75% of building owners miss local law deadline.

NOW a full month past the deadline, most of the city's buildings have yet to file the necessary paperwork to come into compliance with Local Law 26. The Law requires the installation of photoluminescent exit markings on all stairwells and exit doors in all office buildings taller than 75 feet.

According to the New York City Department of Buildings, the agency with which building owners must file affidavits indicating compliance, of the nearly 2,000 buildings required to install photoluminescent markings, only 590 have filed paperwork.

"The Department will be mailing a letter to owners whose buildings are not in compliance--a reminder/ warning," said Ilyse Fink, Buildings Department spokeswoman. "It will also include a form to be submitted if an owner thinks his/her building has been misidentified and does not come under these regulations, or it the person is not the owner of the building in question."

Fink said the department will start issuing violations within the next two months.

Photoluminescent industry players said they were shocked at the sheer number of noncompliant buildings.

"I knew there were a lot, but I figured the number to be more likely around 50%," said Evan Lipstein, president of Hyline Safety Inc., a company that installs photoluminescent markers in buildings. "That said, we're still very actively submitting proposals to clients and hearing from building mangers on a daily basis. Some people have been dragging their feet."

According to David Gibson, vice president of sales and marketing for NYGLow, which distributes photoluminescent paint, most of the large-portfolio building owners are now in compliance and it is the myriad small building owners who have yet to comply.

"We're not talking about the class A Buildings here, we're talking about the Class B and C buildings--small-time owners. Those people can be very hard to reach, both for people in our industry and the city, I'd imagine."

Though the building department is responsible for filing the affidavits, the actual penalties for not complying with Local Law 26 will be decided upon by the fire department. Lipstein said building owners should be less concerned with what the city might dole out for a fine and more concerned with what would happen should someone be injured in their non-compliant building. Photoluminescence are meant to assist building occupants in identifying means of egress during low visibility situations.

"My best guess is people will wait to comply until they're cited. But it's not about being cited, it's about being held criminally negligent if someone gets hurt on a dark pathway," Lipstein said.