Philadelphia Real Estate Attorney Fredrick Masters Quoted on Philadelphia's New Facade Ordinance in Philadelphia Business Journal

Fredrick H. Masters, a shareholder in the Real Estate Section of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney's Philadelphia office, was quoted in an article published in the March 5, 2010, issue of the Philadelphia Business Journal. The article, titled "Façades must be checked: Owners will have to inspect buildings," discussed a new Philadelphia ordinance that will "require landlords to regularly inspect building façades as a way to prevent accidents that could endanger pedestrians."

As noted in the article, "The new ordinance was signed by Mayor Michael Nutter. It was spearheaded by Councilman James Kenney and co-sponsored by Councilman Frank DiCicco. … The ordinance affects buildings six stories or higher and those that have appurtenances, or something extending from the structure, such as a cornice or a steeple on a church. Properties affected include office, apartment, condominium and other commercial or residential structures."

The article went on to explain that Philadelphia's Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) as well as "other stakeholders, including architects, engineers and contractors, among others, were engaged early in the process of crafting the bill and ordinances from other cities were used as a starting point." As noted, Buchanan represented BOMA in the process.

"We were one of the only American cities that didn't have a façade ordinance," Masters said.

Masters went on to explain that "[t]hings got tweaked along the way. For example, an appeal period was added in case a building owner wants to contest an inspection report and a property owner who may have renovated a building, including the façade, just a couple of years ago can get a waiver for the inspection. Height was also debated. Early versions of the bill had buildings at or taller than 75 feet getting inspected."

"At 75 feet, there were a lot of older buildings that would be left out," Masters said. "It was leaving out the higher risk buildings."