Eliminate Professional Certification to Rebuild the DoB
September 12th, 2008
Professional certification is a failure. City Council members know it and, more importantly, everyday New Yorkers know it. It is incumbent upon us to reverse course and eliminate the program. The Independent Budget Office (IBO), in a study I requested, has provided us with a blueprint on how to make that a reality.
IBO’s study found that the cost of eliminating this controversial program would be $7.5 million annually, while the cost to eliminate it for one-, two-, or three-family homes would be $2.9 million annually. The bulk of the cost would be hiring a sufficient number of qualified inspectors—boots on the ground—to review every plan.
I say this would be money well spent and that we should focus our attention on incrementally eliminating this program in three years with clear benchmarks. It is incumbent that the Council and the Administration set the wheels in motion prior to the end of our respective terms in less than 500 days.
Back in 1995, at the program’s inception, the idea of professional certification looked like a good one. After all, “time is money” and it made sense to cut out the bureaucracy by permitting professional architects and engineers to certify that their plans were in compliance with all applicable laws.
Of course, that assumed that the promised “carrot” and “stick” both existed. The stick was supposed to be random audits of a certain percentage of professionally certified jobs to help ensure compliance. Unfortunately, the stick was mostly a paper tiger and, until recently, a sufficient number of jobs were never audited to ensure the program’s integrity.
Through the years, my colleagues in the City Council and I have seen that many of the most problematic projects in our districts were those that were professionally certified. We have all received phone calls from civic leaders and ordinary New Yorkers describing the disastrous impact this program has had on our communities.
Ultimately, the Professional Certification program is a financial crutch and a shortcut we can no longer afford.
The reality is that we will never get the Department of Buildings that we want and need without investing the money to eliminate this failed program.
Critics might argue that we cannot afford to eliminate the program during these tough financial times. I understand this line of argument and I sympathize with it, but we must keep in mind that we can either spend the money on the front end by hiring sufficient qualified and trained inspectors to examine every plan before problems arise, or we can spend the money later on in the process ensuring that problematic professionally certified jobs are corrected. Either way, the money will be spent.
I believe it makes more sense to take the appropriate steps to ensure that problems do not arise in the first place, and the best way of doing that is by devising a plan to phase out professional certification.
Professional certification was created in 1995 prior to the technological innovations that have so revolutionized the operations of DoB. DoB’s Buildings Information System (BIS) has proven to be one of the most useful and most essential tools in city government. My office utilizes this system on a daily basis.
Technology has been and will be the salvation for DoB—and I believe the technology exists to review every plan efficiently. I have full confidence that Commissioner LiMandri could make it work if he’s provided with the resources to do so.
George Bernard Shaw once said, “No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious.” We have debated the issue of professional certification and we have tinkered around its edges while keeping it intact. At all times, however, the answer has been obvious. Let’s chalk up professional certification as the failed program it is and begin anew.
IBO’s study found that the cost of eliminating this controversial program would be $7.5 million annually, while the cost to eliminate it for one-, two-, or three-family homes would be $2.9 million annually. The bulk of the cost would be hiring a sufficient number of qualified inspectors—boots on the ground—to review every plan.
I say this would be money well spent and that we should focus our attention on incrementally eliminating this program in three years with clear benchmarks. It is incumbent that the Council and the Administration set the wheels in motion prior to the end of our respective terms in less than 500 days.
Back in 1995, at the program’s inception, the idea of professional certification looked like a good one. After all, “time is money” and it made sense to cut out the bureaucracy by permitting professional architects and engineers to certify that their plans were in compliance with all applicable laws.
Of course, that assumed that the promised “carrot” and “stick” both existed. The stick was supposed to be random audits of a certain percentage of professionally certified jobs to help ensure compliance. Unfortunately, the stick was mostly a paper tiger and, until recently, a sufficient number of jobs were never audited to ensure the program’s integrity.
Through the years, my colleagues in the City Council and I have seen that many of the most problematic projects in our districts were those that were professionally certified. We have all received phone calls from civic leaders and ordinary New Yorkers describing the disastrous impact this program has had on our communities.
Ultimately, the Professional Certification program is a financial crutch and a shortcut we can no longer afford.
The reality is that we will never get the Department of Buildings that we want and need without investing the money to eliminate this failed program.
Critics might argue that we cannot afford to eliminate the program during these tough financial times. I understand this line of argument and I sympathize with it, but we must keep in mind that we can either spend the money on the front end by hiring sufficient qualified and trained inspectors to examine every plan before problems arise, or we can spend the money later on in the process ensuring that problematic professionally certified jobs are corrected. Either way, the money will be spent.
I believe it makes more sense to take the appropriate steps to ensure that problems do not arise in the first place, and the best way of doing that is by devising a plan to phase out professional certification.
Professional certification was created in 1995 prior to the technological innovations that have so revolutionized the operations of DoB. DoB’s Buildings Information System (BIS) has proven to be one of the most useful and most essential tools in city government. My office utilizes this system on a daily basis.
Technology has been and will be the salvation for DoB—and I believe the technology exists to review every plan efficiently. I have full confidence that Commissioner LiMandri could make it work if he’s provided with the resources to do so.
George Bernard Shaw once said, “No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious.” We have debated the issue of professional certification and we have tinkered around its edges while keeping it intact. At all times, however, the answer has been obvious. Let’s chalk up professional certification as the failed program it is and begin anew.
