Earlier this month Mayor de Blasio signed several pieces of legislation which will increase gas safety across New York City. In the event of a gas outage these bills will help protect tenants and also improve safety by requiring better information sharing between City agencies and gas utilities.
The bills passed include the following new provisions related to gas safety:
- All gas piping work must be performed by a person with DOB mandated qualifications
- The DOB’s final gas piping inspection must be conducted in the presence of the building owner or superintendent
- Building owners must have gas piping systems inspected every 5 years by a DOB qualified inspector
- Dwelling owners must provide written instructions to current and prospective tenants for what to do in the event of a gas leak
- Gas service operators and owners must notify DOB within 24 hours of gas service being shut off in a building and when gas cannot be restored due to safety concerns
- The Mayor will designate an agency or office to identify potential health or safety hazards such as unauthorized gas usage
- Gas utility corporations must provide annual reports detailing the condition of gas asset planned infrastructure projects and investment priorities over the next year
- DOB will establish or adopt a standard for the installation and location of natural gas detectors after an industry standard has been promulgated
- DOB will create a penalty waiver program, which will allow building owners to bring appliances and systems up to code without paying a penalty
- Certain violations will be classified as “immediately hazardous” such as installing gas without a permit
To learn more see the press release from the Office of the Mayor here.