NYC Buckles Down on Scofflaw General Contractors
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009The NYC City Council has approved Legislation that allows the Buildings Department to draft new rules and regulations dealing with scofflaw General Contractors. The Buildings Department will be drafting new rules for contractors that will mirror current rules for outstanding parking tickets (more than $350 in parking tickets will result in having your car towed by NYC). Regulations for contractors will limit the amount of outstanding civil penalties a Contractor may have outstanding at one time. If a contractor is does not meet these regulations and has been fined, DOB will not allow any future work permits to be issued under their License until the penalties have been paid. One Contractor, MGM Demo Inc., was mentioned in Sunday May 17th, 2009 Daily News, they currently have over $1.4 million in outstanding fines for building code/safety code violations. The Daily News also reported that Contractors and Owners owe the city more than a quarter -billion dollars in outstanding fines. The Building Department has until April 2010 to enact these new regulations but hopefully won’t wait that long. NYC and its citizens need that money to continue to provide the services that we all have come to expect from our local government.

