History and Overview of FISP
New York City Local Law 10 of 1980 was enacted shortly after a piece of masonry fell from the façade of a building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, killing a pedestrian (Grace Gold, a Barnard Student). To curtail the occurrence of such accidents, the New York City Council amended the NYC Building Code. The City mandated that owners of applicable buildings have their street façades and appurtenances periodically inspected by a licensed Registered Architect or Professional Engineer and that a Report based on this periodic critical examination must be filed with the Department of Buildings. The law applied to all buildings that are greater than six stories in height.
In 1997 and 1998 New York City experienced several highly publicized exterior wall failures. In response, New York City Local Law 11 of 1998 was passed by the City Council and signed by the Mayor in March of 1998. The revised law, known as Local Law 11 of 1998, further expanded the requirements for inspection and maintenance of the façades of buildings greater than six stories in height. Owners were required to have a Registered Architect or Professional Engineer inspect the entire building envelope, including walls facing the rear or sides of adjacent buildings. At least one complete close-up inspection from ground level to roof level via a scaffold (or other observation platform) was also required. Following specific guidelines provided by the Department of Buildings, the professional must determine the condition of all walls and appurtenances and compare it to the condition reported in prior Local Law 10/11 reports.
A significant change between LL10/80 and LL11/98 was the elimination of the “precautionary” filing status. Under the revised rule, the inspecting professional must designate the building as either, Safe, Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program “SWARMP” or Unsafe. Furthermore, the report was required be signed by both Architect/Engineer and Owner. Additionally, no previously described repair conditions could be reported in two consecutive cycles or they are considered to be unsafe.
In 2010, the program in its 7th Cycle was renamed to FISP (Façade Inspection & Safety Program) and staggered filing windows were introduced. Until then, all buildings that fell under the FISP requirements in the City of New York had one filing deadline. The DOB was completely overwhelmed by the number of reports being filed at the end of the inspection Cycle 6 in order to meet the filing deadline.
As a result, in 2007 Mayor Bloomberg signed Local Law 38, which required the Commissioner of Buildings to establish staggered inspection cycles for buildings governed by the façade evaluation requirements established under Local Law 11 of 1998. Each Building’s filing window is now determined by the last digit of its block number.
In 2013, the 7th Cycle required supplemental inspections of guardrails, balcony and fire escapes for structural stability and code compliance. 2015 opened the 8th Cycle of FISP and guardrails and handrail elements must be incorporated into the Report. For a limited period during the 8th Cycle, the FISP reports were required to provide permits for all greenhouses, sunrooms and balcony/terrace enclosures to ensure they were legalized at the time of installation. The DOB has since rescinded this requirement; however, the QEWI is still expected to inspect and determine if the enclosures are structurally stable and state this in the FISP report.