Rick D. Chandler

Board of Advisors

Rick D. Chandler heads Chandler Consulting, providing problem-solving expertise for owners, developers, contractors and institutions. The firm's focus is on responsive strategies for Zoning compliance, Building Code review, securing Certificates of Occupancy, compliance plans for permits, mandated municipal reporting and resolving DOB and other types of violations.

He previously served as Senior Vice President for Strategic Development at Montefiore Health Systems, where, along with his other job responsibilities, he has helped organize and coordinate COVID-19 testing efforts. As Former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, Chandler has regulated and promoted the safe and lawful use of nearly 1.1 million buildings and more than 45,000 active construction sites in New York City. Chandler led a fundamental transformation of the agency, while at the same time presiding over an unprecedented building boom in New York City. DOB’s Building One City plan, launched in 2014, delivered quicker plan reviews and improved response times, bringing new clarity and consistency to agency operations, strengthening enforcement, and promoting the highest standards of integrity, both in the construction industry and within DOB.

The centerpiece of these reforms was DOB NOW – a platform to bring nearly all the agency’s business online and into the 21st century, with far greater transparency for the public – along with long-overdue upgrades of the agency’s IT infrastructure. Chandler also oversaw an unprecedented plan to enforce safety-training standards for construction workers, along with a substantial overhaul of the city’s Construction Codes, including an effort to ease compliance through a consolidated code for existing buildings, an inaugural NYC waterfront construction code, as well as enhanced enforcement of the city’s Energy Code. To support these and other efforts, DOB increased staffing to nearly 1,800 employees, up from 1,000 employees just a few years prior.

Rick D. Chandler is a licensed Professional Engineer with years of large-scale management experience and deep expertise in code and zoning enforcement. As a Certified Buildings Commissioning Professional (CBCP), Chandler has a record of adapting technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations.

Previously, Rick Chandler was the Assistant Vice President of Facilities at CUNY Hunter College and served as Borough Commissioner at the Department of Buildings for Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.

While at Hunter, Chandler controlled the daily facilities operations for 10 million square feet on seven Manhattan campuses, including eight separate schools of higher education, a 2,500-student K-12 public school, 660 dorm rooms, and multiple athletic facilities.

Chandler earned his MS Civil Engineering from Columbia University and his BS Civil Engineering from the University of Nebraska.  In 2018, he received an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School.  A Manhattan resident, Chandler is a frequent marathon runner, regularly training in Central Park.