No structure or part thereof shall hereafter
be built or altered in the City of Albany except in conformity with
the provisions of this code.
Before the erection or alteration of any structure
is commenced, the owner or lessee, agent, architect or builder employed
in connection with the proposed erection or alteration shall submit
to the Superintendent of Buildings plans and specifications of the
contemplated structure or alteration thereof.
A complete copy of the plans of the proposed
work shall be submitted in duplicate to the Department of Buildings
in blue or white prints or on paper in ink drawn to a scale. These
plans shall indicate the street or lot number and shall include a
plot plan showing the location of the structure in question in reference
to the lot lines, which may, however, be indicated on the foundation
or basement plan. These drawings shall include a foundation, cellar
and basement plan and plans of every story, except where two or more
stories shall be identical, a roof plan, longitudinal and transverse
sections and all exposed elevations, also code of materials. Such
plans shall be complete in detail as to the exact alteration, improvement
or modification of the premises. Duplicate copies of the contract
between the owner and contractor shall be submitted with the plans.
In cases where the construction of the building
is of steel or reinforced concrete, framing plans shall be submitted.
These plans shall be accompanied by such structural detail drawings
as the Superintendent of Buildings may require.
One copy of the above plans shall, after being
properly stamped, be returned to the applicant and the other kept
on file in the office of the Superintendent of Buildings.
For all buildings within the fire limits and
for all buildings other than frame buildings outside of the fire limits,
typewritten copies in duplicate of the complete specifications shall
be submitted to the Superintendent of Buildings, who, when he shall
have approved the same and certified thereto, shall retain one copy
and return the other to the applicant.
For all frame buildings outside of the fire
limits there may be substituted for the specifications a detailed
statement in triplicate on blanks furnished by the Superintendent
of Buildings.
[Amended 8-16-1993]
The plans and specifications or statements shall
be accompanied with the full name and address of the owner or owners
of the structure. For the purpose of this code, any person, firm or
corporation holding the fee title to real property, or his or their
duly authorized agent or attorney or the guardian, conservator or
trustee, shall be regarded as the owner. The owner or contractor shall
be required to have a liability policy in the amount of one hundred
thousand/three hundred thousand dollars ($100,000/$300,000.) for personal
injury and $50,000 for property damage which will name the City as
an insured or co-insured during the period of time the permit is in
use, or until the permit expires or is revoked by the Commissioner
of Buildings. Said liability policy naming the City of Albany an insured
or co-insured shall not be required where work to be performed is
estimated to be $10,000 or less, except where the work to be performed
involves dangerous or hazardous materials or potentially dangerous
or hazardous conditions, so as to affect the public health, safety
and welfare. The Building Commissioner shall promulgate an official
Building Department policy detailing potentially dangerous or hazardous
conditions and/or materials which will require insurance pursuant
to this section.
[Amended 2-19-1987]
A.
If the construction is to be executed by any other
person than the owner of the land in fee, the name of the person or
persons or corporation intending to make such erection or alteration
shall also be given, together with a statement of their authority
from the owner for such work.
B.
Where the construction activity may involve an obstruction
to vehicular or pedestrian traffic, a permit for said obstruction
shall be applied for pursuant to this section.
C.
A barricade permit allowing a temporary obstruction
will be issued at the discretion of the Building Commissioner after
he has determined that any contemplated construction or demolition
activity will be conducted pursuant to the generally accepted standards
of the New York Uniform Code.
D.
For the purposes of this Part 1, obstructions shall
include but are not limited to any automobile, truck, van, crane,
backhoe, grader, paver, scaffold, dumpster or any other materials
or equipment which, in the determination of the Building Commissioner,
would hinder or obstruct the safe passage of vehicular or pedestrian
traffic.
E.
The Building Commissioner shall have the authority
to issue rules and regulations necessary to carry out the purposes
of this section.
Except as otherwise herein provided, the erection
or alteration of a structure, including any new siding of whatsoever
type or nature, shall not be commenced until complete plans, specifications
or statements shall have been submitted to and approved by the Commissioner
of Buildings, and a permit posted in a conspicuous place on the premises.
It shall be unlawful for any person to remove, mutilate, destroy or
conceal any notice issued and posted on any building by the Commissioner
of Buildings pursuant to the provisions of this code.
[Added 4-20-1987]
A.
No provision of § 133-12 shall be construed as preventing the Commissioner of Buildings from granting a temporary permit for the erection or alteration of any part of a structure where plans, specifications or statements have been presented for that portion of the same before the entire plans, specifications or statements have been submitted.
B.
No land shall be occupied or used and no building
hereafter erected or altered shall be occupied or used, in whole or
in part, for any purpose whatsoever until a certificate of occupancy
shall have been issued by the Commissioner of Buildings stating that
the premises or buildings comply with all the provisions of this Part
1. No change or extension of use and no alteration shall be made in
a nonconforming use or premises without a certificate of occupancy
having first been issued by the Commissioner of Buildings that such
change, extension or alteration is in conformity with the provisions
of this Part 1. Nothing contained herein, however, shall prevent the
Commissioner from promulgating and implementing rules and regulations
governing the issuance of temporary certificates and/or the posting
of adequate bond or other security to insure the timely completion
of necessary work.
The erection or alteration of any structure
shall proceed in accordance with the plans, specifications or statements
on which the permit has been issued. Any structural changes must first
be submitted for approval of the Superintendent of Buildings and must
be clearly shown by drawings, specifications or statements covering
the proposed departure from the original construction.
It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of
Buildings to approve or reject, within a reasonable time, plans, specifications
or statements filed with him pursuant to the provisions of this section.
If upon examination he shall find that plans and specifications filed
with the Bureau of Buildings for approval contemplate work not in
accordance with the Building Code, the Superintendent of Buildings
shall indicate such deviations in writing on a correction sheet and
return the plans and specifications with the correction sheet to the
applicant, and no permit shall be issued until such deviations have
been corrected or approved.
[Amended 12-17-2012 by L.L. No. 2-2012]
Any permit issued by the Commissioner of Buildings
and Regulatory Compliance shall expire upon the one-year anniversary
of said permit, unless the permit holder has requested, and has received,
an extension from the Department of Buildings and Regulatory Compliance.
Repairs of structures which do not involve a
change in construction may be made without notice to the Bureau of
Buildings, but such repairs shall not be construed to permit the cutting
away of any wall or portion thereof, or the removal or cutting of
any beams, girders or supports, or the changing or removal of any
staircase, or the alteration of any drainage system.
The foregoing provisions and all the provisions
of this code shall apply with equal force to all buildings erected
or altered within the City, both municipal and private.
[Amended 10-17-1983]
A.
Building permit fees. Upon the filing of an application
for a building permit, the Commissioner of Buildings shall have the
authority to set reasonable and necessary fees for the issuance of
all permits and/or certificates issued by the Department of Buildings
pursuant to the Building Code, Housing Ordinance, Zoning Ordinance[1] or any other ordinance of the City of Albany requiring
the issuance of a permit by the Department of Buildings. The amount
of such fees shall be fixed in an amount sufficient to defray actual
operating expenses incurred by the Department in the issuance of said
permits and the administration of the functions related thereto.
B.
The Commissioner shall maintain a list of all fees
charged for the issuance of any permits by his Department, and such
list shall be posted in the Building Department and shall be available
to the public upon request.
[Amended 11-16-2009 by Ord. No. 68.102.09]
A.
A permit shall be obtained for the demolition or boarding up of a
building or part thereof. No permit shall be issued unless the applicant
executes and delivers to the Director of Buildings a bond executed
by a solvent surety company authorized to transact business in the
State of New York, in an amount to be fixed by the Director of Buildings,
providing for the holding harmless of the City of Albany and all its
officers and departments from all damages which they may sustain or
be liable for by reason of the demolition or boarding up of the structures
for which the permit is applied, and the applicant shall also furnish
the Director of Buildings with satisfactory evidence that the applicant
carries insurance in a proper amount covering property damage to adjoining
property and public liability insurance for the protection of the
public.
B.
Before any such permit is issued, the applicant is required by law
to secure workers' compensation insurance and shall file with the
Director of Buildings proper evidence that such insurance has been
secured.
C.
The permit when issued shall provide that the applicant will comply
with all the laws of the State of New York and with the laws and ordinances
of the City of Albany, and for failure so to do, the Director of Buildings
may revoke such permit. Said permit may also be revoked without notice
if in the opinion of the Director of Buildings or the Commissioner
of the Department of General Services the demolition or boarding up
of the building is being conducted in a dangerous or unsafe manner.
D.
Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, no application for demolition under this section shall be approved without prior review and approval of the Planning Board established in accordance with Chapters 42 and 375 of the Code of the City of Albany.[1]
[1]
Editor’s Note: Former Subsection E, Submittal requirements
for demolition application; planning standards and criteria, former
Subsection F, which set forth considerations for the Planning Board
with regard to demolitions, and former Subsection G, which required
that a copy of a demolition application be submitted to the Director
of Buildings, all of which immediately followed, were repealed 5-15-2017
by Ord. No. 26.31.17.
When a building is to be demolished to permit the erection of a new structure or for purposes of a new use, such fact shall be stated in the application for such permit. Where a new structure or new use requires approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals in accordance with Chapter 375 of the Code of the City of Albany, a permit shall not be issued until such Board has granted necessary approvals for the proposed new structure or new use.
When a building is to be demolished, after the
trim has been removed the work shall commence at the top story and
proceed story by story. No structural portion of any story shall be
removed until the story above has been demolished. No structural material
shall be placed upon the floor of any such building in the course
of demolition.
All mason material shall be properly wet down
to lay the dust incident to its removal.
The owner or his agent of any structure to be
demolished shall give not less than five business days' notice to
the owner or owners of adjoining property or their authorized agents.
[Added 10-20-1986]
The Commissioner of Buildings is hereby authorized
and empowered to promulgate additional rules and regulations not inconsistent
with the provisions of this code and which are intended to effectuate
the purposes and intent of this Part 1 and/or necessary in the interests
of the public welfare, safety or convenience.
