Commission backs ordinance requiring supplemental glass inspections for tall buildings

The Building Inspection Commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors adopt an ordinance (file no. 231,130) to require supplemental inspections focused on windows and exterior glazing for tall buildings, after staff presented findings from the city’s post‑storm glass investigation.

DBI legislative affairs manager Carl Neceta and Janie Chan, manager of DBI technical services, told commissioners that WJE’s investigation of seven high‑rise buildings after the March 2023 storms identified 31 broken panes; investigators concluded 30 of 31 breakages likely could have been identified and mitigated before the storms. Staff said those findings support adding a targeted, supplemental visual inspection at the midpoint between the existing 10‑year comprehensive facade inspections — effectively a five‑year visual check for buildings with 15 or more stories.

Staff recommended several specific amendments to the ordinance: require that comprehensive facade inspections include both general and detailed inspections (distinguished by ASTM standards) while making supplemental inspections a 100% visual general inspection unless a qualified professional recommends otherwise; specify minimum elements to be reported in supplemental inspections with a focus on glazing; and provide an exemption when a qualified professional attests that the building (1) has no spandrel glass, (2) maintains an available maintenance log for glazing, and (3) has no glass‑breakage history during the five‑year interval.

DBI also proposed defining “compliance” to include DBI acceptance of the report and payment of the invoice for DBI’s review; staff said that approach helps enforcement (an NOV would not be lifted until invoice payment). Commissioners pressed staff on scale and scope: DBI said roughly 72 buildings built in or after 1998 fit the first notification cohort and that all buildings 15+ stories number “200‑something” citywide, with staff noting they have an address database on hand.

After Q&A about which glazing types are visually detectable (spandrel glass vs. tempered/insulated units), a motion to recommend the ordinance with staff's amendments carried unanimously on roll call.

Next steps: DBI staff said it would ask the Board of Supervisors to incorporate staff amendments when the ordinance is sponsored to the board.