Banner: New York State Education Department - Office of Facilities Planning

 

Office of Facilities Planning
Newsletter #90– August 2007

Get to Know us Better:

We are pleased to introduce Andy Peterson who recently joined the staff of Facilities Planning. He has been assigned to review and audit final cost reports. Andrew came to this office from the State Aid Unit. During the 5 1/2 years there he performed building aid audits and revisions. Prior to his tenure in the State Education Department, Andrew worked for the State Health Department at the David Axelrod Institute.

Andrew lives outside of Cobleskill with his wife, Susan, and his two 2 daughters; Jessica (19, college sophomore) and Rebecca (17, high school senior).

In his spare time, Andrew enjoys tinkering with old vehicles and building restoration projects. Currently, he and his family are renovating a camp on the Salmon River in upstate New York. But Andrew’s greatest enjoyment is fishing with his daughters----- on secluded lakes in the Adirondack Park..

Survey Results - Environmentally Sensitive Products for Schools:

(Also known as green cleaning)

We have placed the “Environmentally Sensitive Cleaning and Maintenance Product School Impact Report” on our web site as Green Cleaning Final Report.  

This report provides an analysis of the impact of the guidelines and specifications on the purchasing, procurement, and use of environmentally sensitive cleaning and maintenance products by elementary and secondary schools.  The survey was designed to target the three main items required by the 2005 legislation.  The criteria are that environmentally sensitive cleaning and maintenance products must be available in the same form, function, and utility as previously used products.

Revisions to Asbestos Final Air Clearance Requirements:

Based upon revisions to the State of New York Department of Labor, Industrial Code Rule 56 (12 NYCRR Part 56), and in consultation with the NYS Department of Labor (DOL), we have revised the asbestos final air clearance requirements called out in the NYSED document entitled “New York Elementary & Secondary School Asbestos Guidebook for Schools and the Community”.  Previously, SED has required transmission electron microscopy (TEM) air analysis to satisfy final air clearance requirements any time final air clearance was required by Industrial Code Rule 56 (ICR 56) for abatement of asbestos containing materials within school buildings.

Effective immediately, the revised final air clearance requirements are:

Please remember that containment barriers used to isolate the functional space must not be artificially created to limit the quantity of asbestos containing materials to be abated.  Contiguous portions of material to be abated at approximately the same time must not be separated to qualify as a smaller sized project.

September - Uniform Safety Standards:

School begins again in September.  If your construction manager hasn’t already, please check those construction projects that are not completed because you may need to implement additional measures for the Uniform Safety Standards for Safety During Construction (Commissioner's 155.5 Regulations).  While school is in session consider important measures such as separating construction from occupied spaces, proper exiting, providing ventilation, (and all of the other remaining requirements) or move the construction to evenings when the students are not in school.  Every construction project has the Uniform Safety Standards built into their specifications prior to approval by Facilities Planning.  With this reminder we implore you to be sure these additional items are set up prior to the students and staff returning to school.  This reminder is especially pertinent for any project that was planned for completion before school begins if the construction has not been completed.

For additional information please review our Newsletter #41 article which addressed Commissioner's 155.5 Regulations and the Exiting Plan During Constructionhttps://www.p12.nysed.gov/facplan/Newsletter/Newsletter_41.html

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.