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Otsego Northern Catskills

BOARD OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

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Building Conditions Surveys

Building Surveyor
Mandate:
Legislation and/or Regulation:
  • Sections 101, 207, 409-d, 409-e, 3602 and 3641 of the Education Law and Chapters 56 and 58 of the Laws of 1998
  • 8 NYCRR 155.3
SED Capital Facilities Regulations require each school district to conduct a Building Condition Survey for most district facilities every five years. A licensed Architect or Engineer must conduct the Building Condition Survey.

What the SRM Service can do to help:
Services:
  • Assist the district in making arrangements for the Building Condition Survey.
  • Provide assistance to the district in conducting and submitting the BCS in conjunction with the selected Architect/Engineer firm.

Asbestos Triennial Survey

asbestos
3-Year

The Federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA)(40 CFR 763) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) require all public and nonpublic elementary and secondary schools to reinspect previously identified and assumed asbestos-containing building materials (ACBM) in all facilities which are owned, leased, or otherwise used as a school building every three years. Next Survey 2019
 

Building Conditions Survey

building
5 year

The bill eliminating the requirement for an annual visual inspection (AVI) for all public school buildings in New York State (outside of New York City) was signed into law by Governor Cuomo.

Chapter 437 of the Laws of 2014 states that “the Commissioner of Education shall review the effectiveness of repealing the requirement for the annual inspection of all public school buildings throughout New York State and make recommendations on whether school Districts shall continue to be exempt from such inspection. Such report shall be issued to the Governor and the Legislation on or before January 1, 2019.”

Therefore, based on the language in this law the requirement for AVIs has been suspended until at least the 2018- 19 school year. At that point, a determination will be made whether or not to permanently eliminate the AVI requirement.
 

Annual Visual Structural Inspection

Inspection
As per Commissioner's Regulations Section 155.4.

A visual inspection of every occupied public school building shall be conducted annually.  The annual visual inspection shall be consist of a visual re-inspection of the components of the building condition survey for changes that may have occurred and a review and update of the safety rating as needed.

The results of the annual visual inspection of all occupied buildings shall be reported to the commissioner on forms prescribed by the commissioner, shall be signed by the person or persons who conducted the inspection and shall be filed with the commissioner by January 15th.  Such reports shall indicate if more frequent inspections and repairs are necessary to protect the health and safety of students and staff occupying such school buildings. Annual visual inspection reports shall be made available to the public.