DOES A MIDSIZE BUILDING NEED A LIVE-IN SUPER?

The New York City Administrative Code §27-2053 provides that owners can provide for janitorial services to be performed on a 24-hour-a-day basis in a manner approved by the department—but the HPD has no established regulations setting forth what would satisfy this criteria. That leaves it quite ambiguous.

Section §27-2055 of the Administrative Code requires that an owner employing a janitor must certify to the department in writing that that janitor is competent to perform required janitorial services in a competent fashion. The janitor must also be shown capable of operating the incinerator and the furnace, the boiler, and other machinery that provides the building with central heat and hot water. The owner must submit a new certificate of the janitor’s competency to the department no later than 60 days after hiring a new janitor.

The Administrative Code prohibits a single super from servicing more than 65 units. It states “no person who performs janitorial services for more than one multiple dwelling may service more than sixty-five dwelling units. Regardless of residence the janitor must have a telephone where the janitor may reasonably be expected to be reached.”