The Fire Department’s fire-alarm inspection unit is in shambles, failing to do vital checks in a timely fashion and possibly putting the public in danger, a bombshell audit by city Comptroller Bill Thompson charges.
Fire-alarm inspections are required in commercial buildings, nursing homes, theaters and residential buildings taller than 300 feet when the alarms are first installed and then annually.
Thompson warned the “lack of timely inspections of the fire alarm systems and the lack of follow-up for outstanding deficiencies . . . may put the safety of the public in jeopardy.”
Among the problems that auditors found:
* No formal procedures for how long it should take to get an inspection when one is requested. Those reviewed by Thompson’s staff often exceeded a three-week standard.
* When inspections are carried out and defect notices or violations are given, the follow-up to ensure compliance was rarely done within a 90-day period.
“When we brought this finding to the attention of the fire alarm unit officials, they were not surprised and in fact showed us 10 cabinets containing approximately 3,200 inspection files, some even dating back to the 1980s that still needed follow up,” Thompson said in his audit.
* In November 2005, the unit director claimed inspectors had conducted 415 inspections, but auditors could only find 341 done.
The problems were similar to those found when an audit was performed on the unit 16 years ago.
“It is apparent that the FDNY has not corrected this issue,” said Thompson, a potential mayoral candidate in 2009.
FDNY officials responded that most of the problems brought to light by Thompson bordered on “record-keeping issues” and disputed Thompson’s notion that they posed any real danger to New Yorkers.
“We recognize that there are deficiencies and these deficiencies are record keeping, not public-safety issues. We’ve taken immediate action to correct these issues,” said Jim Long, an FDNY spokesman.
Long said that in many cases, fire-alarm systems could be given defect notices because the alarm was place at 5 feet high instead of 6, but the unit still worked.
Long also said all inspectors were on board with a computer system that makes tracking and review of applications faster and record keeping more accurate.
“There’s more accounting of one’s time. Inspections will be listed as they are completed.”