Reflecting on construction in '99.

Re-evaluating last year's record in the construction industry provides us with a gauge for this year's projections. By reviewing everything from safety issues through new product performance, we can determine what worked in the past and what we should avoid today.

The year started with Local Law 11/98, which actually passed in March 1998, but didn't finalize until January 1999. Almost immediately, the new facade law offered a boon to such industries as exterior restoration, architecture and engineering. It was also the cause of economic and operational challenges to property managers, cooperativecorporations, condominiumassociations and myriad building owners throughout the city.

In addition to requiring much needed repairs to crumbling facades, Local Law 11 spearheaded an awareness of safety issues relative to the city's entire infrastructure. Even the average layperson was confronted with facade problems - just by virtue of walking under a sidewalk shed.

Moreover, Local Law 45, our code for sidewalk sheds, was well-enforced last year, as were additional regulations concerning scaffolds. In fact, an unprecedented number of fines were issued to those not observing OSHA standard scaffold comportment. In a small way, I too had a part in the development of these stricter criteria, when I worked on the Building Department's Sub-Committee for Special Riggers.

Also in 1999, the Mayor publicly considered mandatory licensing of construction contractors who work on hanging scaffold platforms. As one of those contractors, I concurred with the Mayor's position that licensing would set a higher standard for construction professionals. The new requirement hasn't passed yet, but the publicity did bring construction safety back into the forefront and opened a much-needed dialogue. Nevertheless, New York City remains one of the few places in the country that doesn't require licensing for contractors. Of course, we have licenses for everything else, e.g., driving, fishing, hair styling, notarizing, and those ubiquitous brokers' licenses - real estate, insurance and mortgage. Almost anything that might have an impact on our fellow citizens requires license here - except for construction, where one simple error may result in a terrible accident, especially when a worker is poised 40 stories above the pavement.

Miraculously, pedestrians escaped disaster again this past year. But between a shower of bricks on Madison and 54th Street, a freak bus accident resulting from a cascade of falling masonry at Four Times Square, and other mishaps, traffic was often stopped and police called in to work overtime - costing taxpayers time, money and aggrevation.

It doesn't take rocket science to determine that most accidents can be prevented with improved safety procedures - but it does take education. At a minimum, mandatory OSHA classes for all construction workers would certainly raise the standard for safety awareness.

On another note, technology has allowed for significant advancements in the construction trades in terms of safety and efficiency. Among the most popular four letters of 1999 were GFRC, the acronym for "glass fiber reinforced cement. This lightweight cladding material enabled us to effectively implement facade repairs faster, safer and less expensively, and without diminishing important architectural details.

GFRC not only simulates the appearance of terra cotta and limestone, it does so at a fraction of the weight, so we are able to avoid overloading a building's structure. The other advantage we found was delivery time: it took approximately six weeks for our fabricators to prepare and deliver the product. On some of our custom stone projects, we waited nearly four months.

Another group of cutting-edge products we had the opportunity to use last year were liquid applied roofing systems. Although the majority of roofs that we installed or repaired called for conventional roofing materials, we were able to use reinforced liquid polyester membranes on several projects. They are truly the wave of the future. The high bonding materials are easier to apply than the traditional roofing materials and offer unprecedented longevity, with the added safety benefit of flameless application.

So the old year or century or millennium ended well for many of us: None of our sites were affected by Y2K; nobody blew them up; and we still had the opportunity to use state-of-the-art materials. By improving products and demanding higher working standards, New Yorkers will be able to enjoy a safer city thanks to a newly reinforced infrastructure. And we can point out that all those Chicken Little jokes belong in the last century.