The QEWI critical examination and DOB NOW report required for every NYC building taller than six stories, every five years.
The Facade Inspection Safety Program, still widely known by its original name Local Law 11, requires every New York City building taller than six stories to have its exterior walls and appurtenances examined on a five-year cycle by a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector, or QEWI. The examination protects the public from falling masonry, terra cotta, brick, and other facade elements. A report is then filed with the Department of Buildings through the DOB NOW: Safety portal. We coordinate that entire process, from confirming your requirement to reaching an accepted, compliant report.
FISP applies to any building greater than six stories, regardless of its use, in any borough. A building is first required to comply during the first cycle that begins after five years have passed since its certificate of occupancy. If you own or manage a taller building, the obligation is ongoing and runs with the property, which means a new owner inherits any missed filings and the penalties attached to them. Confirming your compliance history before and after a purchase is always worth the few minutes it takes.
Cycle 10 began on February 21, 2025 and runs through 2029. The Department staggers buildings into three sub-cycles based on the last digit of the building’s tax block number, so that inspectors and owners are not all working against the same date:
Not sure which sub-cycle you are in? Use the deadline tool on our home page, or call us with your address and we will confirm your block number and filing window at no charge.
A QEWI must be a New York State licensed professional engineer or registered architect with at least seven years of relevant experience. The examination is hands-on, not a view from the street. The inspector must physically access the facade, within arm’s reach, and cannot rely on binoculars or drone imagery alone to satisfy the code. In Cycle 10 the requirements tightened: a close-up inspection is required at least every sixty feet of the facade, buildings with balconies and railings receive additional scrutiny, and reports must include more detailed photographic documentation and repair timelines. At least one street-facing elevation must be examined hands-on.
The QEWI classifies each elevation, and the building overall, into one of three categories:
All FISP reports are filed electronically through DOB NOW: Safety. Filing late accrues DOB penalties of $1,000 per month, and failing to file at all runs $5,000 per year, on top of any violations issued for the underlying facade conditions. Cycle 10 also introduced an amnesty path: owners whose buildings have a status of No Report Filed may file an early initial report to stop penalties from accumulating, provided pending civil penalties are paid before the report is approved. If your building is behind, this is often the fastest way to stop the bleeding, and we can walk you through it.
The critical examination is a systematic hunt for the conditions that turn a facade into a hazard. On masonry buildings that means cracked, spalling, or displaced brick and stone; bulging or out-of-plumb wall sections that signal a loss of bond; open or eroded mortar joints; and the rusting steel lintels and shelf angles whose expansion cracks the masonry from within. The inspector also examines cornices, copings, and other projecting elements for looseness, water damage, and secure anchorage, and looks closely at balconies, railings, and guards, which drew added scrutiny in Cycle 10. On newer buildings the focus shifts to curtain-wall anchorage, panel joints, and failed sealant. Every condition is photographed and tied to a location on the elevation so the report stands on its own.
No two facade inspections are priced the same, because the work scales with the building. Height and the number of street-facing and non-street-facing elevations, the total facade area, the complexity of the ornament, and how the inspector can physically reach the wall - drop scaffold, boom lift, or existing balconies - all affect the effort involved. A hands-on requirement every sixty feet means taller and wider facades take more access work. We scope each building individually and confirm pricing before anything begins, rather than quoting a number that does not fit your wall.
FISP obligations run with the property. If you buy a building with a missed filing or an open Unsafe condition, that liability becomes yours, penalties included, regardless of what the previous owner did or failed to do. Checking a building's FISP status before you close is cheap insurance, and if you are selling, a clean, current report is one less thing for a buyer to negotiate against. We can pull and review a building's compliance history as part of due diligence.
More than sixteen thousand buildings fall under FISP, served by a limited pool of qualified inspectors. Owners who wait until the last months of their window face a crowded calendar, and if the inspection turns up conditions that need repair, the clock does not stop for the repair work. Booking the critical examination early in your window leaves time to correct SWARMP or Unsafe conditions, avoid rushed pricing, and reach an accepted report without an emergency. We hold your deadline, arrange the QEWI, manage the DOB NOW filing, and provide progress inspections on any required repairs so the whole cycle closes cleanly.
Any NYC building taller than six stories must be inspected every five years by a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector and file a report with the Department of Buildings through DOB NOW: Safety.
Your sub-cycle is set by the last digit of your tax block number. Blocks ending 4, 5, 6, or 9 are 10A; 0, 7, or 8 are 10B; and 1, 2, or 3 are 10C. Call us with your address and we will confirm it.
Late filing accrues DOB penalties of $1,000 per month, and a building with no report filed accrues $5,000 per year, plus any violations for the facade conditions themselves.
Only a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector - a New York State licensed professional engineer or registered architect with at least seven years of relevant experience - may perform the critical examination and file the report.
Send us your address and we will confirm whether FISP applies, which sub-cycle you are in, and when your report is due - at no charge.
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