NYC Construction Trade Associations Sue Over New Crane Regulations

A group of New York City construction trade associations have filed suit against the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) and its commissioner Richard Chandler over new crane safety requirements. The group hopes to halt enforcement of requirements it believes went overboard in tightening crane regulations.

The new crane regulations include higher fines, a crane-use notification system and pedestrian safety plan. Mayor Bill de Blasio tasked a crane safety working group with making suggestions to the DOB's existing crane safety policies. Some of the suggestions included eliminating older cranes and requiring new ones to be outfitted with anemometers, black boxes and GPS tracking capabilities as well as wind-speed use limitations and daily inspections.

The construction trade associations suing to halt enforcement claim the new rules make crane operations less safe.

(more on the fight over new NYC crane safety requirements...)