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The building at 1806 W. Montgomery Ave. The Department
of Licenses and Inspections has given owner Shawn Bullard 35 days to get a
certificate of occupancy, but he also will be allowed to have an engineer vouch
for the building’s safety.
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A four-story building in North Philadelphia that is home
to eight Temple University students was built illegally - without the required
safety inspections or even a building permit, city records show.
The tan-brick building at 1806 W. Montgomery Ave.,
constructed within the last two years, is owned by 826 N. Broad L.L.C. Shawn
Bullard, a real estate developer from West Oak Lane, is the sole member of that
company, real estate records show.
Bullard, 33, is a former Temple football player who had a
short stint in the NFL and this year starred as a bachelor looking for love in
the WE TV reality show Match Made in Heaven. He operates another company,
Konkrete Investments L.L.C., which served as the general contractor for
construction of the building, records show.
Bullard, who owns several other properties that city
inspectors say were built with proper inspections, said the Montgomery Avenue
building is safe. He disputed city records listing the property as not having
been inspected.
"I don't know what to tell you. It was
inspected," Bullard said. He referred further questions to his lawyer,
Laurence Mester, who declined to comment.
Without construction inspections, city inspectors say,
it's impossible to know whether the building is safe.
While the building has tenants and a rental license, it
does not have the required certificate of occupancy, which attests that a
property is in compliance with building codes and is safe for habitation, city
records show.
Last week, after The Inquirer asked about the building,
officials with the Department of Licenses and Inspections gave Bullard 35 days
to obtain such a certificate from the agency. If he does not comply, L&I
officials said, they will shut the building down and order the tenants to
leave.
L&I Commissioner Carlton Williams declined to be
interviewed. In response to written questions, he said his department would
conduct a hearing to determine whether to suspend Bullard's contractor license.
In the aftermath of the Center City building collapse in
June 2013, Williams pledged greater scrutiny of contractors.
In Bullard's case, Williams said, L&I issued several
violations against the contractor for not summoning the agency to perform the
required safety inspections. In January, the agency took him to court, citing
the failed inspections and unlawful occupancy. The case is pending.
The narrow, modern-looking Montgomery Avenue building has
a graffitied side wall facing a vacant lot. A student who lived there verified
that there are eight tenants but declined further comment.
Six current and former L&I inspectors who asked not
to be identified for fear of reprisal said they were appalled that the agency
had allowed the construction to proceed without required inspections - and then
allowed Bullard to take in tenants.
"They're only threatening to vacate the building now
because the newspaper asked about it," one of the inspectors said.
The L&I employees also faulted Bullard for not
summoning inspectors to review the work as it progressed, and for not obtaining
a certificate of occupancy.
Williams wrote that L&I became aware of the project
in late 2013, when an accident occurred on the job. A worker was injured when a
scaffold he was standing on came in contact with electrical wires, according to
records of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
City records show that on Dec. 3, 2013, an inspector
wrote in the L&I database that "there were NO inspections performed of
any sort at this site." He added: "The contractor failed to notify me
for any inspections."
L&I records show that the inspector issued a
stop-work order, but it was not carried out.
The next month, with the building nearly completed, the
inspector wrote, "4 story property built with no legal permit issued. Fire
suppression system roughed in with no legal permit. No inspections performed
and all work done illegally and without permission from [L&I] North
District to start work. All work concealed from this office."
In a visit to the site a few months later, another
inspector, Ryan Wheeler, wrote, "No inspections were performed by any
inspector.. . . I, Ryan Wheeler, have stated in my notes that I will not assume
any responsibility for work performed."
Williams, in his statement to The Inquirer, said the city
has had problems with contractors building without the required inspections. He
said the agency is responding with stricter enforcement, and a policy of
revoking the licenses of such contractors. L&I also has been hiring
additional inspectors to step up enforcement, he said.
As for Bullard's building, Williams wrote, "L&I
inspectors found no structural conditions that pose a threat to
occupants."
In interviews, L&I inspectors said they were puzzled
by that assertion.
"How can we know the structural integrity of the
building when no one inspected while it was being built?" one asked.
"Now the walls are up and we can't see in them."
To compensate for the lack of construction inspections,
Bullard will be permitted to hire an engineer to study the building and assure
the city that it is safe, Williams said. To do that, experts say, an engineer
would have to inspect the building's framing, foundation, insulation, and other
aspects of construction, a task that requires taking apart walls and peering
in.
Because construction was completed without L&I
review, city inspectors say, they were unable to examine key indicators of the
building's safety, such as checking the lumber to be sure floors and walls were
not in danger of collapse; ensuring that the construction complied with
fire-suppression regulations; seeing that appliances are properly vented, to
prevent carbon-monoxide poisoning and fire hazards; and dozens of other issues.
"There are 100 ways to get hurt in an uninspected
building," one inspector said, "and that includes the firefighters
who might be called there one day."
Source: Philly.com
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