A 28-year-old construction worker fell about three stories to his death May 17th from scaffolding on an apartment building in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. The worker, identified as Adrien Zamora, appears to have been doing facade restoration work “when he lost his footing and fell” from the scaffolding installed at 450 Broome St., says a spokeswoman at the Dept. of Buildings, which is investigating the incident along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). It was the worker’s first day on the job.

“The site had all the necessary permits,” the DOB spokeswoman says. The agency has had two complaints about the job site this year. In January, DOB issued a violation to scaffolding contractor Steel Industries after a piece of debris fell from the scaffolding at the site, she says. She adds that the agency received a complaint in March about a blocked fire escape but that it did not find any obstruction.

“A worker fall is the number one cause of construction accidents in New York City,” the spokeswoman says.

Calls made to the project owner Building Management Co. Inc., New York, as well as general contractor Brasal Construction Corp., New York, were not returned by press time.

The initial target start date of the $1-million, design-bid-build project was December 2011, according to McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge data. The project features facade repairs including work on wall masonry, cast iron features, windows, roofing storefront as well as sidewalk vault reconstruction.