For Immediate Release: May 30, 2024
CONTACT: dobcommunications@buildings.nyc.gov, (212) 393-2126

DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS LAUNCHES STUDY TO REEVALUATE FAÇADE INSPECTION REGULATIONS IN NEW YORK CITY

Comprehensive Review of “Local Law 11” the Latest Step to Implement City’s Multifaceted “Get Sheds Down” Plan

New York, NY – New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) Commissioner Jimmy Oddo today announced that a comprehensive review of the city’s Façade Inspection & Safety Program, colloquially known as “Local Law 11” inspections, is underway and will provide an evidence-based engineering report as the city considers potential changes to these building safety regulations. Thornton Tomasetti, an international engineering consulting firm headquartered in New York City, will conduct this study as an official city consultant. They will conduct this review of the current mandatory façade inspection regimen for buildings over six stories tall, and provide recommendations for potential legislative changes to these regulations.

Local Law 11 has long been a critical tool used to encourage compliance from properties that have fallen into disrepair and keep New Yorkers safe from hazardous building facades. When hazardous façade conditions caused by the property owners’ failure to maintain their property are found during these inspections, sidewalk sheds and other forms of pedestrian protection are installed, taking up valuable public space on our city sidewalks, until repairs can be made. This new study is a major component of the city’s “Get Sheds Down” plan announced in July 2023, and recommendations that arise from the study will consider ways in which regulatory changes could potentially reduce sidewalk sheds in our city that are not helping to protect the public.

“Our mandatory façade inspection program has helped identify thousands of hazardous building conditions over the years, and has served as a model for other cities across the country,“ said Commissioner Oddo. “This new scientific study will help us as we look to further refine these important regulations, so that they continue to keep New Yorkers safe, while ensuring that sidewalk sheds are only up when they are truly needed. Thornton Tomasetti is a respected leader in the field of building engineering safety, and when this study is completed we will make it available to the public, so that it can serve as a blueprint for the administration and the city council as we work collaboratively on needed reforms.”

“New York’s streetscape is its most precious commodity; our sidewalks and storefronts are where the spirit of our city lives. We’ve shrouded that spirit in uninspiring green plywood for too long,” said Ya-Ting Liu, the City’s Chief Public Realm Officer. “This is a crucial step towards the answer we all crave: how we bust ugly sheds at last while keeping public safety at the very top of our priority list. Thank you to DOB and Thornton Tomasetti for the careful work so we can #Getshedsdown!”

“By aligning Local Law 11 with the Mayor’s Get Sheds Down initiative, the collaboration of Thornton Tomasetti, T2D2 and the Department of Buildings aims to enhance façade safety while promoting a more sustainable and resilient urban landscape,” said Gary Mancini, Managing Principal of Thornton Tomasetti. “We are honored to be part of this important effort and will leverage our expertise to support Commissioner Oddo and the City’s vision for a safer, more vibrant New York.”

New York City’s façade inspection requirements for buildings over six stories tall were first created as a result Local Law 10 of 1980, passed by the City Council following the tragic death of a Barnard College student who was killed by a piece of falling terracotta. These regulations require building owners to contract private façade inspectors to inspect the exterior walls and appurtenances of their buildings once every five years. The resulting façade inspections reports are filed with the city for review. Unsafe conditions found during these inspections conducted by the private façade inspector require the building owner to take immediate action to protect the public, which in most cases results in a sidewalk shed being erected to protect pedestrians from the potential hazard of falling debris. These façade inspection requirements were expanded through Local Law 11 of 1998, which codified many of the regulations still in place today. Rule changes for Local Law 11 were enacted by the city in 2020, to further strengthen façade inspection requirements, including among other changes requiring more up-close, hands-on observations for inspections, and enhancing experience requirements for the private façade inspectors.

As part of the study announced today, Thornton Tomasetti and T2D2 will:

• Use artificial intelligence to help comb through decades of DOB’s façade inspection reports and building incident data to find commonalities, helping to pinpoint situations when building façade failures are most likely to occur.
• Conduct a comprehensive literature review on building materials testing and construction practices to determine whether all buildings should be compelled to comply with one-size fits all requirements, or whether different requirements are more appropriate.
• Conduct extensive outreach to other municipalities, industry groups, material fabricators, and universities around the country to account for best practices currently utilized outside of New York City, as well as speak directly to the engineering and architectural community here in New York City to draw from their experience as well.

Recommendations in the study report could include potential changes to the specific requirements for these mandatory façade inspections.

This study of Local Law 11 was first proposed as part of the city’s “Get Sheds Down” plan, which is a wide-ranging series of nine initiatives aimed at improving the public realm. The plan focuses on compelling building owners to make needed repairs quickly so that unsightly sidewalk sheds do not languish in place for years, reducing the number of unnecessary long-standing sidewalk sheds in our City, and improving the design of necessary sheds so that they’re no longer seen as a blight to the community. As part of the multifaceted plan, the Department has already contracted design firms to reimagine pedestrian safety infrastructure expected to be delivered in 2025, released technical guidance to help the industry understand rules and processes regarding the use of safety netting in place of sidewalk sheds, worked with our partners at the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs to launch a permanent program allowing art on sidewalk sheds, implemented new Code requirements for mesh parapets on new sidewalk sheds, stepped up criminal court cases against the worst offenders who refuse to make needed building repairs, and increased department oversight over expired sidewalk shed permits.

Additional facets of the plan that have not yet been implemented, including enhanced enforcement tools to compel owners to get their sheds down on a faster timeline, require action from the City Council. DOB is currently working with the Council on new legislation to allow for a wider variety of colors for sidewalk sheds, increase lighting requirements for sheds, reduce the duration of sidewalk shed permits, and introduce new penalties if building repairs are not performed in a timely manner.