What is FISP?

The Façade Inspection and Safety Program, or FISP, as it is known in the industry, is a New York City Law that requires all buildings greater than 6 stories in height to undergo an evaluation of the exterior façade and appurtenances every 5 years by a Professional Engineer/Registered Architect that also carries the designation of a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector (QEWI) and file a technical façade report with the Department of Buildings.

FISP, which is formerly Local Law 11/98 and Local Law 10/80 before that, was enacted by the NYC Department of Buildings when, in 1979, a young woman was struck and killed when a piece a debris fell from a building along the upper west side of Manhattan. Local Law 10/80 began with visual examinations of only the street facades of buildings and has now evolved into a fully comprehensive façade and appurtenance assessment of each of the building’s façades, setbacks, terraces, balconies and fire escapes. Further evaluation and assessment are performed by close-up examinations and physical testing of building elements, such as sounding of terra cotta and probing of cavity wall facades.

Façade report and maintenance/repair deadlines are divided into sub-cycles. The last digit of a building’s block number determines if the property falls into sub-cycle 9A, 9B, or 9C as shown below:

9^th Cycle Façade Inspection & Safety Program (FISP)
February 21, 2020	Sub-Cycle 9A Block Numbers ending in 4,5,6 or 9
February 21, 2021		Sub-Cycle 9B Block Numbers ending in 0,7 or 8
February 21, 2022			Sub-Cycle 9C Block Numbers ending in 1,2 or 3
February 21, 2023
February 21, 2024
February 21, 2025	End of 9^th Cycle

After performing an inspection, the QEWI must file an electronic technical report through DOB NOW: Safety indicating the façade’s condition and classifying the building with one of three ways:

Safe: No problems and in good condition; or
Safe With a Repair and Maintenance Program (SWARMP): Safe, but requires repair/maintenance; or
Unsafe: Problems/defects threaten public safety.

Owners are subject to Environmental Control Board violations and penalties if they do not meet the filing deadlines or fail to make timely repairs.Owners with a building filed as Unsafe must request an extension if the repairs cannot be completed and an amended report cannot be filed in a timely manner.