>> i would just like to ask the question, the priorities, is it with the burden of staff, recouping the money, or does it have to do with the health and welfare of citizens? thank you. >> is there any further public comment? seeing none. item 4. update on process for repairing properties with life safety issues. >> good morning, a commission. -- good morning, commission. i will be addressing life safety and then the chief inspector has

a presentation. to repair a property with -- if it is an extreme life safety hazard -- we would have an emergency order. only then could we actually go in there and carry out repairs. we did something similar three weeks ago had a fire at 1400 mission street. two buildings caught fire. the building owner was not there. i called dpw and they boarded up the property. it had been some time before we have had to do that, but occasionally, we will get dpw. as far as i know, we have never

contracted out to a private company to do that work for us to get more proactive. that is what it would take. we would need contracts, for instance, -- commissioner murphy: how many units are in this building? >> 50. commissioner murphy: any complaints from the other tenants? >> not that i'm aware of. >to do the repairs that he was asking for, we would have to do a couple of bids to get our prices. i looked at a plumbing inspector who specializes in boilers, and when he gave me the notice of inspection in may, he told the property owner that it we would

never -- not be accepting a certification from a contractor that the boiler made code. he pointed out some code discrepancies, asbestos, and told him to update it. that is what is taking time. they have to update this boiler and a half to remove the asbestos. the boiler has been working. there has not been any complaints about a lack of heat or hot water. right now, it is not an emergency, but they are going to have a director's hearing, possible action to the city attorney in may -- if they do nothing about it. during the winter, more people are tapping into the hot water. it is an ancient system and it

breaks down. that is what we are doing for 570 o'farrell. we would have to change the way we do business here. we have orders of abatement, but it is usually for building that have to come down, for a stairway that collapses. we give the person a reasonable amount of time and work with them. as long as we see something going on, a contractor, said of plans, someone going through the permit process -- and i believe with 570 o'farrell, i believe that is what we are seeing. we have someone here who can address that. >> chief plumbing inspector, dbi. i spoke with the owner of the

building at 570, i have spoken with the contractors working with them. they explained it is in fairly good, running condition. it is an old system. i sent out one of my staff to go out there, who is knowledgeable on boilers and systems. he told me it is still running, but at this time next year, we will not accept any certifications from the contractor who certified it already from the past year. it looks like they are doing repairs to where it is in compliance but the repairs are surviving only to an extent and that are falling apart again. unfortunately, with his unit, the building, they are going down for a few days at the time. at this point, looking at the system, speaking with the

owner, she said money is tight at the building that she just took over. they are trying to finance and figure out a way to replace the system, give everyone ample time to know -- to give them notice. it is not an easy replacement. it is a larger system. removing everything and putting everything in will take some time. so they are tried to get everything in order. i have heard number. i told her i would get in touch this week or next week to see when they are planning to do repairs. commissioner murphy: commissioner walker. commissioner walker: i appreciate that this is on the agenda, this broad issue. it is situations like this -- not just that one project. i do have questions about this one project and then i have

questions about the broader effort for fixing. by next year, we want to see something different. >> i gave her a deadline of, two weeks, come back to me with an action plan. if they cannot take care of it, afford it, at that point, we would go to a director's hearing, and then force the issue. >> if it keeps breaking down, as a serial occurrence, creating a problem for the building, everyone coming out, responding in the case of an emergency. >> to be fair, the only complaint that we have received is the one from the same tent.

there are other people in the building and i have not heard anything from them. i am not saying that it is not happening. we are just not getting more people complaining. commissioner walker: on the concept of doing it an emergency resolution for a life issue, do we have funding for that type of thing? >> for plumbing, as far as i know, i spoke with a claims city attorney. they explained there are funds for that. if there is work that needs to be done, which is a life safety and emergency, that we would contract out and then put the lien for the building.

of then plumbing, i have no idea. -- other than the plumbing, i have no idea. >> director day had been throwing funds into it. it had been depleted for years. there is a chunk of money in there. i could not tell you exactly. the money woman is now shaking her head. >> pamela levin. there is about $300,000 in there. that could be used up quickly. the process to recover the money is extremely slow. as ed mentioned, we were in a deficit, we moved some money in

over there. and then it is also restricted. the other thing is an issue on contractors. if we are using our own contract, if we make the arrangements for a contractor to make repairs, and we are doing is based on paying this out of our own funds, that contractor has to be complied with all of the city rules. we are willing to point people in the direction to become compliant, but that is also a slow process. the city has lots of rules. it does not make it very easy. commissioner walker: and the definition of life and safety is well established. as i understand, it would need to be a directive from the director. >> it means that some of his

life is in danger or peril. loss of heat would be like the safety. -- life safety. >> members of the commission, good morning. chief housing inspector. does the commission wants an overview on the history of emergency orders and repairs? kerr is a very broad definition. we are really dealing with a definition in the building code that deals with something called serious and imminent. you can have something that may be potentially hazardous, but you mean the mnc before the director can go ahead and do provocative things.

as far as ordering a building to be demolished, repaired. if the director issues an emergency order, there are certain things that have to happen. it is a time-consuming thing to do. because of the exigent circumstances, you need to give the property owner and maximum of 48 hours to try to make repairs themselves. you must report record net document immediately. -- record that document immediately. in a situation where you want to make repairs and not under issue of emergency, that is a different process. with respect to the housing division, when we get a complaint that alleges a life hazard, hazardous condition, and/or heat, we will respond to

that within a 24-hour period. but that can mean a lot of things. if it is an anonymous complaint, we have to try to contact the owner. we are trying to look at those types of things that are traditionally not in the common area. the boiler room, a time clock, all things that we need access to. we need to go through the provision the right of access to go through those things. if it is a complaint about an individual in their unit, they may not want an inspection for a few days. while we initiate that communication, we do not always get to perform the inspection within one or two business days, depending on the situation. in the case of the building in question here, i have had housing inspectors there are a

daily basis, several times a day, tried to press the contractor or order to get things done. we are up-to-date on the notices of violation that we have issued. commissioner walker: i understand if it looks like it will collapse. i think we are forced into a situation to do something. what do we do, if it is 30 degrees out, and there are elderly people in a building, and the heat is off? >> i can tell you what we have done. depending on the circumstances, we may or may not issue an emergency order. we have in the past. the repair and demolition fund appeared 17 years ago as a

$150,000 supplement to the to deal with the imminent hazard. that was its original intent. from that, what we have done in the past, because of issues with contractors, we have used many times dpw's bureau of building repairs to do those repairs, particularly in instances where the heat was not the central control, but it was in a particular unit where we could get access. we had permission from the complainant. in some cases, we were able to restore those heating devices. but when it comes to a central system, when you need access over time, and then you may be dealing with a much more complex situation. commissioner walker: ok, i get it. what do you do then? >> if i may, commissioner,

generally, what the department has done is deal with the exigent circumstances to make the building more stable, to deal with the issue but not necessarily restore the whole system. when you get into a boiler system, you may have other issues -- commissioner walker: space heaters, something like that? >> in instances where there was a single source, we may have had an elderly individual or confirmed individual, we have access, and there was sufficient money to stabilize the situation. but when you are dealing with several large building systems, it becomes a much more complicated situation. even when the department had $20 million in its operating fund, they were apprehensive to do that. once you start making the

repairs, you inherit the liability and access that goes along with that. it is one thing to barricade a building. it cost about 18 dozen dollars just to have the bureau of rebuilding repair come in, the police was there, the city attorney involved. in a situation, we may attempt to make it apparent in a part of a building that is not accessible. we would have to do something tantamount to a forcible entry warrant. so even when you are issuing an emergency order, you have to be in constant contact with the property owner to document that you have the ability to make those repairs. commissioner murphy: how much do we have in the fund? >> i believe the deputy director just said it was about $300,000.

commissioner murphy: i have no problem on dropping the hammer down on property owners not taking care of their business. but as a department, we cannot get into the repair business. we cannot run out there every time a boiler goes out. first of all, we do not have the money. second, if there are contractors assigned to doing this kind of work, they will end of being sued because of favoritism, giving jobs to contractors. i do not think we should get involved in it. as far as commissioner walker asking, what do you do if a boiler goes out in the middle of the winter and old or sick people do not have heat? perhaps that is something for

the rent board. moving into hotels or something. we just need to be careful how we tread on this. we cannot put this on the backs of our stakeholders, who are already supporting tremendous fees for permits and other stuff. if the city is going to do something, it should be done on a citywide basis, picked up by the assessor or somebody. not just this department. commissioner lee: i think pamela mentioned that replenishing the fund is a long and difficult process. what is that process? >> excellent question. it could take over a year to replenish. you bill the property owner for the time, building repair, for all of the costs, administrative

costs. then if they do not pay, you have to lien the property. after you send the notification, and they still do not tender the hearing, we go to that hearing that we have once a year, our lien cycle. then when the tax bill gets paid, next april, there is an amount that they pay and you get part of it in the first installment, part in the second. they have to pay the tax bill because the tax collector cannot take a portion of that payment and give it to a department. so they need to pay their installment in its entirety before you get the transaction back to you. so that could be several months. that is just recouping what you have spent. if you want to make it a policy

of stepping into the issues of the property owner, then you will need a much larger budget funded on the front end to address that. the types of jurisdiction that have done this successfully. obviously, the economy is probably cramping those efforts. cities that have additional and adjudication mechanisms, though, that have done this successfully. new york has a housing court. we have had property owners try to go and to get a writ to stop us, even in the event of an imminent hazard. they have a mechanism where they can go to a specialized for to do with that. it was successful in that

situation. these are just a few things you would have to consider to go in that policy direction. commissioner lee: i have a follow-up question on the replenishing process. do do we bill the property owner for cost, or is there a multiplier or penalty process? >> because this is an assessment, not a fee, we are billing them for our cost. however, chapter one warned the property owner, once the building official undertakes the repairs, a property owner is told that it will cost them much more. our costs, to hire a contractor, to contract with the bureau of building repair, is usually

three or four times more expensive than them hiring their own contractor. so once we start the repairs, it is their job to make sure the department is reimbursed. if you are dealing with punitive damages, then you will need to litigate. that is part of the code enforcement process. this is the emergency order to make the repairs. the code enforcement process for them not adhering to the code is still out there. you may be issuing a notice of violation as well as an emergency order, depending on the conditions. commissioner walker: since dpw is the one that normally goes out, we do not engage contractors, market dpw fees. commissioner murphy: is the category of emergencies objective? is it by virtue of the

department to render what is emergency? >> the code has specific language about imminent hazard. the code also talks about the fact that the building official has to act reasonably. it has to be something where not just the heat is going out, but an imminent hazard. if the ambient temperature outside is 60 degrees, that will not be as much of a hazard, compared to one of those days that we had, where the temperature is in the 30's. if we are dealing with a central system, we have to then do a tremendous amount of coordination, get the bureau of building repair out there, to assess what they can do on an interim basis to get the system back up. we are not usually dealing with complete replacement or repair. we do not have the fund to deal with those issues. it would be a total shipped from

educating, implementing, documenting the requirements of, and enforcing the electrical, mechanical, blogging, administrative coats, to building management. you are taking on that responsibility, and you have to do that reasonably. commissioner walker: my thought on this is there is an extreme that warrants us doing something. making sure we have that ability -- and i think we do, it is just expensive at this juncture. i do not think anyone is expanding to becoming the building owner or anything. in the case of something like lack of heat, it can be life- threatening. i think it is something to look at, especially if it is

happening everywhere. i do not know if we still have that steam system that buildings hook into. we have to be prepared for our responsibility. commissioner murphy: i think if you are living with 50 units and the heat is off, eight days running, 50 tenants have a lot of power regarding putting the pressure on the landlord, so -- >> we will have public comment following this item. you can speak at that time. commissioner hechanova: additional comments? commissioner lee. commissioner lee: i think the department should book through this overall process to see what we can do better. from what i am hearing, i do not

think the process is perfect just yet. obviously, there are still some complaints. it is not working for some people. but from what i have heard today so far, if i were the property owner, there does not seem to be a whole lot of incentive for me to get the repairs fixed. that is the bottom line. i am not saying the department should go in there and rescue the property owners and tenants, but we should put some emphasis on compelling the property owner to do the work quickly. what is that? from what i hear, if we do the work, we are billing the property owner at cost, and they can drag out the lien process. it is almost as if the owner has no negative effects. they can just let it go through the process.

two years later, i will just pay it. it does not sound like we are pushing the property owner's enough. could the department just reveal the process? maybe it includes other proposals that we need to take up with other legislative bodies. maybe we can do something more. >> we would be happy to look into it. right now, the last course of action is referring it to the city attorney, which is time consuming but also expensive for the property owners. the vast majority of property owners, when we reach that stage, will take care of the repairs. just takes time to get to the city attorney. litigation committee meets every other month. commissioner walker: the fact that it works, bricks, sort of works, breaks, it gives them the

illusion that they have had more time. >> it is an ancient system, it keeps breaking down, and i imagine the parts are hard to come by. but we have identified the problem. we have notices of violation in there that will force the owners to replace the boiler with a modern one. that should take care of the problem. commissioner murphy: how many of these do we did a year? >> heat problems? >> citywide? commissioner murphy: similar building, a similar problem. how many of these do we get a year? >> it depends on the builng