{"id":5659,"date":"2020-01-29T10:35:03","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T15:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/randpc.com\/blog\/?p=5659"},"modified":"2024-04-11T14:45:24","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T18:45:24","slug":"fispcycle9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/fispcycle9\/","title":{"rendered":"9th Cycle FISP &#8211; New Rule Issued for Facade Inspections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It's official. Just in time for the start of the City's 9<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Cycle Facade Inspection Safety Program (FISP) on February 21, 2020, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) has published a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www1.nyc.gov\/assets\/buildings\/rules\/1_RCNY_103-04_prom_details_date.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new amended rule<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> aimed at increasing safety and holding negligent building owners accountable. In the wake of architect Erica Tishman's tragic death by falling masonry in December, recent cavity wall failures, and taking into account the city's aging building stock, it's more critical than ever that building owners proactively maintain their facades in safe condition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>NEW <\/i><\/b><b>for the 9th Cycle<br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most significant changes include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Additional hands-on inspections<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are now required, changing the previous minimum requirement from one full-height hands-on inspection per building to one along every 60-foot interval of street-facing and public right-of-way-facing facades.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During every \"odd\" cycle (i.e., Cycle 9, Cycle 11) <\/span><b>probe investigations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are required along every 60-foot interval of cavity wall facades, to check for the presence and condition of wall ties.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A<\/span><b> facade condition certificate<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> must be displayed in the lobby (similar to an elevator inspection certificate).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Experience requirements <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for Qualified Exterior Wall Inspectors (QEWI) have increased to a minimum seven years of relevant experience, and anyone involved in the inspection process must either have three years of relevant experience with a bachelor's degree in architecture or engineering, or five years if lacking the degree.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Increased and new civil penalties:<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The penalty for failure to file has increased from $1,000 to $5,000.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The monthly penalty for late filing is now $1,000 per month.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Owners who fail to correct an Unsafe Condition face a $1,000 per month penalty plus an additional monthly penalty based on the linear footage of sidewalk shed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A new civil penalty of $2,000 will be assessed for failure to correct Safe with a Repair and Maintenance Program (SWARMP) conditions by the next cycle.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In addition, although not mentioned in the new rule, the DOB will be adding a new \"Administrative Unsafe Conditions\" subcategory to distinguish actively Unsafe buildings from those where owners fail to address Safe with a Repair and Maintenance Program (SWARMP) conditions but no immediate danger exists. While a civil penalty of $2,000 will be assessed, buildings filed as Administrative Unsafe will not require a sidewalk shed until repairs begin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What Owners and Managers Need to Know<br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Depending on the length of your building's street\/public-facing facades, the cost of conducting the inspection each cycle may significantly increase because numerous additional drops are now required.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, if your building is of cavity wall construction, the required investigative probes will significantly add to the cost of the inspection process. RAND will work toward undertaking the probes in the most cost-effective manner possible while fulfilling DOB's requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Request a Proposal Today<br \/>\n<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">FISP mandates cyclical facade inspections of all buildings over six stories in height. The inspection and filing window is determined by the last digit of the building's block number, which for the 9<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Cycle will be as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Sub-Cycle 9A <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">- Blocks ending in 4, 5, 6, or 9<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Filing window: February 21, 2020 to February 21, 2022<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Sub-Cycle 9B <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">- Blocks ending in 0, 7, or 8<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Filing window: February 21, 2021 to February 21, 2023<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Sub-Cycle 9C <\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">- Blocks ending in 1, 2, or 3<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Filing window: February 21, 2022 to February 21, 2024<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given the anticipated increase in the number of drops and cavity wall probes now required, the contractors providing scaffolding equipment and opening\/sealing probes will be in great demand. Scheduling an inspection early in a building's two-year filing window will insure adequate time to have the inspection process and any necessary repair work completed for a Safe or SWARMP filing by the deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n<div align=\"justify\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>If you would like a consultation or a proposal for RAND to conduct a 9<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0Cycle facade inspection for your building and\/or to design and administer FISP repair work, please contact us at 212-675-8844; or\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:&#x66;&#x69;&#x73;&#x70;&#x40;&#x72;&#x61;&#x6e;&#x64;&#x70;&#x63;&#x2e;&#x63;&#x6f;&#x6d;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" shape=\"rect\">&#x46;&#x49;&#x53;&#x50;&#x40;<span class=\"oe_displaynone\">null<\/span>&#x72;&#x61;&#x6e;&#x64;&#x70;&#x63;&#x2e;&#x63;&#x6f;&#x6d;<\/a>. For more on New York City's Facade Inspection Safety Program, please see our <a href=\"https:\/\/randpc.com\/articles\/exterior-repair-and-maintenance\/fisp-fact-sheet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" shape=\"rect\">FISP Fact Sheet<\/a><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" shape=\"rect\">.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>We look forward to helping your building achieve a Safe filing status.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div align=\"left\">\n<div align=\"justify\"><em>Steven Tingir is a partner at RAND and head of the firm's Facade &amp; Roofing team.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It's official. Just in time for the start of the City's 9th Cycle Facade Inspection Safety Program (FISP) on February 21, 2020, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) has published a new amended rule aimed at increasing safety...<\/p>\n <span class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/fispcycle9\/\" class=\"more-link\" title=\"Read More\"><strong>Read more<\/strong><\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":7297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566,413,18,66,65,467,87,78],"tags":[619,305,283,113,618,479,620,371,384],"class_list":["post-5659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exterior-walls","category-facade-inspection-safety-program-fisp","category-facades","category-local-law-1198","category-masonry","category-new-york-city","category-safety","category-sidewalk-sheds","tag-9th-cycle","tag-facade-inspection-safety-program","tag-facade-inspections","tag-fisp","tag-ll11","tag-local-law-11","tag-qewi","tag-rand","tag-rand-engineering-architecture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7291,"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5659\/revisions\/7291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/m.randpc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}