Senate Bill S8598

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8598
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 20, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. HARCKHAM -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction  and
   Community Development
 
 AN  ACT  to  amend  the  executive  law, in relation to minimum staffing
   levels for agencies enforcing the minimum standards under the New York
   State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code Act

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Legislative intent.  The legislature enacted the New York
 State Uniform Fire Prevention and  Building  Code  Act  ("the  Act")  to
 prevent  loss  of  life,  injury to persons, and damage to property as a
 result of fire and to provide a basic level of protection to  which  the
 people  are entitled in connection with the construction and maintenance
 of buildings.  These people include, importantly, the first  responders:
 firefighters,  police,  and  EMTs,  who are required to enter structures
 with which they are unfamiliar and sometimes navigate them in  hazardous
 conditions such as smoke and fire.
   The  legislature  has further determined it to be a public policy that
 there must be a minimum level of protection from the  hazards  of  fire,
 and a uniform set of minimum standards across the state.
   Also,  the  legislature  has  determined that local governments should
 exercise their full powers to administer and enforce the uniform code.
   It has, however, come to the attention of  the  legislature,  that  in
 some  jurisdictions,  the  agencies  responsible  for enforcement of the
 minimum standards are understaffed and cannot keep up with the mandatory
 inspections and inspections related to complaints, and the  issuance  of
 building  permits  and the follow up inspections and enforcement actions
 needed to implement the Act.  Failure to have adequate staffing has  led
 to  ineffective  enforcement of the Act and increases in the dangers the
 Act is intended to prevent.
   § 2. Paragraph b of subdivision 1 of section 381 of the executive law,
 as amended by chapter 560 of the laws of 2010, is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13784-01-3
              

 S. 8598                             2
 
   b.  [number  and  qualifications of staff, including requirements that
 inspectors be certified pursuant to this  chapter,]  COMMENCING  JANUARY
 FIRST,  TWO  THOUSAND  TWENTY-FIVE,  AND  EVERY  SUBSEQUENT  THIRD YEAR,
 SETTING THE NUMBER AND QUALIFICATIONS OF STAFF,  INCLUDING  REQUIREMENTS
 THAT  INSPECTORS  BE  CERTIFIED PURSUANT TO THIS ARTICLE, FOR EACH LOCAL
 GOVERNMENT'S INSPECTORS, DEPUTY FIRE INSPECTORS, PLAN REVIEWERS,  CERTI-
 FIED ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS, FIRE INSPECTORS OR OTHER RELEVANT PERSONNEL,
 IN  ANY  LOCAL GOVERNMENT CHARGED WITH ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF
 THE UNIFORM BUILDING AND FIRE  PREVENTION  CODE,  SUFFICIENT  TO  ENSURE
 ADEQUATE COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ARTICLE BASED UPON AN INDEX OR CALCULATION
 THAT  TAKES  INTO ACCOUNT THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF THE FOLLOWING WITHIN THE
 STATE AGENCY'S JURISDICTION, FOR EACH CALENDAR YEAR OVER THE PRIOR THREE
 YEARS:
    I. STRUCTURES  SUBJECT  TO  FIRE  SAFETY,  PROPERTY  MAINTENANCE,  OR
 SPECIAL INSPECTIONS;
   II.   FIRE   SAFETY,  PROPERTY  MAINTENANCE,  OR  SPECIAL  INSPECTIONS
 PERFORMED;
   III. COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS RECEIVED,
 REVIEWED, AND APPROVED OR DENIED;
   IV. OPERATING PERMITS RECEIVED, REVIEWED, AND APPROVED OR DENIED;
   V. CONSTRUCTION OR OPERATING INSPECTIONS PERFORMED;
   VI. PLANS, SPECIFICATIONS, AND CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS APPROVED;
   VII. NOTICES OF VIOLATION AND INDIVIDUAL VIOLATIONS ISSUED;
   VIII. UNSAFE STRUCTURES DECLARED;
   IX. FIRE OR EXPLOSION NOTIFICATIONS RECEIVED; AND
   X. ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS, CIVIL OR CRIMINAL, COMMENCED IN ANY  COURT  OR
 TRIBUNAL.
   §  3.    This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
 have become a law.    Effective  immediately,  the  addition,  amendment
 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
 of  this  act  on  its  effective  date  are  authorized  to be made and
 completed on or before such effective date.