June 15, 2009–The New York City Department of Buildings has plans to create a database to track tower cranes and their parts. The City will share the information with other major cities, including Chicago, Ill., and Philadelphia, Pa. The program is an effort to track equipment failures, manufacturers’ recalls, accidents, and industry trends. No such national database exists currently.

A New York Times article reported that beyond Chicago and Philadelphia, New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Ontario and Dallas expressed interest in the new program as well. The database will be "a major step toward establishing a standardized system of tracking tower cranes across the country," said Buildings Commissioner Robert D. LiMandri.

The Buildings Department reports that as a result of legislation, by October it will be able to track construction contractors by name, recording the jobsites where they worked. The New York Times article reports the new system will capture the number of active cranes in a jurisdiction; the address where the crane is working; the crane’s owner; the crane’s make, model, year and serial number; the date the crane was erected on the site; its maximum height; and the date it was dismantled.

The database will be updated quarterly, and will include any information on accidents or any other incidents involving the machines. The database will be running by the end of June.