Comptroller Audit Critical of Buildings Dept.

New York, NY —

An audit by the city comptroller says the Department of Buildings fails to follow up after it finds hazardous violations at properties.

Out of a sample of about 1,500 violations, the audit determined that inspectors failed to get access to the properties 20 percent of the time. In some other instances, the buildings department never got around to doing the re-inspections.

The DOB flagged 14 buildings as having particularly dangerous conditions. City Comptroller William Thompson says five of them remained unfixed nearly a year later.

The buildings department has been under intense scrutiny ever since two cranes collapsed killing several people. Thompson's audit finds that the department's problems aren't limited to construction sites.

THOMPSON: It's also in existing buildings where the department of buildings had gone out done inspections, or in some cases, not done inspections. So this isn't just construction focused. It's pertaining to occupied buildings as well.

HOST: The DOB did not dispute the findings. Instead, the agency said it's already started to implement many of the recommendations made by Thompson's office.