LL11 & FISP Engineers
EBI has provided LL 11 and FISP examination services for over 20 years. We are experts at inspecting facades and designing smart cost-effective repairs to damaged facades.
EBI will help you through the process from the current cycle inspection to getting sign-offs and approvals from the Department of Buildings.
Much has changed since the incarnation of mandatory NYC facade inspections that began after the college student, Grace Gold, was killed on Broadway by a falling piece of terra cotta in 1979.
Her death enacted “Local Law 10/80” which mandated that a report of buildings above six stories be inspected and filed with the NYC DOB. The law stated that the report …
“… shall include a record of all significant deterioration, unsafe conditions and movement observed as well as a statement concerning the watertightness of the exterior surfaces. Such report must be signed by and bear the professional seal of such architect or engineer.”
Local Law 10/80 was later amended by “Local Law 11 of 1998” (called LL 11/98) to include all the exterior walls of a building, mandatory scaffold drops along street facades and incorporating the categories of Safe, Unsafe and SWARMP (Safe with Maintenance Repair Program). It also designated a list of repair items that required a DOB Permit which is still used today. (See Attachment 1 below)
Throughout the years, additional requirements were added throughout the 5-year cycle of façade reports including the safety verification of fire escapes and balcony railings; and significant changes occurred in 2010, during the 7th Cycle. The name was changed to FISP (Façade Inspection Safety Program) and buildings were divided into three categories, or tiers, according to the last digit of the building’s Block Number. This helped ease the logjam of building Reports that were all being filed on the same due date. The three filing tiers that are part of a FISP filing and their last Block Number are:
Tier A – #’s 4, 5, 6, 9
Tier B – #’s 0, 7, 8
Tier C – #’s 1, 2, 3
The most recent changes for the current Ninth Cycle (9th cycle) incorporate probes along every 60-feet of cavity walls, self-photographs of the Inspectors, mandatory posting of the FISP certificate in building lobbies and the digitalization of FISP documents via the portal on the DOBNOW website.
The deadlines for the three current Cycle 9 Tiers have the same calendar date, but separate years, and are as follows:
Tier A – February 21, 2022
Tier B – February 21, 2023
Tier C – February 21, 2024
EBI has always prided itself on their knowledge of building construction, developed from over 100 years of combined experience in façade inspection, restoration and repair. Below are a few of the FISP Local Law 11 photos that were included as part of the Cycle 9 FISP documentation.