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Fire Department sources say contractor Bovis Lend Lease has not finished making necessary repairs. It would have been the first time since 1996 that the pipe has been tested.

Earlier this week, representatives from Bovis promised to have the pipe fixed by Friday.

"It'll be operational by Friday and tested and witnessed by the FDNY," said Bovis Senior Vice President James Abadie.

Fire crews were there Friday to watch inspectors pump high-pressure air into the standpipe to make sure it had no cracks or holes, however fire officials say the standpipe was not ready for testing because Bovis crews were still working on it.

Bovis had no comment, except to promise that the standpipe would be fixed soon.

Firefighters were unable to get any water from the pipe during the fire earlier this month because it had been disconnected, forcing them to use ropes to pull hoses up the side of the building. Firefighters Joseph Graffagnino and Robert Beddia died in the blaze.

The city has re-assigned three fire commanders for failing to inspect the former building. A hydrostatic test is supposed to be performed every five years, but although there was one scheduled for October 2001, it never took place due to the September 11th terrorist attacks.

"Unfortunately we didn't have procedures in place to make sure the Fire Department had access and didn't do inspections necessary to make sure standpipe worked and there was access to stairwells," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

High-ranking Fire Department officials met yesterday to remind fire chiefs that all buildings under demolition must be inspected every 15 days.

"I can't quite explain why the inspections the fire department was supposed to make of the standpipe in the building weren't done," said Bloomberg today on his weekly radio show. "We're investigating that and for the moment, we're removing the people directly responsible and we'll see what happens after the investigation is completed. Then the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and everybody else is going to look at their people and see who acted appropriately, didn't act appropriately."

In the meantime, the search continues for a subcontractor to replace the John Galt company, which was fired last week for not maintaining the standpipe, and not following safety procedures in general:

"I don't know what standards were applied before, so I don't want to say different, new, higher, whether the right standards were applied, but applied improperly," said Governor Eliot Spitzer. "What we are going to do is make sure we have integrity, we have competence, we have financial strength, and we have an employer who knows how to get the job done. This is something that is difficult but not impossible."

As a sign of progress, Bloomberg says scaffolding and netting around the building has been secured, and the streets closed because of the fire will be opened this weekend.

Meanwhile, one of the firefighters injured last week by a piece of falling construction equipment at the site is scheduled to be released from the hospital on Saturday.

Firefighter William Corbetis has been at St. Vincent's hospital since last Thursday with a broken rib and fractured vertebrae in his neck. He also had his spleen removed and 100 staples placed in his head.