What is a Tenant Protection Plan            

A Tenant Protection Plan is required for any alteration, construction, or partial demolition work in a multiple dwelling building where any dwelling will be occupied during construction. The TPP outlines the steps that the contractor and building owner will take to protect tenants when construction or renovation occurs while tenants are living in the building. The goal of the TPP is to avoid or limit service disruptions and lessen the negative impacts of construction. A TPP must be submitted prior to construction if any occupancies are remaining occupied during construction.

The TPP must include detailed and specific provisions for tenant protection during construction regarding:

1. Egress,

2. Fire safety,

3. Health requirements,

4. Compliance with housing standards,

5. Structural safety,

6. Noise restrictions and,

7. Maintaining essential services.

Tenant Protection Plan Compliance Inspection Requirements

The goal of the Tenant Protection Plan Compliance special inspection is to provide enforcement of the TPP. According to the 2022 NYC Building Code, Section 1705.26.1, the special inspector is required to conduct inspections of the TPP:

1. Before construction/demolition begins,

2. At the start of construction/demolition,

3. Once a week throughout the duration of construction/demolition,

4. After a violation of the TPP has been issued to verify that the violation was fixed,

5. When location or operations of construction have changed and require a modification of the methods of protection.

The inspector must keep a written record of the inspections performed for the TPP and maintain a log of these inspections at the job site. This log must include an entry for each inspection and indicate that the alteration or construction operation is being performed in accordance with the tenant protection plan. Copies of the special inspection log book should be maintained at the job site and at the office of the special inspector, and should be available for review until the TPP Compliance inspections are complete.

Tenant Protection Plans, and thus TPP Compliance inspections, are not required when the scope of work is limited to a three-family home, the interior of a single dwelling unit of an occupied multiple dwelling with no disruption to the essential services of other units (where such dwelling is owner occupied), or the interior of a single dwelling unit of an occupied dwelling three stories or less.

EP Inspections and Commissioning is fully equipped to conduct Tenant Protection Plan Compliance inspections on your residential work. Contact us today.

The NYC Department of Buildings now requires that specified service equipment cannot be operated until a Certificate of Compliance (COC) is issued by the Department of Buildings. The Certificate of Compliance was formerly known as Equipment Use Permits. Equipment Use Permits used to be obtained through the sign-off by a qualified registered design professional or a DOB inspector. Certificate of Compliance on the other hand is granted after inspections conducted by a third-party Special Inspections Agency are completed. Once the equipment inspection is completed, the filing for the Certificate of Compliance is done on DOB NOW. The filing includes the completed TR1 form identifying responsibility for the required special inspection and a PW4 Application for Certificate of Compliance for Equipment Form (signed and sealed). The department will then issue an approved Certificate of Compliance which is required to be posted on or adjacent to the certified equipment. Operating equipment without a COC or failing to post the COC can result in the issuance of violations and fines by the Department of Buildings or the FDNY.

The following types of equipment cannot be operated until a Certificate of Compliance is issued:

·        Air conditioning systems (including cooling towers) and ventilation systems

·        Refrigeration systems

·        Heating systems

·        Fuel burning and fuel-oil storage equipment, Boilers

·        Elevators, escalators, moving walkways and dumbwaiters

As per 1 RCNY §101-14, the only exceptions to these requirements are:

Source: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/rules/1_RCNY_101-14.pdf

Over the past several months, EP Inspections and Commissioning has embarked on the monumental project of gaining Class 1 accreditation. As mentioned in a previous EPIC KNOWS article, a Class 1 accredited inspection agency can conduct inspections on any project of any size and type, including new construction and additions over 10,000 square feet. EPIC has worked with the International Accreditation Service (a subsidiary of the International Code Council) to follow their IAS Accreditation Criteria (AC291) in this process. Class 1 accreditation was earned in May, 2022 in these fields of Special and Progress Inspections:

SPECIAL INSPECTIONS

• Chimneys

• Luminous Egress Path Markings

• Fire Resistant Penetrations and Joints

• Sprinkler Systems

• Standpipe Systems

• Smoke Control Systems

• Mechanical Systems

• Fuel Oil Storage & Fuel Oil Piping Systems

• Private On-Site Storm Water Disposal Systems & Detention Facilities

• Heating Systems

• Post-Installed Anchors

• Emergency & Standby Power Systems (Generators)

PROGRESS INSPECTIONS

• Energy Code

• Fire-Resistance Rated Construction

• Final

EPIC looks forward to making good use of this accreditation in the near future by taking on Class 1 level inspections and expanding our ever-growing portfolio of projects.

Going into effect on November 7, 2022, there will be several changes to Chapter 17 in the NYC Building Code. Some of these changes include new section numbers for existing inspections, new inspection types, and additional parameters to inspection types that were already included in the 2014 Code. The Chapter name will be changed from “Structural Tests and Special Inspections” to “Special Inspections and Tests”. The section number in Chapter 17 regarding special inspections will also be changed from section 1704 to 1705. This changes all references to the code on the Technical Reports.

The major changes between the 2014 and 2022 Building Code Chapter 17 are listed below:

• The Special Inspection Agency must ensure that only qualified inspectors are conducting inspections, and if asked for it, the special inspector’s and agency’s qualifications, certifications, and other documents demonstrating compliance with department rules and regulations must be provided.

• There are new sections for the special inspection of Structural Seismic Resistance (1705.2.4 - 1705.2.5.2) which must align with AISC 341 requirements.

• In the Cold Formed Steel Construction inspection table (1705.2.6) there are two additional sections for required pre-installation documents, and lateral force-resisting systems which require periodic inspections.

• There is a new table which lists out the requirements for periodic and continuous inspections of Open-Web Steel Joists and Joist Girders (1705.2.7).

• The tables for Masonry Construction special inspections have been reformatted and renamed, and are to be used based on the Risk Category of the masonry work. Now they are called the Level B Required Special Inspections and Tests of Masonry Construction (1705.4.1) and the Level C Required Special Inspections and Tests of Masonry Construction (1705.4.3).

• There is a new table (1705.5.6) and special inspection requirements for Type IV construction utilizing cross-laminated timber or structural composite lumber.

•   The Subsurface Conditions section is now organized in a table (1705.6) that includes all the inspection types and if they are periodic of continuous. This is also true for Deep Foundation Elements, which now includes multiple tables (1705.7 – 1707.7.3) detailing periodic and continuous inspections.

• There is also a new table for Prestressed Rock and Soil Anchors (1705.8.1) which explains the steps of inspection and shows the required frequency of inspection.

• Combustible Exterior Wall Coverings (1705.16), Special Inspection for Nonpotable Water Systems (1705.38), and Special Inspection for Exhaust and Vent Systems in Plenums and Ducts (1705.39) are a new inspection types that have been added to the 2022 Building Code.

• Buildings Bulletin 2015-027 had already clarified that adhesive anchors require continuous inspection, but now it has been codified in the post-installed anchors inspections table (1705.37).