When structures fail, buildings fail. And as every New Yorker knows, following the collapse in 2023 of the 100-year-old four-story parking garage in Ann Street, Manhattan, the consequences can be catastrophic. There are about 4000 parking structures in New York City, many of them old, and almost all of them now subject to aperiodic inspection from a Qualified Parking Structure Inspector (QPSI),effective immediately.
The inspections are imposed by the New York City’s Department of Buildings (DOB) in a similar way to the Façade Inspection and Safety Program (FISP).Owners of parking structures are required to schedule an inspection from a QPSI who will file a condition assessment report to the DOB on a six-year rolling program. The ordinance applies to all five boroughs of New York City on a structured schedule as defined by the rule. Any unsafe conditions must be addressed immediately and corrected within 90 days of the initial filing. Extensions can be applied for once work is underway.
Penalties apply for late filing, beginning with $5,000, rising by $1,000 per month for every subsequent missed month.
The priority for CANY is always the safety and wellbeing of everyone living, working and visiting New York. We love restoring our city’s beautiful buildings, but we love more that our work helps keep people safe. So, it’s no surprise we have multiple Qualified Parking Structure Inspectors to help building owners comply with this new and vital ordinance to ensure the catastrophe of Ann Street doesn’t happen again.
If you are an owner of a parking structure, defined as a space to park or store cars, whether that space is open or enclosed, occupying all or part of a building, whether underneath or inside, please contact Thomas Seminara at tseminara@cany.com and we will work with you to help make your space compliant and safe.
Footnote 1: A Qualified Parking Structure Inspector (QPSI) must be a licensed professional engineer in New York State with a minimum of three years of structural engineering experience pertaining to parking structures that covers: structural design; design of structural repairs; inspection and structural evaluation; forensic structural engineering assessments.
