This very interesting municipal law story was published yesterday in the Regional section of the NY Times. Some quotes:
New York City has embarked on the most comprehensive rewriting of its building, fire, plumbing and electrical codes since they were first adopted more than a century ago.Posted by Marcia Oddi at May 18, 2004 07:57 AMThis quiet revolution will alter the city's inner landscape, from life-and-death details like fire sprinklers and the lighting in emergency stairways to mundane matters like allowing homeowners to save money by using plastic pipes for toilets and sinks.
The revisions — the most important of which are now being drafted behind closed doors by 13 committees of engineers, safety experts and real estate developers appointed by the Bloomberg administration — are not expected to make a radical difference in the way buildings are constructed. But because the codes have effectively been the city's DNA, shaping its appearance and its workings, the changes are likely to affect all the places in which New Yorkers live and work in myriad ways, big and small.