What is a Qualified Parking Structure Inspector (QPSI)?
What is a Qualified Parking Structure Inspector (QPSI) and How Do I Hire One?
The City of New York has enacted a new parking inspection law (Construction Codes §28-323 and Rules of City of New York (RCNY) §103-13) that affects both parking structure owners and owners’ representatives. To achieve compliance, New York City parking structure owners and/or owners’ reps must hire a New York City Qualified Parking Inspector, or QPSI, to perform a condition assessment report with the New York City Department of Buildings every six years. All five boroughs of New York City are included in the law, and each have their own designated phase to complete their assessment reports.
What is a QPSI?
A QPSI is a New York City-certified Professional Engineer that has met all of the qualifications that the City has deemed to be able to perform structural inspections on its behalf. QPSI's ensure compliance for parking structure owner's and owner's reps with local law 126.
What are the qualifications and process to become a QPSI?
The process to become a QPSI is rigorous so that the highest quality professionals are certified by the City. To qualify as a QPSI, one must be a New York State licensed and registered professional engineer (PE). QPSIs are tenured professionals with years of experience in structural engineering.
The process to become a certified NYC QPSI includes demonstrating a deep and relevant work history and passing a verbal examination.
Candidates for this certification must first demonstrate direct experience and competency in structural design, design of structural repairs, inspection and structural evaluation, and forensic structural engineering assessments. The QPSI candidate will be required to submit a detailed curriculum vitae (CV) with three sample engineering projects, regarding either the design of parking structures and/or inspection and parking structures structural repairs or forensic investigations.
Upon acceptance the of candidate’s application, the New York City Department of Building’s Parking Structure Unit will schedule an in-person verbal examination and interview with the candidate. For this part of the certification process, candidates must demonstrate in-depth knowledge in structural engineering and the NYC Building Code and Rule requirements for parking structures.
What will the QPSI be responsible for?
For the new NYC parking inspection law, QPSIs are responsible for guiding parking garage owners and owner’s reps through the process of completing a parking garage inspection and submitting the necessary condition assessment in compliance with this new law. QPSIs are also responsible for submitting the filing fees on behalf of the owner or owner’s rep.
How do I get started?
New York City parking structure owners and owner’s reps are responsible for initiating the engagement with a QPSI to get the process started.
How do I select a QPSI?
With the rigorous certification process, there are only a handful of QPSIs available for all five boroughs. Each borough has a limited two-year window to perform the parking inspections to maintain compliance. It’s important to engage a QPSI early to secure their time and bandwidth. You will also want to hire a QPSI that is located within one of the five boroughs of New York City. Proximity to your site ensures timeliness and a keen understanding of the local market.
Meet Steven Jeter
Looking for a QPSI to help with your NYC parking inspection? Meet Steven Jeter. Steven is a Senior Field Engineer for StructureCare in the Northeast Territory. Based in Queens, Steven has a background in forensic structural engineering. He is an ace at performing structural investigations and analysis to determine causation and extent of damage to existing structures and ongoing construction projects. More impressively, Steven has his NYC Qualified Parking Structure Inspector (QPSI) certification, where he can put his investigative skills to use in helping parking structure owners and owner’s reps in navigating the new NYC parking inspection law. In the first of two posts in this series, we get to know Steven’s professional background and how it applied to the new NYC parking inspection law.
How can SC help with the NYC parking inspection law?
As the nation’s leading structural engineering firm focused solely on maintaining the integrity of parking structures and garages, we are certified by both the City and the State to provide the required inspections necessary under this law. We have completed the rigorous process to become a Qualified Parking Structure Inspector (QPSI), so we are confident we can show you the path to compliance.
Not heard of StructureCare yet? We are parking structure management with no hassles or surprises, here to help you when you need it most.
NYC's Local Law 126
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