N.Y. Educ. Law § 409-d

§ 409-d. Comprehensive public school building safety program. * 1.\nProgram establishment. The commissioner is authorized and directed to\nestablish, develop and monitor a comprehensive public school building\nsafety program which shall include a uniform inspection, safety rating\nand monitoring system. Such program shall establish a safety rating\nsystem for such school buildings to assess the need for maintenance,\nrepairs, rehabilitation, reconstruction, construction and other\nimprovements related to the structural integrity and overall safety of\npublic school buildings including but not limited to building systems\nrelated to electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, and air\nconditioning, sanitation and health, fire and accident protection; and\nrequire that such ratings be used for the purpose of developing a\nbuildings condition survey as required pursuant to subdivision four of\nsection thirty-six hundred forty-one of this chapter and a five year\nfacilities plan as required pursuant to clause (i) of subparagraph two\nof paragraph b of subdivision six of section thirty-six hundred two of\nthis chapter.\n * NB Effective until June 30, 2019\n * 1. Program establishment. The commissioner is authorized and\ndirected to establish, develop and monitor a comprehensive public school\nbuilding safety program which shall include a uniform inspection, safety\nrating and monitoring system. Such program shall require the inspections\nof all public school buildings throughout the state (i) at least once\nbetween the period commencing with the first day of January, two\nthousand twenty and ending with the thirty-first day of December, two\nthousand twenty and (ii) at least once between the period commencing\nwith the first day of January, two thousand twenty-two and ending with\nthe thirty-first day of December, two thousand twenty-two, provided that\nsuch inspections shall exclude public school buildings in a school\ndistrict required to conduct building condition surveys between January\nfirst, two thousand twenty and the end of such period in accordance with\nregulations of the commissioner adopted pursuant to subparagraph one-a\nof paragraph c of subdivision four of section thirty-six hundred\nforty-one of this chapter, and provided further that such exclusion\nshall not apply in the case of a school district which has not completed\nthe building condition surveys so required and submitted the same to the\ndepartment. Under such program, the commissioner may require inspections\nof public school buildings as deemed necessary to maintain the safety of\nschool buildings and the welfare of the occupants, and such program\nshall establish a safety rating system for such school buildings to\nassess the need for maintenance, repairs, rehabilitation,\nreconstruction, construction and other improvements related to the\nstructural integrity and overall safety of public school buildings\nincluding but not limited to building systems related to electrical,\nplumbing, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, sanitation and\nhealth, fire and accident protection; and require that such ratings be\nused for the purpose of developing a buildings condition survey as\nrequired pursuant to subdivision four of section thirty-six hundred\nforty-one of this chapter and a five year facilities plan as required\npursuant to clause (i) of subparagraph two of paragraph b of subdivision\nsix of section thirty-six hundred two of this chapter.\n * NB Effective June 30, 2019\n 2. Commissioner's authorization. In implementing the program, the\ncommissioner is authorized to:\n (a) require the inspection of every public school building and\nprescribe qualifications of persons who may perform or supervise such\ninspections in accordance with the provisions of this section.\n (b) establish a safety rating system keyed to the structural integrity\nand overall safety of the building. Such system shall rate every major\nbuilding system contained within a building and where practicable\nidentify critical maintenance and include such information in the plan\nrequired in subdivision ten of section thirty-six hundred forty-one of\nthis chapter;\n (c) require each school district to develop a buildings condition\nsurvey;\n (d) require each school district to develop a five year capital\nfacilities plan;\n (e) establish a process for monitoring all school buildings; and\n (f) provide for waivers of the requirements of this section and/or\nsection four hundred nine-e of this article for districts whose school\nbuilding safety inspection procedures in existence on the effective date\nof this section are in substantial compliance with such requirements.\n 3. Notification. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the\ncontrary, the commissioner shall be authorized to notify in writing any\nschool district or board of cooperative educational services the\nexistence of a hazardous condition found in any school building within\nthe school district that is in violation of applicable building, health,\nor safety codes or regulations that may threaten the health and/or\nsafety of students or staffs. Such notice must be acknowledged and\nresponded to within five business days or less. Such notice shall be\ndelivered to the superintendent of the school district or the district\nsuperintendent of the board of cooperative educational services. In the\ncase of a city school district in a city having a population of one\nmillion or more inhabitants such notice shall be delivered to the\nchancellor of the city district.\n