No MCI Increase for Engineer's Fees

Landlord applied for MCI rent hikes based on the installation of a new garage roof. The DRA ruled for landlord except that an increase for engineering services was disallowed. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that the engineer's services were customary, necessary, and mandated to ensure that the contractors bidding the job understood what work was needed. Landlord said that the garage roof replacement with structural steel supports was a unique and peculiar installation, and that the City of Long Beach issued a Certificate of Completion based on the plans submitted by the supervising engineer. But the DHCR found that the engineering fees were duplicative. The Long Beach building code required contractors to be licensed, the contractor guaranteed the work performed for five years, and landlord didn't prove that the installation of three steel beams during the garage roof work was unique or peculiar. 

Levin: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. AS710028RO (3/14/14) [2-pg. doc.]