a. Limitation. It shall be unlawful for any person to erect or build, or cause or permit any vault to be made without a license issued by the commissioner pursuant to this section or a revocable consent issued pursuant to chapter fourteen of the charter and the rules adopted by the commissioner pursuant thereto. All vaults shall be constructed in accordance with the provisions of the building code of the city of New York. A license issued pursuant to this section shall not authorize the construction of a vault which extends further than the line of the sidewalk or curbstone of any street.
b. Licenses. Every application for a license to erect a vault shall be in writing, signed by the person making the same, and shall state the intended length and width of such vault and the number of square feet of ground which is required therefor.
c. Compensation. Upon receiving such license the applicant therefor shall forthwith pay to the commissioner such sum as the commissioner shall certify in the license to be a just compensation to the city for such privilege, calculated at the rate of not less than thirty cents, nor more than two dollars, per foot, for each square foot of ground mentioned as required for such vault.
d. Measurement. In the case of a new vault, before the arching or covering thereof shall be commenced, the person to whom the license for such vault shall have been granted shall cause the same to be measured by a city surveyor. Such surveyor shall deliver to the commissioner, a certificate, signed by the surveyor, specifying the dimensions of the vault. The certificate shall be accompanied by a diagram showing the square foot area of the vault, including its sustaining walls, and indicating its location relative to the building and curb lines and to the nearest intersecting street corner. In the case of an existing vault, the person claiming the right to the use thereof shall furnish a like certificate and diagram in respect thereof, but in such case the measurement shall exclude the sustaining walls.
e. Refunds. If, from subsequent measurements, it shall appear that less space has been taken than that paid for, the licensee shall be entitled to receive a certificate from the commissioner showing the difference. Upon the presentation of such certificate of difference to the comptroller, the comptroller shall pay a rebate to the licensee, the amount of which shall be the difference in money between the space fee originally paid and the fee for space actually taken.
f. Unauthorized encroachments. If it shall appear that the vault or cistern occupies a grater number of square feet than shall have been so paid for, the owner thereof shall, in addition to the penalty imposed for such violation pursuant to section 19-149 or 19-150 of this subchapter, forfeit and pay twice the sum previously paid for each square foot of ground occupied by the vault over and above the number of square feet paid for as aforesaid.
g. Responsibility. The master builder who shall complete or begin the construction of a vault, and the owner or person for whom the same shall be excavated or constructed shall be subject to the provisions and payments of this section and sections 19-118, 19-119, and 19-120 of this subchapter and to the penalties for violations thereof, severally and respectively.
h. Exemption. Openings over which substantial and securely fixed gratings of metal or other noncombustible material have been erected in accordance with the provisions of this section and sections 19-118, 19-119 and 19-120 of this subchapter, shall be exempted from payment of fees for licenses for vaults, provided such openings be used primarily for light and ventilation, and provided such gratings are of sufficient strength to sustain a live load of three hundred pounds per square foot and are constructed with at least forty percent of open work.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 1993/104.