justify it.
.'Ml permits must have the Superinten¬
dent's signature, but this may be aflixed
by an authorized subordinate. As here¬
tofore, permits will expire by limitation
if no work is commenced within a year
after the date of approval.
All work under a permit must be made
in accordance with the approved specifi-
A NOTHER new Article for the
•** Building Code has been ten¬
tatively prepared by Engineer Ru¬
dolph P. Miller, and full copies of
the prelimitiary draft have just
been issued by the Building Com¬
mittee of the Board of Aldermen.
The article is entitled: "General
Provisions." It is subject to sug¬
gestions and further revision, and
has not yet been introduced in the
Board of Aldermen.
An important new requirement is
that hereafter no ruling by a Su¬
perintendent of Buildings will be¬
come effective until it has been
printed once a week for eight
weeks in the City Record and until
a public hearing has been held, if a
request has been made.
cations and plans or approved amend¬
ments. When deemed desirable the Su¬
perintendent may require certified copies
of approved plans to be kept at the
premises during building operations.
The Superintendent is empowered to re¬
voke any permit if there has been a
false statement or misrepresentation in
the application, or if the approved plans
and specifications are not complied with.
Certificates of Occupancy.
One of the most important additions
to the proposed code is the certificate
of occupancy provided for in Section 5.
No new building shall be occupied un¬
til a certificate has been issued by the
Superintendent certifying that the build¬
ing conforms with the approved plans
and specifications and the requirements
of the law applying to that kind of
building.
A similar certificate is required after
the completion of an alteration to an
existing building. If during the alter¬
ation it has been necessary to vacate
the building it cannot again be occupied
until a certificate has been issued.
If, however, the alteration has been
such that it has not been necessary to
vacate the building while the work has
been going on, the occupancy of the
building need not be interrupted if a
proper certificate is secured within thirty
days after the completion of the altera¬
tion.
The occupancy of existing buildings is
not to be disturbed except as it may be
necessary under some provision of law
for the safety of life or property, or un¬
less the legal standing of any building
as to its occupancy has been questioned
by any department or bureau of the
city before this section becomes effec¬
tive.
If an owner requests a certificate of
occupancy for an existing building the
.Superintendent must supply such certi¬
ficate, stating the present occupancy of
the building. Such certificate, however,
will not be issued if there are violations
pending against the premises or such oc¬
cupancy is not in accordance with any
certificate that may have been previously
issued. It will be unlawful to change
the occupancy of any building where
such change would transfer the build¬
ing from one class to another of the
three large classes of public, residence
and business buildings, nor would it be
lawful to change tlie occupancy to any
purpose that would bring the building
under some special provision of the
code.
Changing Nature of Occupancy.
Thus, if a certificate has been issued
for a building to be occupied as a resi¬
dence building having not more than
fifteen sleeping-rooms, it would be un¬
lawful to change the occupancy so as
to have more than fifteen sleeping-rooms
unless the Superintendent should ap¬
prove such change as conforming to all
the requirements for a building having
the larger number of sleeping-rooms.
If it is desired to change a building
from one class to another without alter¬
ation to the building and it complies
with the requirements for the next con¬
dition, an application for a new certifi¬
cate must be made to the Superinten¬
dent.
The Superintendent is authorized un¬
der this section to permit the occupancy
of a part of a building where it can be
shown that such occupancy does not
jeopardize life or property and there
are no violations pending against the
part to be occupied.
Every certificate of occupancy shall
contain in addition to a statement that
the building complies with the approved
plans and the Building Code, a state¬
ment as to the purposes for which the
building may be used, the permissible
live loads of the several floors, the num¬
ber of persons that may be accommo¬
dated if there is a restriction in that
respect, and any other special require¬
ment.
Certificates of occupancy must be is¬
sued by the Superintendent within ten
days of the filing of an application
therefor if the building shall be entitled
thereto. A record of certificates shall
be kept at the Bureau of Buildings and
copies shall be issued to any parties
having a proprietary interest in the
property.
Modifications of the Code.
Another new section is the one on
modifications. Section 6. While the
Charter provisions which empower the
Superintendent to make modifications
have been in force for some years, this
new section provides for the manner
of the granting of modifications and re¬
quires that a record of all modifications
shall be kept in the Bureau of Build¬
ings accessible during business hours to
any one interested.
The granting of modifications, with
the reasons for such action, must be
published in the City Record, and all
modifications may be cited as prece¬
dents.
Under Section 7 a practice that has
been in vogue for some years regard¬
ing the issuing of rules and regulations