Local Law 11 explained: what FISP is and who it actually covers
Local Law 11 is the reason half of New York is under scaffolding. What the Facade Inspection Safety Program requires, which buildings it covers, who can sign it, and what it means for the people who have to do the repairs.
What is Local Law 11 in New York City?
Local Law 11 is the common name for what the Department of Buildings calls FISP — the Facade Inspection Safety Program. It requires the owner of every building taller than six stories to have the exterior walls and their appurtenances inspected by a DOB-approved Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector every five years, and to file the report in DOB NOW: Safety. The report classifies the facade as Safe, SWARMP or Unsafe, and each classification starts a different clock.
What matters on a real job
It is a filing requirement that turns into a construction job
The law asks for an inspection. What it produces is a scope: the QEWI names conditions, and somebody has to price, permit and build the repairs. That second half is where a PM lives, and it is not in the law — it is in what the report says.
Taller than six stories, every five years
That is the whole coverage test. Height, not use, not age. The current cycle, Cycle 10, runs 21 February 2025 to 20 February 2030, and your filing window inside it depends on the last digit of your block number.
The engineer signs it, the contractor pays for it
The QEWI seals the report. But everything the report triggers — sidewalk shed, scaffold permits, protection plans, the repair itself — lands on the owner and the contractor.
Facades are not the only program any more
Since Local Law 126 of 2021 the same building can also owe an annual parapet observation and, if it has a garage, a parking structure condition assessment every six years. Three programs, three calendars, three sets of penalties.
What it costs to get it wrong
$1,000 per month for filing late, $5,000 per year for not filing at all, and $2,000 for not correcting a SWARMP condition by the date you promised.
Source: NYC DOB — FISP Cycle 10 Service Notice, Follow up #1, Facade Compliance and Façade Fees & Penalties (nyc.gov/buildings). Checked 7 Oct 2026.