Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 93, no. 2398: Articles]: February 28, 1914

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^N REAL > ESTATE BUILDERS AND NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 28, 1914 piiiiiiiii^^ BllllliiliiilliilllliPiilllllllllllliiilM^^ .....'■■'*'*'!'■!! 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.....■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 A building law made up of specifications is necessarily unelastic and soon becomes out of date.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. . ■ ,■ , 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