Council to push for tighter demolition standards

Bob Warner, Inquirer Staff Writer Last updated: Friday, August 16, 2013, 1:08 AM Posted: Thursday, August 15, 2013, 9:10 PM

Philadelphia City Council will introduce legislation next month to strengthen the regulation of demolition practices, requiring contractors to develop safety plans and post them at every demolition site, along with the names of building owners, contractors, subcontractors, and city inspectors who signed off on the plans, according to the chairman of a special Council committee.

"We want the contractors to say how they're going to do the demolition, whether it's by hand or with heavy equipment, what they're going to do to protect other buildings, and it will be listed at the site so people will be able to walk up and say, 'Where's that shoring for the wall over there?' " said Councilman Curtis Jones Jr.

"We're not asking for anything that is pie-in-the-sky unreasonable," Jones said. "We want someone looking over the shoulders of contractors . . . and we want enforcement. If we put laws on the books and don't enforce them, that's wrong."

Jones spoke Thursday at the end of the fifth day of Council hearings on demolition practices, spurred by the June 5 building collapse at 22d and Market Streets that killed six people and injured 14.

He said legislation to change demolition and construction practices would be introduced when Council returns from its summer break Sept. 12.

Most of the suggestions paralleled new requirements already announced by Mayor Nutter two days after the collapse.

But Council will insist on some additional items, Jones said, such as a specific telephone number at the Department of Licenses and Inspections that citizens could call with complaints.

Routing those calls through the city's 311 system has not worked, Jones said.

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Council to push for tighter demolition standards