The Real Estate Board of New York to The City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings Regarding Periodic Gas Pipe Inspections and Steam Radiator Inspections

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The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) is the City’s leading real estate trade association representing commercial, residential, and institutional property owners, builders, managers, investors, brokers, salespeople, and other organizations and individuals active in New York City real estate. REBNY appreciates this opportunity to testify on Intros 429 and 925.

REBNY understands and appreciates that the intent of both of these bills is to protect the safety of New Yorkers. In recent years, explosions and accidents from faulty or illegal gas infrastructure and radiators has led to deaths and serious injuries, as well as destroyed property. While we support efforts to protect the public from harm, the bills could be improved to ensure that they are appropriately targeted.

BILL: Intro 0429-2024

SUBJECT: This bill would amend existing requirements for the periodic inspection of gas pipes in buildings.

SPONSORS: Council Member Sanchez, Brannan, Won, Restler, Farías, Cabán, Ayala, Hanks, Louis, Schulman, Bottcher, Salaam, Brewer, Narcisse, Gutiérrez, Feliz, Gennaro, Salamanca, De La Rosa, Ossé, Powers, Rivera, Banks, Dinowitz, Holden, Krishnan, Moya, Hudson, Menin, Brooks-Powers, Zhuang, Marte, Lee, AvilésAbreu, Ariola, Paladino, Marmorato, Vernikov and Carr

Intro 429 proposes numerous changes to the existing law that governs gas pipe inspections (Local Law 152 of 2016.) Local Law 152 requires inspection on a four-year cycle based on the community district in which the building is located. The proposed legislation would make numerous amendments including changing inspection requirements, those able to perform the inspections, and the reporting and correcting of issues identified during inspections.

Intro 429 includes several provisions that would make gas pipe inspections and other plumbing work better and more efficient. For example, allowing emergency work to include restoring gas systems to working conditions without a permit will lead to shorter shutdowns when they occur. In addition, current law requires immediate notification and gas shutdowns for defects found during an inspection that can be remedied without a shutdown. This bill takes a more nuanced approach on both notifications and shut downs, thereby limiting the latter to when they are necessary. Finally, the addition of work considered ordinary plumbing would ease permit requirements and therefore speed up work.

At the same time, the bill includes provisions that will make the already costly inspection process more challenging. For example, the proposed amendments would limit the pool of eligible inspectors from those working under the supervision of a licensed master plumber to those who hold a journeyman plumber certification. This will significantly reduce the number of available inspectors, which will increase compliance costs for building owners large and small across the five boroughs.

Additionally, the expansion of the scope of the inspection will add cost and complexity for building owners. In particular, the proposal would expand the scope of the inspection from the point of entry into the building to the point of connection with any appliance that uses gas, as opposed to the up to an individual tenant space. The proposed law then carves out residential units, but it would include commercial tenant spaces. This is a significant increase in scope, both in terms of area covered and adding to the complexity of gaining access to these spaces.

BILL: Intro 0925-2024

SUBJECT: The proposed legislation would require that steam radiators in apartments in multiple dwellings where a child under 6 years of age resides be inspected annually, along with any radiators in common areas of those buildings. It would also require inspection when a building owner is aware of a defect. Inspections would be undertaken by a licensed master plumber or someone under their supervision. Owners would have to fix or replace damaged radiators. Owners would have to survey tenants annually to find out if there was a child under 6 in the apartment, and there are noticing requirements about the need to inspect, including in leases.

SPONSORS: Council Members Louis, Cabán, Brannan, Schulman, Marte and Sanchez

While recognizing that faulty radiators pose serious risk to the public, the proposed legislation is drafted in such a way as to be overly restrictive. Multifamily buildings with radiators tend to be older segments of the housing stock that are more likely to include affordable and/or rent stabilized housing units. These buildings are particularly sensitive to added costs like those imposed through this legislation.

Radiators are relatively simple equipment to inspect to determine if they are operating as intended. However, the legislation restricts those who can undertake the inspection to only master plumbers. The proposed bill should greatly expand the types of workers, including building superintendents, who could conduct radiator inspections in both dwelling units and in common areas. Expanding the range of individuals who can conduct an inspection would be consistent with recently adopted parapet inspection requirements.

It is also not necessary to conduct annual inspection of radiators. As an alternative, an inspection cycle of 3 years could ensure that units are visited regularly. Or, instead of annual requirements, tenants could be provided the right to request an annual inspection from the property owner and be provided with information annually about how to report concerns about radiator safety and obtain an inspection.

Finally, the requirement to include the owner’s responsibility to comply with this law in every tenant lease is excessive. Posting of the requirement in a conspicuous location, or a similar noticing approach, would be sufficient and more effective.