Since February, the city Department of Buildings has had money budgeted to bring the total number of construction inspectors in the borough – one of the city’s fastest growing – from 11 to 21, said Buildings Department spokeswoman Jennifer Givner.
By James DeWeese
But at a time when construction and illegal-conversion complaints are skyrocketing throughout the borough, spurred by development and immigration, the department has had a tough time filling these spots. There are also vacancies for other types of inspectors, including plumbing inspectors and quality-of-life inspectors.
“We're undergoing a major recruitment drive, Givner said. “But it's hard to attract quality candidates to be inspectors for the Buildings Department.”
The experience requirements are strict, the background check is extensive and the pay is lower than what qualified candidates might be able to get in the private sector, Givner said.
So far, the department has identified candidates for nine of the 10 Queens construction inspector slots. But Givner said it is hard to say when they will start because “it's a very lengthy process for integrity purposes.”
For years Queens Borough President Helen Marshall has pushed city budget makers to include money for additional inspectors.
“We've got more today than any other borough, but we still need more,” said Marshall, who organized an illegal-conversion task force years ago when the numbers of extra-legal apartments began to skyrocket.
The Department of Buildings had money budgeted for at least 36 inspectors of various types in Queens, including 21 construction inspectors, eight dedicated quality-of-life inspectors and seven plumbing inspectors, of which there are now only three. Other inspectors, including crains, elevator, boiler and emergency inspectors, are centralized in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Money, city Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis) said, should not be much of an issue.
Weprin said buildings inspectors do not represent a drain on city coffers because “they more than pay for themselves” with the fines they generate.
The city budget – hammered out in the wee morning hours of June 21- for the 2005 fiscal year included at least $1 million to hire new buildings inspectors, he said.
But the answer to the problem may not simply be to budget money for more inspectors but to set aside more money for inspectors, a subtle semantic difference not lost on Building's Department human resources managers and potential applicants.
With heavy competition from the private sector, attracting workers with the five to six years of experience required for the $35,580- to $52,281-a-year job is difficult, Givner said. In some cases, positions with more responsibility also require that candidates be New York City residents.
“If you can get paid $45,000 a year to do this for the city, or $80,000 or $90,000 somewhere else, which would you do?” Givner said.
For Marshall, low pay does not just affect recruitment.
“The thing about the buildings inspectors is they don't make a lot of money,” Marshall said in a recent interview with the TimesLedger. “If you pay them chump change, then you're always going to worry” about graft.
The process is further complicated by the extensive background checks and lengthy interview process the Buildings Department has instituted to help shed its past reputation for graft and corruption.
“Candidates must go through a very thorough background investigation in order to gain clearance for employment,” Givner said.
Over the past year, the number of Queens construction complaints received by the Buildings Department has increased by more than 40 percent.
In April alone, the department received 2,404 construction complaints, a 55.6 percent increase, as compared to April 2003, when it registered 1,545. During that month this year, inspectors were only able to respond to 1,890 of the complaints.
The yearly numbers reflect an increase as well.
Between July 2002 and April 2003, the department received a total of 15,196 construction complaints. During the same period this year, that number spiked to 21,434.
For the time being, the Department is shuffling its current resources to address the backlog, Givner said.
Eight new quality-of-life inspectors, who deal with issues such as illegal conversions, are already on duty as of this year, Givner said. And in recent weeks the Buildings Department has redeployed inspectors from specialized squads based elsewhere to help address the backlog of complaints.
With the shifts, the department hopes to meet the mayor's goal of responding to cases of imminent danger within 1 1/2 days and less serious complaints, such as illegal conversions, within 40 days.
Weprin thinks that part of the reason Queens may not have all the building inspectors the borough's development warrants is a tendency to place city resources in the City.
“It's been Manhattan-centric for so many years,” Weprin said. “There's a certain culture and obviously we're trying to change that.”
Reach reporter James DeWeese by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.
