We are being audited by the DOB....

Our project, a 2 family Alt2 renovation, started with a self certification (Directive 14). At that time I was told that there would be a very high chance that we would be audited before sign off and that’s what’s happening next week. Both electrical and plumbing have been signed off, electrical with a physical DOB inspection and plumbing by the plumber himself. My expeditor asked for a final sign off and we got notified of a request for a “PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION COMPLIANCE AUDIT” I’ll be doing the walkthrough on my own with the DOB inspector, are there any does or don’ts I should be aware of? What do I need to have with me besides the drawings and amendments? Almost everything is done according to the drawings but there are obviously a few things here and there that are a little different….

brooklyntoqueens

in Dept. of Buildings (DOB) 9 years and 6 months ago

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concord | 9 years and 6 months ago

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Do not sweat it – unless you have reason too (know of work contrary to plans). Inspector will want to see the drawings with the DOB barcodes. He will just make sure the plans match – with a focus on ‘safety’ (egress, detectors, self closing doors, proper venting for boilers, outlet on roof – if mechanicals on roof, etc). Makes no difference if you had a previous ‘ok’ on say plumbing. I went thru same thing. On inspection, inspector noted: yard fence too high (it was 8 feet), no roof railing, basement hallway not per drawings (we shifted it 20″ to clear bacyard tree), missing vent for gas meter room. I coorected all (cut fence, got roof railing – actually inspector had said either parapet or railing, install 10″ vent to outside for gas room). Took pictures of work done and architect submitted. Got letter of completion soon after. It was to my advantage – avoid future liability with roof railing and gas room vent. Good luck.

dylanfan | 9 years and 6 months ago

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Same deal with me. Self certification by engineer/architect. Electrical inspection done by DOB; plumbing by the plumber when the DOB did not show for the scheduled inspection. A year later a DOB rep was at my door saying I had been “chosen” for a plan audit. I pretty much freaked out, but in the event, I had the plans and the TR1, and I admitted that a few small changes had been made after the permit was closed. They were really small changes–no walls rearranged or removed or anything like that. The DOB guy responded that that was generally the case and when it was, he filed “essentially according to plan,” which gave us some wiggle room. It actually all went smoothly. They guy was decent and professional. He was not out to nitpick or cause me problems. Hope this helps.

mozeeatupu | 9 years and 6 months ago

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Be sure to have the approved drawings on site

Lurker | 9 years and 6 months ago

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We will have a final inspection coming up (if I can ever get my GC to finish the job) and I’m frankly terrified because you only ever hear the horror stories of overly officious or prickly inspectors. I did a lot of the renovation myself and yet almost want to have my wife, who isn’t technical, be here to lead the inspection with me at the ready on the phone so that I don’t futz it up. Is someone able to describe their experience?how it works, how long it takes, what goes into the final inspection, and/or an audit of that?

brooklyntoqueens | 9 years and 6 months ago

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Yes, it’s the second scenario you described. Hopefully everything will be OK…the only thing I’m a little scared of is that I built a closet to enclose the gas electrical and water meters. This was not on the plans and I’m not too sure if I’m allowed to do this or if I need to keep the meters uncovered…

jcarch | 9 years and 6 months ago

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Self cert audits are different than inspections. Normally an audit means that a plan examiner reviews the application at DOB. If he finds anything he doesn’t like, then he issues objections, and they need to be addressed. You may have a directive 14 inspection audit. D14 projects mean that there’s normally no final inspection – the architect signs off for final inspection on form TR-1\. If this is what you have, then they’ll just be looking to see if what you built matches what’s on the drawings. Whether they sweat the small stuff depends on the individual inspector. They may want the drawings revised and submitted as a post approval amendment. If this happens, just make careful note of what they want so that your architect can get it right the first time. jcarch