Section 19-117. Licensing of vaults

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 greater 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.