This isn’t the first time the general contractor overseeing construction at the building that collapsed last week has been involved in a fatal accident. Since 2008, Bovis Lend Lease has been bound by a legal agreement to reform its safety practices, after a deadly blaze at the Deutsche Bank building took the lives of two firefighters in 2007.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office will not say whether the multi-national construction giant has been complying with the non-prosecution agreement established after the Deutsche Bank building fire.
Under the agreement, Bovis said it would undergo a series of reforms, including hiring an independent monitor to oversee the effectiveness of new safety initiatives and to determine whether the company was hiring capable sub –contractors at all projects in New York City. Bovis agreed to be bound by the agreement for five years. The monitor was to submit semi-annual reports.
However, the Manhattan District Attorney would not produce those reports. Spokeswoman Erin Duggan wrote in an e-mail, “The reports are not public and I will decline comment for now.”
The building in Harlem was being torn down as part of Columbia University’s expansion project. The accident last Thursday killed a 69-year-old construction worker and seriously injured two others.
Bovis Lend Lease did not respond to multiple requests regarding its compliance with the non-prosecution agreement.
The Department of Buildings said it’s continuing to investigate last Thursday’s fatal accident. Its initial investigation found that workers had cut through a structural beam, which most likely caused the building to collapse. Breeze National, a Brooklyn-based construction company, was the sub-contractor responsible for demolishing the old warehouse building. According to DOB, Breeze received two prior violations on March 5 for failing to safeguard the construction site and for failing to notify the DOB that demolition at the site had begun.
An investigation into the Deutsche Bank fire revealed serious mistakes made by both Bovis employees and its subcontractor at the time John Galt.
When asked if it had concerns about Bovis Lend Lease, Columbia University said in a written statement “Questions about this tragic incident are appropriately under investigation by the Department of Buildings and their official determination of the facts is an essential next step in this process.”
With reporting by Bob Hennelly