Office of Facilities Planning
Newsletter #65 – July 2005

 

Get to Know us Better:

Everyone has been waiting patiently for Joyce Giordiano, to join our Facilities Planning Staff.  She has taken up the task of processing Final Cost Reports.

Joyce lives in West Coxsackie with her husband and 23 year-old son (the joy of her life).  She graduated from Columbia Greene Community College and is currently attending The College of St. Rose as a Business/Accounting Major.  Joyce has worked with the State for the past five years.  Two years with VESID and three years with State Aid.  Formerly she was a Manager of a Federally (HUD, FmHA) Subsidized Housing complex. 

Joyce is the Treasurer/bookkeeper for her church.  In her spare time she enjoys boating, volleyball, table tennis, painting, cake decorating, and crafts.  She also enjoys football and is a big Jets fan (everyone should be).  So far Joyce says she is enjoying working at Facilities Planning and someday hopes to be as good as Gary Yorkshire at processing the Final Cost Reports.
 

Use of PVC and CPVC Piping:

In January 2005 Article 10-A of the Labor Law was repealed.  Article 10-A had prohibitions on the use of PVC piping in non-residential buildings.  Since that time, SED has not enforced the sentence in Section S706-12 of the "Manual of Planning Standards" which states "PVC plumbing is not approved for use in school buildings."

Therefore, PVC and CPVC may be used for plumbing materials in compliance with the "Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code".  Please keep in mind that noise levels are greater when using PVC drainage piping, and routing of piping should take this into account.  We will continue to monitor the use of PVC piping in schools and may recommend restrictions in the future as conditions warrant.
 

Code Compliance Checklist:

The Facilities Planning Code Compliance Checklist has been updated.  Please download the updated form and begin using it with your next project submitted for approval to SED.  It is on our web site at https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/forms/code_comp_chklst_anncmt.html.

A special thank you to those people who brought a couple corrections to our attention.  We also added a couple of items that are either new or important to us.  The old forms will be unacceptable after September 1, 2005.  Please delete it from your computer.  The date on this form is on the top right corner of page one and the top left corner of the remaining pages.  The date is 07/2005.

As with previous versions of this form and our other Excel forms, there are comment boxes if you view the form on the computer.  The comments are small red triangles that you will find added to the right of some subjects.  These comments will provide additional information, help you understand what we are looking for, and a couple provide web addresses.


Summer Construction, September Completion, Continuing in September
:

There are many school buildings under construction this summer.  Some are scheduled to be completed by the opening day of school in the fall.  Others will continue under construction.  Please keep in mind the Commissioner’s Regulations for Safety During Construction (155.5) and the requirements for occupancy.

 

Summer school students and programs are required to be assured the same protection during construction provided to the school over the remainder of the year.  Be sure exits are not blocked, there are no dead ends, fire rated separations are provided between construction and student occupied areas, and noise is less than 60 db.  Also, ensure that fire alarms are in working order and construction workers are not within student occupied areas when students are present.  These apply both inside and outside the building.

If the construction continues in September when school opens, be sure all these same issues previously mentioned are resolved prior to opening day.  Very important, open all exits before school begins.  Schedule a fire drill to be sure the students are familiar with exiting the building.  Remedy any problems that persist immediately to avoid dangerous conditions and complaints.   

Schedule the installation of materials that will need time for off gassing in advance, like now in July if these are not already scheduled.  Schedule the off gassing process with time to resolve problems before opening day.

 If the construction is completed, send in a Certificate of Substantial Completion and Fire Safety Inspection to Dave Clapp here in our office to receive your Certificates of Occupancy.   If construction is not completed and the district wishes to use an addition or part of a building send in your Certificate of Substantial Completion and Fire Safety Inspection to receive your Partial Certificates of Occupancy prior to opening a building or addition.  More information is available about this process and Certificates of Substantial Completion with Public School Fire Safety Reports in Newsletter #50 April 2004, Newsletter #42 August 2004, and Newsletter #27 May 2002.  Please use the NEW Certificate of Substantial Completion form, FP-CSC 4/2005, posted in Newsletter #62 April 2005.  (Use the index at the end of this Newsletter to view other Newsletters.)

An Index of our Newsletters is available on our web site at https://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/NewsLetters.htm.

If you would like to have this Newsletter sent directly to you by e-mail, please send your e-mail address to Joe Levy at jlevy@mail.nysed.gov.

Please continue to send in your comments and requests.  If you have a subject you would like addressed, feedback on the material you read, input or general comments we are happy to hear from you.