Building Inspector Reports (BIR) Foundation Data
In an ongoing effort to help us better define what areas are affected by lowering of the groundwater table, the Boston Groundwater Trust (BGwT) embarked on a public records search from December 2003 - April 2004. The Building Inspection Reports (BIR’s), located in the Fine Arts Department of the Boston Public Library, contain such useful information as construction dates, architect’s and builder’s names, building descriptions, and, most importantly, woodpile cutoff elevations. The BIR’s are organized in bound volumes and, along with the reports, often contain original drawing and blueprints (usually floor plans).
The BGwT researched a total of 145 BIR’s that were produced between 1879-1903. Although 181 volumes originally existed, 36 volumes are missing. Please refer to the Building Inspector Reports (BIR) List for a complete listing of all volumes that were available to be researched and those volumes that are currently missing.
The Great Boston Fire of 1872 destroyed the majority of Boston’s commercial district. In that fire many official and private building documents were destroyed. Therefore no reports, plans, or permits exist in these archives for pre-1873 buildings.
In researching the BIR’s, the BGwT recorded information that we feel might be helpful to someone who is looking to obtain an idea about a building’s foundation. For a complete list of information for a specific address please refer to the Building Inspector Reports 1879-1903, Department for the Inspection of Buildings. BIR data is categorized by areas then by streets. The areas posted include Back Bay, Fenway, South End, and East Boston.
To view the areas that were researched and which buildings were found with woodpile cutoff elevation information, please refer to the maps in Building Inspector Reports (BIR) Search Results 2003-2004. BIR’s for buildings that were found with a pile cutoff elevation of 5’ or less are indicated in green. BIR’s for buildings that were found with a pile cutoff elevation of 5.1’ or more are indicated in red. BIR’s that were found but yielded no pile cutoff elevation information are indicated in orange.
The BGwT researched a total of 145 BIR’s that were produced between 1879-1903. Although 181 volumes originally existed, 36 volumes are missing. Please refer to the Building Inspector Reports (BIR) List for a complete listing of all volumes that were available to be researched and those volumes that are currently missing.
The Great Boston Fire of 1872 destroyed the majority of Boston’s commercial district. In that fire many official and private building documents were destroyed. Therefore no reports, plans, or permits exist in these archives for pre-1873 buildings.
In researching the BIR’s, the BGwT recorded information that we feel might be helpful to someone who is looking to obtain an idea about a building’s foundation. For a complete list of information for a specific address please refer to the Building Inspector Reports 1879-1903, Department for the Inspection of Buildings. BIR data is categorized by areas then by streets. The areas posted include Back Bay, Fenway, South End, and East Boston.
To view the areas that were researched and which buildings were found with woodpile cutoff elevation information, please refer to the maps in Building Inspector Reports (BIR) Search Results 2003-2004. BIR’s for buildings that were found with a pile cutoff elevation of 5’ or less are indicated in green. BIR’s for buildings that were found with a pile cutoff elevation of 5.1’ or more are indicated in red. BIR’s that were found but yielded no pile cutoff elevation information are indicated in orange.