A large group of New York City design professionals attended the NYSSPE’s second annual New York City Design Professionals Day on October 22nd, 2015. New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) Commissioner Rick Chandler, PE opened the event with his “Building One City” presentation. Chandler spoke about the Department of Building’s Transformative Blueprint for Change. This new plan is focused on enhancing public safety, reorganizing processes, and reducing wait times through a more efficient and modern system of operation at the NYC Department of Buildings. Some notable implementations will include an increase of 159 plan examiners and 34 development inspectors over two years, the launch of a dedicated affordable housing unit, a redesign of the DOB’s online presence and capabilities, and a big push to make online plan review and submission the default practice in New York City. [Read more…]