“Dear Teacher: Little Johnny was out sick yesterday. Signed, Little Johnny.”
Self-certification always raises questions. A pitched battle last month surrounding the city’s professional certification program — which allows registered architects and professional engineers to self-certify that their building and alteration permit applications comply with applicable laws, codes and zoning — raises questions about whether the system is working.
To keep self-certifiers honest, the Department of Buildings currently audits around one of every five self-certified plans submitted, but activists fault the ad hoc process as a Giuliani administration relic whose abuse has resulted in numerous violations and even worker deaths.
In response, last month Mayor Bloomberg signed two bills into law that tighten controls on self-certification. The first measure, placing self-certification under greater scrutiny, requires the buildings department to automatically review all plans submitted by any architect or engineer convicted twice in a year of knowingly or negligently submitting false or noncompliant plans. The second requires the department to automatically review plans submitted by an architect or engineer who is on probation by the state Board of Regents, the licensing agency for those professions.
Yet many feel that the entire system should be abolished. Developers and building professionals argue that the system encourages the building of glorified boxes, since architects do not want to risk an audit by building something out of the ordinary.
Trust but partially verify
During the debate leading up to the passage of the new measures, a group of City Council members introduced a bill that called for jettisoning self-certification entirely, though they concede that the Dept. of Buildings lacks the infrastructure to implement the measure. The Bloomberg administration pushed for the scaled-back version that eventually passed.
Allen Cappelli, a real estate lawyer and consultant to the Building Industry Association of New York City, a trade association of residential home builders, said his organization believes that “professionals who commit misconduct should be punished and we’re willing to support the end of self-certification, if people want to go in that direction, but only if the city puts in the resources to make sure delays don’t become extraordinary.”
The Dept. of Buildings already audits all subdivision projects. A randomly chosen representative sample of approximately 20 percent of all other filings is reviewed within 10 business days. All applications are subject to audits, which check for compliance with zoning regulations and accuracy of calculations, fire protection and occupant safety, egress requirements and access for persons with disabilities. Audit results are posted on the department’s Web site.
Zoning vs. building
According to a unanimous measure adopted by the Brooklyn chapter of the American Institute of Architects last month, the entire debate diverts attention from the real problem, “the endless gray areas of the Zoning Resolution,” which is the document that governs land use in New York City. As a result, said AIA Brooklyn, “society shifted blame onto design professionals.”
The group also contends that professional certification suffers in its implementation because the Peer Review Committee component called for in the original law has never been implemented.
DOB rejects
In 2006, the Dept. of Buildings received 3,298 self-certified new building applications and issued 2,891 permits. It audited 40 percent of self-permitted jobs and revoked 0.9 percent of permits after audit. For major alterations, the department permitted 3,624 out of the 4,175 self-permit applications it received, auditing 28.6 percent and revoking 0.8 percent of those audited.
The process has always included provisions to suspend architects and engineers from the professional certification program. Last August, the department revoked the privileges of controversial Brooklyn architect Robert Scarano.
A lightning rod for complaints, many of Scarano’s works tower over their neighbors in low-lying residential areas of Brooklyn such as Williamsburg. Opponents accused him of constructing oversize structures by building lofty mezzanines in individual units that were clearly intended for living space but were listed as storage areas, which are exempt from square footage regulations.
Without admitting guilt, Scarano and the Dept. of Buildings agreed that his plans would henceforth be reviewed by department examiners.
The Dept. of Buildings is in the process of tightening its controls on the professional certification program, said spokeswoman Kate Lindquist. The department recently implemented a zoning review pilot program, which addresses noncompliance with zoning, the largest area of complaints, particularly in areas where major rezoning has occurred.
Under its provisions, the department reviews all applications for new buildings and major alteration permits in Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx.
Though Cappelli sees self-certification as a necessary evil, the new law provides enough of an economic consequence to deter unscrupulous architects and engineers, he said.
“A builder will be much more likely to go to an architect who can self-certify versus one who has to submit to additional review, given the department’s current staffing situation,” he said. “The person who gets the job done quicker cuts carrying costs like taxes, insurance and financing charges, which add to the cost of a project.
“Time is money,” he added. “Construction delays are a big enemy in this industry.”