SST cards (Local Law 196) for facade crews: who needs which card, and the Redcode deadline
On a site that must have a Construction Superintendent, Site Safety Coordinator or Site Safety Manager, every worker needs a 40-hour SST card and every supervisor a 62-hour one, checked in DOB’s Training Connect app before entry. The card options since Local Law 10 of 2026, renewals, what the permit holder risks, and the Redcode cards that must be replaced by December 7, 2026.
Last checked: Oct 23, 2026
Key facts
- Where sites that require a site safety professional (CS, SSC, SSM, CSM or competent person) — check DOB’s Site Safety Construction Map
- Cards workers 40 hours, supervisors 62 hours; valid five years; temporary card six months
- At the gate every card validated in DOB’s Training Connect app before the worker enters
- Penalties up to $5,000 per untrained worker to owner, permit holder and employer; $2,500 to a permit holder with no training log
- Redcode certificates invalidated; retrain and replace cards by Monday, December 7, 2026
Who needs an SST card on a NYC job site?
Under Local Law 196 of 2017, the construction workers on any site that requires a site safety professional — a Construction Superintendent, Site Safety Coordinator, Site Safety Manager, Concrete Safety Manager or competent person — need a Site Safety Training (SST) card showing at least 40 hours of training, and supervisors need a Supervisor SST card showing 62 hours. Cards are valid for five years. Each card must be validated in DOB’s Training Connect app before the worker is allowed onto the site. DOB does not fine workers: untrained workers cost up to $5,000 each, charged to the site owner, the permit holder and the employer, and a permit holder with no log showing that everyone is trained faces $2,500. Workers whose training came from Redcode Inc. have until Monday, December 7, 2026 to replace it.
Key considerations
Which sites
The card is required where the job needs a site safety professional; DOB’s Site Safety Construction Map shows, by address, whether a site has the requirement. Company size does not matter, and neither does being a subcontractor. Sites with only minor alterations, or a new one-, two- or three-family home, generally do not require the cards. On facade work, the BC 3310 threshold decides when site safety staff are required — see TPP or OPP.
Who on the crew
Construction and demolition workers, journeypersons, forepersons, employees of DOB licensees and registrants, and the site safety professionals themselves. Project managers, engineers and architects, owners, developers, flaggers, delivery people, special inspectors, consultants and general contractors not actively working on the site do not need one — unless they are the designated site safety professional, who always needs the Supervisor card. A DOB licensee does not need a card, but the employees working under the licensee’s direct supervision do.
Getting a card
A worker card takes 40 hours, by one of two paths: 30-Hour OSHA or 40-Hour Site Safety, plus 8-Hour Fall Prevention and 2-Hour Mental Health Awareness; or 10-Hour OSHA plus fall prevention, site safety, the 4-Hour Supported Scaffold User course, mental health awareness and electives. A worker with 10- or 30-Hour OSHA in the past five years can get a temporary card, valid six months, while finishing the rest. The Supervisor card takes 62 hours, and a competent person under BC 3301.13.12 needs one. Courses come from DOB-registered course providers; the City’s Department of Small Business Services offers free SST training and cards (nyc.gov/SST).
Local Law 10 of 2026
Since May 3, 2026, SST training has to cover mental health and wellness, suicide risk and prevention, and alcohol and substance misuse. From August 1, 2026, the 2-Hour Drug and Alcohol Awareness course may no longer be delivered; the 2-Hour Mental Health Awareness course replaces it, in new cards and in some renewal options.
Renewals
A worker card is renewed with 8 hours: 4-Hour Fall Prevention plus either the 4-Hour Supported Scaffold User and Refresher course, or 2-Hour Mental Health Awareness with the 2-Hour Tool Box Talks or Pre-Task Meeting course. A Supervisor card takes 16 hours, by one of three options. A card that expired on or after May 3, 2026 can be renewed for up to a year after it expired, but it cannot be used on a site until it is renewed; after that year, the worker needs a new card.
Checking cards at the gate
Permit applicants certify to DOB that the workers under the permit will have the training, and every card presented on site must be validated in the Training Connect app (formerly the SST Validator app) before the worker is let in. The permit holder keeps a log showing that all workers on the site are trained. The penalties: up to $5,000 per untrained worker, to the site owner, the permit holder and the employer — reduced if the employer sponsors the worker’s training — and $2,500 to a permit holder without the log, with unannounced follow-up inspections. Unmet Local Law 196 requirements are also among the conditions for a full Stop Work Order.
Redcode: replace by December 7, 2026
After the Brooklyn District Attorney announced on September 8, 2026 that Redcode Inc. had been indicted for fraudulently issuing SST cards, DOB invalidated every SST certificate Redcode issued. Affected workers have a 90-day grace period, through Monday, December 7, 2026, to retake the training with a DOB-registered course provider, and their cards stay active when scanned until then. DOB also no longer accepts OSHA cards from Redcode’s owner as instructor; that OSHA training must be retaken with a current OSHA training provider. A card from another provider built on Redcode certificates stays active after December 7 only if the worker finishes the training in time; otherwise it is revoked. Workers holding Redcode SST cards need a new card from a DOB-registered provider by December 7.
Checklist: SST on a facade job
- Check the job address on DOB’s Site Safety Construction Map.
- Before mobilizing, collect every worker’s SST card (or temporary card) and every supervisor’s Supervisor card, with expiration dates.
- Validate each card in the Training Connect app before the worker enters the site.
- Keep the permit holder’s log showing that every worker on site is trained.
- Flag any card or OSHA training from Redcode Inc.: new training and a new card by December 7, 2026.
- Track expirations: an expired card cannot be used on site until it is renewed.
- Send untrained workers to a DOB-registered course provider or the City’s free SST program.
Sources
- NYC DOB, SST card information (Local Law 196, card options, renewals, Local Law 10 of 2026, Redcode)
- NYC DOB, SST frequently asked questions (who needs a card, Training Connect, penalties)
- NYC DOB Service Notice, “Follow-up – Local Law 10 of 2026: 2-Hour Mental Health Awareness Course Added to SST Renewal Options” (July 21, 2026)
- NYC DOB, Guide: Stop Work Order (SWO) issuance — when full and partial orders may be issued
Checked against the official text on October 23, 2026.
Related guides
- TPP or OPP: Tenant and Occupant Protection Plans in NYCA TPP covers occupied dwelling units and is filed with DOB; an OPP covers occupied non-residential space and is kept on site. When the TPP is filed, mixed-use buildings, and the BC 3310 site safety threshold for facade work.
- Stop Work Orders in NYC: full or partial, and how to get one liftedA full order stops all work except what makes the site safe; a partial one stops part of it. Working against an order costs $6,000, then $12,000 each time. The steps DOB lists to lift it, and the conditions that most often cause one.
- Supported scaffold permits in NYC: the 40 ft thresholdA supported (pipe or frame) scaffold requires a permit at 40 ft or taller. Below 40 ft it generally does not — if it also meets all six conditions of the BC 3314.2 exemption.