robul0n t1_jbf1ar0 wrote on March 8, 2023 at 4:12 PM

Reply to comment by mowotlarx in 4 hurt (one critically) at Lafayette and Canal wall collapse. Site had previous safety violations. by cla1r1t1n

You're kinda right but it goes deeper than that. Pretty much all building inspections are performed by third party companies by ownership. In theory, the inspectors and safety people are there to keep the contractor in check so the owner doesn't get sued to oblivion when someone dies. In practice, there are a lot of owners who act as their own GCs with little actual oversight.

It's even worse when you realize that a lot of building plans are drawn up by developer's in-house CAD people, and then rubber-stamped by a retired 80 year old architect or engineer that's basically sold their stamp.

mowotlarx t1_jbf2exz wrote on March 8, 2023 at 4:19 PM

>rubber-stamped by a retired 80 year old architect or engineer that's basically sold their stamp.

There was a fascinating story about this awhile ago with an architect who claimed he didn't even know his name/stamp was being used to approve a massive hotel at Hudson Yards.

robul0n t1_jbf2qz9 wrote on March 8, 2023 at 4:21 PM

Yep, and that was a high profile job, now imagine all the other low-rise buildings that fly under the radar.