October 12–19, 2000

city beat

Signing Off

dorm over function: L&I officials disagreed over the certificate of occupancy for this Broad and Chestnut Art Institute dorm in 1999.

The L&I officials wanted the dorm evacuated. Their boss didn’t agree.

by Ralph Cipriano

Edward J. McLaughlin, commissioner of the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I), last year overrode the safety concerns of two department officials who wanted to evacuate a 17-story college dormitory under construction at the time. The high-rise had open elevator shafts, combustible trash throughout the building and an uncertified fire alarm system.

The building is a 176-unit dormitory at 1338-48 Chestnut St., leased by the Art Institute of Philadelphia from Philadelphia Management. Students were moving in at the time the building was being extensively renovated in 1999.

City Paper reported last month that the dormitory had been cited in November and December, 1999 for fire alarm and smoke detector violations, respectively, and that the alarm violations were closed, or dismissed, in March, 2000. It has since come to light that on Sept. 24, 1999, according to city records, L&I officials had posted a stop work order at the building.

L&I officials wanted the dormitory evacuated because the high-rise was "found to be in a dangerous or unsafe condition due to inadequate maintenance, deterioration, damage by natural causes, fire or faulty construction that is likely to cause imminent injury to persons or property," according to L&I records obtained by City Paper.

According to a city government source who spoke on condition of anonymity, elevator shaft walls in the building were not enclosed, and in the event of a fire, would have become "basically giant chimneys." An L&I building inspector, Albert McCarthy, wrote a supervisor on Sept. 28 that the fire alarm system in the building had not been certified, and that the alarm was not sufficiently audible on two floors as required by city code.

Other problems in the building included incomplete fireproofing of structural steel on two floors, construction debris throughout the building, unlocked passenger elevators and no security detail in the building, according to a memo from McCarthy to David Perri, deputy commissioner for construction services. Normal L&I policy would have called for the owner to maintain a fire watch at the dormitory with four-hour shifts.

McCarthy could not be reached in connection with this story. Perri, who also could not be reached, also raised oral objections last year to the issuing of the certificate of occupancy, according to a spokesperson from Mayor Street’s office.

On Sept. 29, 1999, Commissioner McLaughlin issued a 90-day certificate of use and occupancy, city records show. The certificate requires the signatures of an L&I building inspector and the L&I "South District Supervisor." Both officials refused to sign the form because of safety concerns at the dormitory, according to two sources in city government. So McLaughlin signed the form twice, both as the building inspector, and the district supervisor.

McLaughlin, who is on vacation, could not be reached. L&I spokesperson Andrea White is also on vacation.

The L&I commissioner’s decision to sign the certificate of occupancy as both a building inspector and a district supervisor "raises some very grave questions," said former L&I Commissioner Bennett Levin.

"Apparently, no one in the responsible chain of command wanted to affix their signature to the document," Levin said. Rather than signing the document as a building inspector or a district supervisor, McLaughlin should have filed a memorandum and referred the issue to the city’s Board of Building Standards, Levin said.

The city’s inspector general is already investigating decisions by top L&I officials to dismiss 100 fire code violations at 15 properties owned by Philadelphia Management. The company’s president, Ronald Caplan, is a well-known developer and Democratic party contributor. Caplan, who could not be reached, has previously declined comment to City Paper.

L&I officials weren’t the only officials who noted problems in the dormitory. Before McLaughlin issued the certificate of occupancy, the building was inspected by two lieutenants from the Fire Department, who determined that the building was not fit for occupancy.

Lt. Michael S. Keen says he noted a lit trouble light on the building’s alarm system, which, he says, raised doubts about whether the alarm system would work. The building was fully outfitted with sprinklers, Keen says, but he also noted a worker draining water from the sprinkler system on an upper floor, so he wondered if the sprinkler system would work.

On Oct. 1, Keen and Lt. Walter DeSoi of the Fire Code Unit — apparently unaware of McLaughlin’s decision to grant the temporary certificate of occupancy — wrote a memo to Battalion Chief Richard Bailey. The firefighters said they and Inspector McCarthy of L&I had found a list of 16 deficiencies in the building, including "combustible construction materials on floors 11 through 17 (occupied)," combustible debris in the North and South fire towers, and unfinished carpets at stair tower doors that presented a "serious tripping hazard."

Also, the officials noted propped-open fire tower doors, "large quantities of trash piled at service elevator on all occupied floors," a loose handle on a standpipe outlet that prevented the valve from being opened, a lack of security patrols and wires hanging from the ceiling in several locations.

"In my opinion, this building is not properly prepared and should not be occupied," Keen and DeSoi wrote to Bailey.

Keen, a firefighter who has worked in Center City high-rises for 30 years, says he was "very disappointed and very discouraged" with the L&I commissioner’s decision to issue a certificate of occupancy for the building.

The building was being extensively renovated at the time. According to applications for a certificate of occupancy, the owner was installing new fire protection sprinklers on floors 5 through 17, and new standpipes. Also planned was more than $1 million worth of new plumbing, lighting and a new fire protection system, according to city records filed in February 1999.

But the problems continued. On Nov. 15, 1999, L&I officials cited the property for failure to contact the Fire Department to test an alarm system. Computer records note "no audible fire alarm for student dorm."

On Dec. 3, 1999, L&I officials wrote a violation for shutting off smoke detectors during construction. The property owner was given 10 days to fix the situation. On March 17, 2000, Deputy Commissioner Dominic Verdi dismissed the fire alarm violation. Verdi has previously declined comment to City Paper on the subject of closing fire code violations.

A college official, Frank Prillerman, dean of student services, told City Paper three weeks ago that the problems at the dorm have been taken care of, and that the building is "absolutely safe." He could not be reached for comment this week.

Prillerman said that alarms on a few floors of the building were disabled while electricians were working. Electricians have since installed a state-of-the-art fire alarm system and a back-up system, Prillerman said.