By: Dean Weiner

The union representing New York City firefighters is speaking out against Mayor Eric Adams plan to move control of the building inspection process from FDNY supervision to the Department of Buildings. The draft plan, a copy of which was exclusively obtained by The New York Post, would “transfer examination, permitting, and inspections” from FDNY to DOB for “construction-related work,” while mostly limiting FDNY inspections to fire safety compliance.

The New York Post reports that the plan discusses exploring steps “where self-certification of inspections is facilitated” and the notion of using “third parties” to conduct inspections instead of city government inspectors. Union leaders claim such a plan to allow building owners to “self-certify” their facilities as safe would lead to safety lapses and corruption.

“There’s absolutely no reason to go this route — we’re against it,” Andy Ansbro, president of the United Firefighters Association, said in a statement to The New York Post of the administration’s proposal.

“This is a COVID-related grab that now that things have gotten back to normal, they have a backlog they’re working on,” Anbros said to The New York Post to explain the changes.  “If we allow the architect or the building contractor to self-certify, it could lead to the example we always point to: the deaths of Howard Carpluk and Michael Reilly, who were killed because of self-certification.” The New York reports that Anbros was referring to the 2006 tragedy when the two FDNY firefighters died in the line of duty after inspections weren’t previously done properly on the building, they perished in.

“Self-certification never works. It’s very dangerous. Our job is to make sure people and firefighters don’t get killed,” Darryl Chalmers, a deputy chief fire inspector and union official with Local 2507, which reps inspectors and EMTs and paramedics, said self-certification is a crazy idea, said.

“Mayor Adams has made cutting red tape and getting small businesses open core priorities of his administration, without ever sacrificing public safety – and he has taken significant steps to advance those goals over the last 10 months,” City Hall spokesman Charles Lutvak said in an exclusive statement to The New York Post. “But as the mayor has said, we have more work to do so new businesses open and our city’s comeback can continue. The administration is continuing to evaluate which agency is best positioned to expedite fire alarm filings and related inspections while always prioritizing safety. The only interest group we’ll consider during this process is New Yorkers.”