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FISP CYCLE 9: WHAT CHANGES FOR BUILDING OWNERS
NYC Buildings Commissioner Melanie LaRocca
The NYC DOB’s Façade Inspection & Safety Program (FISP) Cycle 9 launched on February 21, 2020 with significantly strengthened requirements designed to ensure the safety of all New Yorkers.
The changes in FISP Cycle 9 include more up-close, hands-on inspections, enhanced requirements for design professionals, steeper penalties for failing to make repairs, and a mandate to display official façade status certificates in building lobbies. The law updates and expands on Local Law 11/98 – which expanded on Local Law 10 - requiring owners of buildings over six stories tall to hire licensed professionals to perform façade inspections every five years and submit reports to the DOB for review. “Building owners are on notice – maintain the safety of your facades, or you will face stiff fines and rigorous enforcement…,” said DOB Commissioner Melanie LaRocca in a DOB release dated January 22. She continued, “We are strengthening the tools we already have to ensure that New Yorkers are kept safe from deteriorating facades. New rule changes and more proactive field inspections will better equip us to hold negligent building owners accountable, and protect the public.” The Buildings Department oversees over one million buildings and construction sites across the five boroughs, of which 14,500 fall under the FISP guidelines according to DOB spokesperson Andrew Rudansky. The reason for adopting stricter rules is noted by the DOB, “Recent inspections have revealed significant deficiencies in façade compliance reporting by registered design professionals: therefore, the Department is enhancing the qualified exterior wall inspector qualifications, inspection requirements and civil penalties against owners to ensure public safety.”
