- Audit finds FDNY inaccurately reported inspection record, inflating statistics in Mayor’s Management Report

- Findings reveal conditions not fixed since similar 1991 audit –

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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today issued an audit finding that the New York City Fire Department has failed to ensure that fire alarm inspections are performed in a timely manner so that safety-related issues are identified and resolved.

The audit determined that the FDNY’s Fire Alarm Inspection Unit has not adequately ensured that requests for inspections of fire alarm systems and the results of inspections are properly recorded and reported – a finding that was first identified by the Comptroller’s Office in an audit 16 years ago.

“It is apparent that FDNY has not corrected this issue,” Thompson said. “The absence of formal procedures presents the danger that officials may not be working together to ensure that the Alarm Unit is operating as intended and opens a potential, for worse outcomes – including the abuse of authority or corruption.”

“Moreover,” he added, “the lack of timely inspections of fire alarm systems and the lack of follow-up for outstanding deficiencies noted in the written orders issued by the Alarm Unit may put the safety of the public at risk.”

The audit, which covered Fiscal Year 2006, can be viewed at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.

The Fire Department’s Bureau of Fire Prevention is responsible for protecting occupied residential and commercial properties throughout the city by enforcing laws and regulations pertaining to fire protection. A chief function is to conduct inspections of bulk fuel, hazardous cargo, range hoods, and fire alarm systems at those properties.

The Bureau uses a centralized computer system, the Fire Prevention Information Management System (FPIMS), to manage inspections and the subsequent billing of inspection fees.

The audit focused only on FDNY controls over the inspection of fire alarm systems conducted by the Bureau’s Alarm Unit, which inspects commercial buildings - factories, office buildings, theaters, nursing homes, and hospitals – and residential buildings of 300 feet or more in height.

Auditors determined that the Alarm Unit has not developed formal procedures to follow when recording requests for inspections, tracking these requests, conducting inspections, and following up on inspections. FDNY officials say they follow procedures contained in the City Administrative Code and Charter, but these statutes merely contain general guidelines and not detailed procedures.

As a result, inspections were not conducted in a timely manner and the Alarm Unit did not always follow up on Letters of Defect and Violation Orders. And, in those instances where the Alarm Unit did follow up, it did not generally do so within its own informal time frames.

The FDNY never developed formal procedures governing the length of time it should take to conduct inspections from the date the inspections are requested. The Comptroller employed three weeks as the standard – based on the “good customer service” period identified by a Deputy Chief Inspector – and found that 95 percent of the accounts the Comptroller reviewed exceeded the informal three-week standard. The number of days actually ranged from seven to 143 days.

Additionally, the FDNY can issue written orders – Letters of Defect and Violation Orders – directing building owners to correct deficiencies identified during fire alarm inspections.

The general practice has been that when Letters of Defect are issued, owners are to correct deficiencies within 90 days and inspectors are to follow up to ensure compliance by either visiting the premises or allowing owners to have licensed electricians or engineers attest to the proper operation of the systems.

But the FDNY has not established a time frame within which follow-ups should take place. Of 32 sampled cases, auditors found that 25 resulted in 34 Letters of Defect. Of the 34, nine were followed up within the 90-day period, 23 were followed up after the 90-day period, and two were never followed up.

Further, 13 of the 32 accounts generated 23 Violation Orders. The Comptroller’s analysis found that only one was followed up within 30 days, only six were followed up after the informal period of 30 days to make corrections had elapsed, and 16 were never followed up at all.

“When we brought this finding to the attention of the Alarm Unit officials, they were not surprised,” Thompson said, “and in fact showed us 10 cabinets containing approximately 3,200 inspection files… some dating back to the 1980s that still needed follow-up.”

Additionally, auditors determined that:

• The Alarm Unit does not have a reliable system for tracking requests for inspections and actual inspections conducted by the Alarm Unit.
  
  
• The record-keeping practices of the Alarm Unit are inadequate: inspection documentation was lacking; requests for inspection documentation were scattered; and filing cabinets containing essential inspection files were unsecured.
  
• The Alarm Unit inaccurately reported the number of inspections conducted – the same problem uncovered during the 1991 audit. This resulted in an inflated number of inspections being reported in the Alarm Unit’s Productivity Report for Fiscal Year 2006 and the Mayor’s Management Report Fiscal 2006.
  
  
• The inspectors of the Alarm Unit are not adequately supervised. As a result, Field Activity Reports were not always approved by Supervising Inspectors, and inspectors were not always working in the field as required.
  
• The Alarm Unit did not meet its informal target for auditing self-certified inspections. Only two percent of inspections were audited by the Alarm Unit.

“Without sufficient oversight by the Alarm Unit regarding self-certifications, the potential exists that building owners may be inclined to self-certify without actually having the deficiencies corrected, putting the safety of the public at risk,” Thompson said.

The Comptroller issued 17 recommendations, asking the FDNY to immediately take steps to address the approximately 3,200 accounts for which Letters of Defect and Violation Orders were issued and never followed up to ensure that all safety-related issues that have been identified are resolved.

Thompson also asked the FDNY to reduce the backlog of outstanding inspection requests that are more than three weeks old, develop and implement written procedures for the Alarm Unit to follow, create a tracking system to effectively monitor the inspection process, and ensure that the Alarm Unit develops a sound internal control structure over its record-keeping and storage practices. FDNY agreed with 15 of the recommendations.

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