concerned about excavation on nearby property

its funny that people are asking if this is happening on a specific block because it is happening on EVERY block, in EVERY neighborhood. 95% of the time it is unpermited. anytime you see dirt coming out of a basement, even if its not near your property, call 311\. it is a serious, serious thing. most of the time its flippers digging out below the footing without underpinning, pouring a rat slab and “duplexing” the cellar.

no-permits

in Excavation 10 years and 3 months ago

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eiscamp | 10 years and 3 months ago

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We live in a brick townhouse, and the house two houses away from us is undergoing a gut renovation. As part of this, they have removed a huge amount of dirt from the basement and now from the backyard. I don’t know how far they have dug down in the basement, but the owners have said that part of the backyard will ultimately be 2 feet below adjacent yards. They have filled many dumpsters with soil, and another empty dumpster arrived today. I am concerned and would like to make sure that this work was in the approved plans and that someone is monitoring the situation. The permit does not mention excavation, only notes that they will be replacing the concrete slab in the basement. The adjacent neighbors were not notified of any earthwork. I am working my way through the documents/permits on the BIS site, but I haven’t been able to find anything about excavation, and I can see that consulting engineers that came out did not address any soil issues (borings, test pits, etc..) Does anyone know how I can figure out if the basement excavation was approved? Any suggestions as to what my next steps should be? Thanks!

Arkady | 10 years and 3 months ago

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You can find permits classified by community board location and type of permit. Type ?bisweb my block? into Google to find it.

chipito | 10 years and 3 months ago

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Do you happen to live on Halsey St? We have the same kinds of questions about some work happening there.

daveinbedstuy | 10 years and 3 months ago

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When this work is not permitted and therefore most likely not supervised by an engineer, the likelihood of it going wrong is very high. The adjacent foundations will likely be compromised and a vacate order issued for those buildings. Though you say you are two houses away, there’s still need to be concerned. Get the DOB there ASAP. Though I would be loathe to ever let the DOB into my own building, letting them in to see this would be a priority.

carmenf | 10 years and 3 months ago

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They should have pulled a permit for the excavation- our permit for such work is actually a completely separate permit just for digging out our backyard (and we had to get test pits and soil work done.) I’m actually really glad we did, as we found some information that changed our plans via our borings. Same as dave- I pray we never have a visit from the DOB, but this is one you might want to call into 311.

catboot | 10 years and 3 months ago

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There is something exactly like you describe happening on Hancock St. It seems silly to want ones yard to be lower than everyone else, because that’s where all the water will go. Perhaps they enjoy a perpetually damp cellar?

eiscamp | 10 years and 3 months ago

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Thanks to all for the helpful responses. Finally, after my 3rd call in 10 days DOB sent someone out within an hour of my call. It turns out that the extensive excavation (10-12 inches in cellar, more in yard) was not in the approved plans and a stop work order was issued immediately. Hopefully an engineer okays it all and it all gets worked out quickly. Oh – and this isn’t on Hasley Street, but I’d recommend that you call 311 if you are concerned about work there. From my experience, if they file the complaint as an Excavation Complaint than DOB only has 2 days to respond; if the complaint gets categorized as “unpermitted work” than the DOB would then have 40 days to respond. Thanks again!