On Tuesday January 20th, newly appointed NYC Building Department (DOB) Commissioner Rick Chandler, PE held his first Commissioner’s Forum. Commissioner Chandler plans to make this a regular event where he and his top DOB officials meet with the design and construction industry. The event was attended by representatives of the AIA, ACEC, BIA and NYSSPE.
The forum started with a presentation from Commissioner Chandler concerning his vision and direction for the DOB going forward. Being a Professional Engineer and someone who came up through the ranks at DOB, Commissioner Chandler is familiar with the issues engineers face in dealing with the department. His goal is to try and streamline operations so that the department is more user friendly while maintaining public safety in the construction industry.
The next presentation was on the new 2014 NYC Construction Codes:
Michael Alacha PE, Assistant Commissioner of Engineering and Safety Operations gave a presentation that covered key revisions to Chapter 33 in the code as well as key changes in the Site Safety Manager’s rule. A copy of his presentation can be found at the following link:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/downloads/pdf/2014_code_changes_chapter_33.pdf