1993 a hectic year for building owners.

The past three months have seen New York City's Commercial Recycling Regulations take effect, and the low-flow toilet fixture rebate program get underway in The Bronx. The fear of lead-based paint and schools riddled with poison occupied the headlines for weeks. And as the World Trade Center bombing trial began to unfold, some of the best technical minds available were diligently evaluating the lessons learned from the tragedy to create a new plan and set of recommendations that would raise fire safety preparedness strategies to a new, even safer, level.

These are but a few examples of the range of issues - in one of the most hectic years ever - that have affected the codes and regulations New York's commercial building industry must live by. To assist the industry keep abreast of the rapid changes, The Building Owners' and Managers' Association of Greater New York Inc. (BOMA/NY). once again sponsored its most popular seminar, "Codes and Regulations Update" earlier this Fall.

Chaired by John H. K Belt, CPM, (President/Treasurer 58-64 40th Street Corp.) and BOMA/NY's Codes and Regulations Committee Chairman, the panel of speakers included: Richard Breslaw (Owner, Breslaw Properties) Chairman, BOMA/NY's Plumbing Codes Task Force; environmental specialist William A. Esposito, CIH (President, Ambient Labs, Inc.) Chair of Environmental Concerns Task Force; Richard Fuller (President, Great Forest, Inc.) Chairman, BOMA/NY label containers around the work place for recyclables, and notify employees and clients of the recycling program with signs and container labels.

The City's Sanitation Department is responsible for enforcement, and its mandate includes everything from proper signage to inspecting waste transfer stations. Fines range from $25 to $500, with the first six months as a grace period. Under the new law, buildings have a number of options available, such as full recycling, mixed recycling or dry from wet recycling. The advantages of the former are the reduction in waste volume, with a commensurate drop in waste hauling cost. No matter which option is chosen, tenants must be educated about the program so they can assume their share of recycling responsibility.

Americans With Disabilities Act 

Charles Rizzo was forthright in reminding the seminar audience of the need for compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

About 43 million people - 16 percent of America today - have a physical or mental disability, ranging from a disturbance in their bodily systems or an organ, to injury, disorder or disease. It covers anything that impairs the ability to walk, talk, see or hear, and includes such disorders as AIDS, cancer or diabetes.

"The ADA is a civil rights law that requires access without discrimination," Rizzo said, adding that "the Department of Justice has set fines of $50,000 for first time offenses, $100,000 for second fines."

As an example of the changes required by ADA, Rizzo recalled the Intercontinental Hotel's settlement of their ADA case, which required the hotel to install ramps for the entrance, lobby restaurant steps, bathrooms and lower public places.

ADA's retroactivity is also a key issue, he said. While the City's Department of Buildings is now giving construction permits without ADA review, the law can go back to January 26, 1992, when it was first implemented, for enforcement of ADA construction and access requirements.

The issue of a "wait for rescue area" in sprinklerized buildings has been shelved by the ADA regulations as a problem, and is under review by the Justice Department, while the City, which has its own regulations to aid the handicapped, LL58, has been giving preliminary consideration to such areas.

He also reviewed the "20 percent rule," citing as an example that a construction project budgeted for $1 million, spending $100,000 on ADA requirements would require an additional $100,000 to be spend on "path of travel."

There is some flexibility in the requirements, noted Rizzo, using the issue of revolving doors as an example. Revolving doors meet the standards of egress, but there must be a button outside the door so that the handicapped may ring for help and have someone there to assist them.

"ADA Handouts," a collection of handouts published by BOMA/NY and provided by Be Aware and Care, and United Cerebral Palsy, that doesn't necessarily represent BOMA/NY's views, provides helpful information ranging from how to communicate sensitively with handicapped persons to ADA tax credits to organizations that can provide assistance. The booklet is available from the BOMA/NY office. Waste Management Task Force; sanitation engineer Ken Kline (Syska & Hennessey), and ADA specialist Charles Rizzo, (President, Charles Rizzo & Associates) Chairman of the BOMA/NY ADA/LL58 Task Force.

Highlights of the seminar covered recycling, asbestos and lead abatement, updates on ADA and IAQ legislation and a briefing on the post-World Trade Center bombing Fire and Safety Codes Committees' work.

Fire Safety Codes

The Fire Safety Review Committee's recommendations, as outlined by Mr. Belt, call for more extensive training of tenants in fire and evacuation safety procedures, smoke detectors in elevators, fire stair signage, supplemental sources of power, new procedures for security inspections in parking garages, secondary power back-up systems (battery powered and electromagnetic), improvement in fire command station/-fire inspector emergency kits, and voice-activated, 2-way communications systems for attended parking that would be linked to the fire command station but not the fire alarm, to name a few.

Low-Flow Sanitation Fixtures

The EPA's rebate for installation of low-flow (1.6 gallon per flush) toilet fixtures applies only when 70 percent of a building's toilets are replaced, said Mr. Kline, but it does ring up rebates of $150 per commercial toilet, and in a City where the per capita water use is 208 gallons a day, these fixtures can reduce per capita consumption by up to 40 percent. Shower heads reducing consumption and aerator faucets must also be installed to reduce flow to 3 gallons per minute. Installation for all low-flow fixtures must done by a licensed Master Plumber. Maintenance costs are not expected to increase, Kline reported.

Indoor Air Quality 

This year IAQ legislation has been introduced on the floor in both houses of Congress and in the New York State Senate, Mr. Esposito reported. At the federal level, Senator George Mitchell (Maine) has introduced a bill S656, which BOMA has supported nationally. The bill calls for research and development, would create a Federal IAQ office and establish a grant system for states to do the same. In the House, Joseph P. Kennedy II (Massachusetts) introduced two bills, both of which have been defeated on the House floor. More recently, Kennedy's efforts have focused on IAQ research and closely mirror the Senate bill in many ways.

At the Senate level, Bill 4594 was introduced by Senator Tully, Chair of the Health Committee. It would require that a Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Operations and Maintenance Program be developed for all buildings applying for a permit. A licensed state engineer would have to approve the plan prior to occupancy. And, the bill requires that within two years of enactment, all existing buildings would had to have developed a plan ensuring compliance with the 1989 ASHRAE regulations - or its subsequently updated standards.

BOMA/NY took issue with the compliance regulations. Led by BOMA/NY President Peter L. Di-Capua, BOMA/NY formed a coalition with other New York State BOMA Associations and REBNY, and phoned, spoke and/or met with Tully's staff to express the industry's strong concern that such a bill would unfairly impact the majority of building's with good air quality in an attempt to reach a few problem buildings. The coalition recommended that buildings be held to the standards of the time at which they were constructed. The coalition was effective and after a great deal of effort, the bill was tabled for 1993. with Tully hoping to revise and move it forward next year.

Other major concerns arising from the bill focused on the fact that increased ventilation is not necessarily an appropriate response to an IAQ problem - a contaminant should be identified and removed, rather than merely increasing ventilation. BOMA opposes any regulation or law mandating ventilation standards.

Asbestos

With 300,000 asbestos abatement projects carried out over the past six years, building owners and managers have grown increasingly strident over the fact that owners are legally and financially responsible for an abatement contractor's mistakes and oversights. Owners have repeatedly called for a clear definition of responsibilities for a contractor's on-site supervisor (particularly legal responsibilities); a definition of "standard" variances that can cover deviations, a revision in the procedures for handling non-friable and friable asbestos, and the need to bring City and State regulations into agreement.

Earlier this year, Esposito said, the City's Department of Environmental Protection responded by switching the enforcement responsibility to The Program Enhancement Committee (PEC) from the Public Oversight Committee on Regulation in the hope more would be accomplished. The PEC has since redefined its top three priorities as incorporating standard variances into regulations, achieving a resolution between State and City regulations and defining site handling procedures for non-friable asbestos.

Lead Paint Abatement

Subject to increasing scrutiny and escalating into front-page news as school opened this Fall was the question of lead-based paint abatement. This past August, OSHA regulations went this effect to protect the more than 900,000 construction workers in the U.S. against the hazards of lead exposure. The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines were released this Fall and will serve as guidelines for the Federal Environmental Protection Agency. They call for such new measures as extensive abatement training and the establishment of performance standards.

In the New York City Council, two bills were introduced for Lead-Based Paint Abatement Program - the Department of Environmental Protection's Bill 555 focuses on commercial structures. The bill calls for contractor licensing and a certification program.

Recycling

This past September 30, the City's new Commercial Recycling Regulations took effect, implementing Local Law 87, and splitting the business community (private waste sector), between buildings with a food or beverage outlet, such as cafeterias, restaurants, bars, delis, etc., and those without such outlets.

The intent behind the law is to separate wet materials from the dry waste stream, and facility managers must make certain that waste handlers are able to recycle all materials, and that their hauling agreements are on file with the name of the handler.

Signage identifying the types of trash is essential. The proverbial "circular file" or ubiquitous under-the-desk trash receptacle must now handle only paper. Offices will now have a central waste disposal which must be clearly identified, with wet trash now handled in black bags, for example. Glass, metal and plastic items from the food service outlet can be placed together in a translucent bag. The hauler separates these waste items later at his transfer station.

Signs in the loading dock and public areas must describe the recycling program in place, covering such responsibilities as how materials are separated and removed from the building. Signs also are necessary in areas where materials are being stored.

Owners are required to notify tenants in writing of the recycling requirements, including what materials tenants must separate prior to collection and how to separate. They must also provide or designate recycling containers for public areas where recyclable materials are routinely generated.