BUILDINGS OF THE FUTURE

Joe Vericker/PhotoBureau
Want to know more about a building or construction site just by aiming your smartphone at its Department of Buildings permit? Now you can, thanks to addition of Quick Response (QR) codes, which will provide instant access to property and project data, announced yesterday by Deputy Mayor for Operations Stephen Goldsmith and Mayor Mike down on Broad Street. NY is the first major US city to make use of this technology, which allows anyone with a smartphone to quickly learn about the approved scope of work, ID of the property owner and job applicant, other approved projects associated with the permit, complaints and violationsrelated to the user, and a link that that will initiate a phone call to 311to make a complaint.
Try it out by downloading an app on your phone (we used ScanLife on our Android—just search for “QR” in your application store), and use it on the QR code above. Now, you can learn more about the construction site at 25 Broad St. Mayor Mike says this will allow formore efficient access to government data, help the public know what’s being built in their neighborhoods, and allow people to make more informed decisions about things from renting an apartment to making a complaint. Construction permits will have the QR codes added to them as they’re replaced at the 975,000 building and construction sites in the city, and all permits are expected to have the codes by ’13. They’ll also appear on after-hour variances and Place of Assembly certificates of operation.

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