FACADE INSPECTION SAFETY PROGRAM (FISP)

The start of FACADE INPSECTION SAFETY PROGRAM (FISP): Formerly Local Law 11

Grace Gold was tragically struck and killed by a piece of masonry that fell from a building at Broadway and West 115th Street in 1979. In an attempt to save future Graces, the city government passed Local Law 10 /1980, later Local Law 11 /1998, and now Façade Inspection Safety Program (FISP). Since then, throughout the city, exterior inspections of building façades and appurtenances are required to be performed by a qualified licensed engineer or architect.

Our team can help you navigate FISP and reach compliance.

Inspection Cycle 10

The current inspection cycle (Cycle 10) runs from February 21^st, 2025 to February 21^st, 2029
and is divided into three sub-cycles based on your building’s block number.

CHOOSE ONEIDA ESC GROUP FOR INSPECTIONS AND COMPLIANCE

Oneida ESC Group can assist building owners and managers throughout the process:

• Step 1: perform required inspections with a New York licensed professional engineer or registered architect with a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector (QEWI) certification
• Step 2: prepare and file necessary reports
• Step 3: recommend buildings classified as ‘Safe’ to continue normal maintenance
• Step 4: assist with developing repair documents for buildings classified as ‘Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program (SWARMP)’ or ‘Unsafe’

Our recommendations:

Contact us to conduct the inspection as early as possible. This allows flexibility to correct any areas that need repair (but are not necessarily unsafe) before we file the completed report. The inspection includes an examination of the report from the previous cycle to determine if areas requiring repair (if any) were repaired since the last inspection and to evaluate the history and ongoing maintenance of the building.

Consult with Oneida ESC Group after receiving the technical report. We will help you navigate through a ‘SWARMP’ or ‘Unsafe’ technical report and address the hazardous conditions within the recommended time frame, so your building can be maintained in a ‘Safe’ condition and unnecessary fines are not levied for non-compliance with the law.

INSPECTION PARAMETERS

• every five (5) years
• buildings of six (6) or more stories in height
• inspected by a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector (QEWI) professional
• applies to all buildings in the five boroughs, regardless of square footage or occupancy

Inspections include exterior walls except those that are less than twelve inches from the adjacent building, and all appurtenances plus air conditioners, railings, fire escapes, balcony enclosures, and antennas.

After inspection, Oneida ESC Group will file a Critical Examination Report with the NY Department of Buildings (DOB) classifying observed conditions as ‘Safe’, ‘SWARMP’ or ‘Unsafe’.

UNDERSTANDING INSPECTION RESULTS: Safe, SWARMP, OR Unsafe

• Safe: Building owners who receive a report classifying the building as Safe within the meaning of FISP should carefully review the professional’s report and comply with any suggestions listed to maintain the building in a safe condition.
• Safe With A Repair And Maintenance Program (SWARMP): Building owners who receive a report classifying the building as SWARMP must carefully read the report and recommendations provided by the professional to understand what repairs are necessary and when repairs must be completed in order to remain in compliance with FISP. Building owners must complete repairs to items listed as SWARMP in the report by the repair date and prior to filing the Cycle 11 report or the items will be reclassified as unsafe during the Cycle 11 period and will require repair within thirty days. A subsequent technical report should be filed following completion of repairs to SWARMP items to reclassify the building as safe.
• Unsafe: building owners who receive reports classifying the building as Unsafe must perform additional measures to ensure complete compliance of FISP.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION APPROACH TO FACADE SAFETY REPAIRS

Our team includes experience working on historic buildings.

• NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission approved preservation architect
• Worked on many landmark building façades
• preserving the city’s extraordinary heritage for posterity

At the outset of each project, professionals ride scaffolds to perform FISP inspections, to examine and sound out the entire facade and to mark defects. Time and again, we are struck by the fact that most of the deterioration and failures do not involve the original building elements but rather along the areas where incorrect repair, restoration, renovation and preservation methods were applied throughout the building’s lifetime (sometimes as recent as a year or less).

The scale of failed repairs varies from mismatching new brick or mortar color or improper caulking to dramatic material replacement such as stitching a CMU block into a void left by a missing floral terra cotta unit or a Gothic gargoyle.

Whether the building is a designated landmark or not, façade safety repairs should be performed utilizing a historic preservation approach that is balancing repair and maintenance needs while respecting integrity of original materials, design, and construction.

Contact us for additional information:

Company and Building Information

About Oneida ESC Group