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461 Dean: a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy for some half of the building, plus unpaid $25K fine

As 461 Dean, the world's tallest modular building, prepares to welcome tenants, it's worth taking a look at the Department of Buildings' page, which links to TCOs (Temporary Certificates of Occupancy) and pending fines.

The building is complete--at least by the standard that gets a TCO for about half of the building--but not, despite the developer's claim, really open (unless people are moving possessions in).

And the building also faces several unpaid fines for construction violations.

The TCOs

The 34-story building got its first TCO from 9/30/16 to 10/30/16, with "58 outstanding requirements" and only ten floors partially included. It got its second TCO  from 10/11/16 to 1/9/17, with "18 outstanding requirements" and another five floors partially included.

It got its third TCO (bottom) from 11/1/16 to 1/30/17, with "18 outstanding requirements" and several more floors (some were partially included previously):
OK TO RENEW TCO#3 FOR 90 DAYS ADDING 7TH TO 9TH FLOORS, 18TH & 19TH FLOORS MINUS HOIST APTS, AND ADD 5TH, 11 & 16TH FLOORS.
The outstanding requirements including such things as final signoffs for plumbing, elevator, and electrical work, as well as signoffs for standpipes and sprinklers, and equipment use permits.

The penalties

The building's owner, an LLC known as Atlantic Yards B2 Owner, was found in a violation 7/21/16 for failing to safeguard all persons and property, after a fire on the 15th floor. (This is separate from a fire on the 7th floor a month earlier, which as far as I can tell did not trigger a violation.) The owner did file a certificate of compliance, but has not paid a $25,000 fine.

A subcontractor, Regal USA Construction, was found in violation 5/27/16 for supervising or using a power-operated hosting machine without a hoisting machine's operator's license, and has neither certified compliance nor paid an $8,000 penalty. That in turn triggered a yet unpaid $1,500 DOB penalty for the failure to certify correction on an immediately hazardous violation.

A subcontractor, J.F. Stearns, was found in violation 8/15/16 for operating a crane in an unsafe manner, pinching a power source, and has a certification of compliance pending but has not paid a $10,300 fine.

A hoist machine operator was hit with a violation 8/27/16, for operating a power-operated hoisting machine without a license, with a hearing pending 12/28/16, and no fine assessed yet. (That said, at least as of today, the DOB indicates he has a license.)

What next?

If violating condition is not corrected or penalties paid, that could lead to additional enforcement actions and additional penalties, as well as disciplinary action against construction professionals.

Open DOB violations can present difficulties when trying to sell or refinancing a property. And if a civil penalty is not paid, an owner will be unable to pull further permits or file for a final Certificate of Occupancy.

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