DDC · Agency plan

Department of Design and Construction

Preliminary REP pages 170-174

Plan area: Infrastructure and Environment

2 Short-Term 2 Medium-Term 2 Long-Term

Mission & Commitment

DDC is the City's primary capital construction project manager. The agency designs and builds essential public infrastructure including schools, firehouses, police facilities, libraries, sewer systems, water mains, and parks. DDC is committed to embedding equity in its project delivery, workforce diversity, and M/WBE contracting goals.

Spotlight wins

Starting in FY23 through FY25, DDC saw an increased percentage utilization in contract awards to businesses which have historically been underutilized in citywide contracting.The ACE mentor program is a free after-school program that works with a variety of organizations that mentor high school students who are interested in careers in Architecture, Construction, and Engineering. DDC and the New York School Construction Authority (SCA) teamed up to provide mentoring to high school students across all five boroughs. The project design won First Place in the National CIRT Project Category of Olympic Stadium design and Second Place across all National CIRT Project categories.

Short-Term Goals

Short-Term Workforce Diversity & Staff Training

Prioritize maintaining an inclusive workforce environment for employees through staff development, engagement, and mentoring efforts

Population focus: Agency staff / employees

Goal ID: DDC-G01

Short-Term Language Access & Translation

Ensure equitable access to agency-distributed public information on construction projects through expanding language access and plain language updates

Population focus: Immigrants / LEP

Outcome & strategies

Outcome: By the end of 2026, train 100% of Community Construction Liaisons (CCLs) on language access measures and updated field protocols for interacting with New Yorkers with non-English language preference.

Increased door to door outreach with business owners and residents with non-English language preference
Increased information and advisory dissemination about language access offerings
Training of CCLs on how to recognize and respond to non-English preference needs

Goal ID: DDC-G02

Medium-Term Goals

Medium-Term Workforce Diversity & Staff Training

Strengthen workforce through enhanced recruitment and improving retention of diverse candidates and employees

Population focus: Agency staff / employees

Outcome & strategies

Outcome: By 2028, increase the number of applicants of color in our technical titles and those applying for managerial level roles.

Build our partnerships with HBCUs with architect and engineering programs and DYCD partnerships
Provide leadership training for our emerging leaders
Conduct regular workforce trend analysis including auditing hiring practices for underutilized job groups

Goal ID: DDC-G03

Medium-Term Workforce Diversity & Staff Training

Improve hiring processes across divisions to ensure equity is built into the structure of interviews and selection to reduce disparities in workforce

Population focus: General

Outcome & strategies

Outcome: By 2028, ensure that 100% of hiring managers have implemented equitable hiring practices.

Ensure Interview Panels are drawn from groups that are representative by race, ethnicity, gender, age, reporting structure and other equity measures
Ensure that 100% of hiring managers have completed Structured Interview training
Ensure that new or newly promoted managers receive Structured Interview training within the first quarter in their position

Goal ID: DDC-G04

Long-Term Goals

Long-Term Infrastructure & Capital Projects

Integrate an analysis of disparities into our Advanced Capital Planning (ACP) program to better advise sponsor agencies on the frequency of project delivery requests within neighborhoods with social economic disparities identified through agency disparity analysis, which will promote transparency and encourage sponsor agencies to prioritize improvements and resource allocation in those communities

Population focus: General

Outcome & strategies

Outcome: By 2034, assess and inform 100% of sponsor agencies' portfolios of project delivery requests in identified neighborhoods, while institutionalizing the practice for ongoing years.

Expand the ACP program to work with sponsor agencies to assess their entire portfolio of public buildings and develop efficient, forward-looking strategies to manage their capital needs
Focus on identifying and informing sponsor agencies of the historic frequency and costs of their project delivery requests in communities with high percentages of socioeconomic disparities to encourage resource prioritization

Goal ID: DDC-G05

Long-Term Procurement & M/WBE Contracting

DDC has had a 30% goal for M/WBE utilization and will continue to implement and evaluate goals going forward to ensure they are consistent with federal, state, and local law

Population focus: M/WBE owners

Outcome & strategies

Outcome: By 2034, maintain consistent implementation and assessment for M/WBE utilization.

Leverage existing tools like the M/WBE Small Purchase award method and M/WBE PQLs
Strengthen industry partnerships and increase understanding of contracting roadmap
Hold prime vendors accountable for meeting M/WBE goals

Goal ID: DDC-G06

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