Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Speaker Christine Quinn, and Acting Buildings Commissioner Robert D. LiMandri, with the support of construction developers, contractors and organized labor, today announced an aggressive legislative agenda that will equip the Buildings Department with additional oversight and enforcement powers to further the safety of New Yorkers and construction workers.

The centerpiece of this comprehensive safety agenda focuses on the highest-risk construction operations by requiring new oversight of general contractors and concrete and demolition operations. Once enacted, the legislation announced today would make it mandatory for all general contractors and concrete and demolition subcontractors to obtain a safety control number through the Buildings Department before conducting any work that requires a permit. Contractors with unacceptable safety records will have their safety control number suspended or revoked, halting them from doing business if they repeatedly violate the law and put New Yorkers at risk. The legislative agenda announced today also gives the Department new enforcement powers to assign a Project Safety Monitor at sites with a history of particularly hazardous violations, requires licensed site safety managers to oversee concrete operations, and increases training and other safety requirements governing crane operations in New York City. Other initiatives as part of the legislative agenda will improve structural safety and administrative operations.

“We are in the midst of an historic building boom, and the City and construction industry must work together to identify innovative ways for both the Buildings Department and contractors to make construction sites safer,” said Mayor Bloomberg.  “The measures announced today will help enable the Buildings Department to hold contractors accountable to their safety records, and introduces new training requirements and safety rules in key areas, including crane operations, that will make construction sites safer.  Building for the future and building safely are not mutually exclusive. We can and will do both – but public safety is our top priority.”