Closing of filling Cycle 7 for Local Law 11/98 and look ahead to Cycle 8: What you need to know

On February 20th, the last round of filings were to have been submitted for buildings required to comply with Local Law 11/98, Cycle 7. New York City Local Law 11/98 requires owners of buildings with six or more six stories to have the exterior walls and appurtenances inspected by a licensed professional and submit a technical report classifying observed conditions as Safe, Unsafe or Safe with a Required Maintenance Program (SWARMP). Building owners who receive a report classifying the building as Safe within the meaning of Local Law 11/98 should carefully review the professional's report and comply with any suggestions listed by to maintain the building in a Safe condition. However building owners who receive reports classifying the building as either Unsafe or SWARMP must perform additional measures to ensure complete compliance of Local Law 11/98. Unsafe Condition Building owners who receive an unsafe report are provided an initial period of thirty days to make repairs recommended by the professional. If repairs cannot be performed due to the need to develop repair documents, obtain competitive proposals and/or file and obtain any required permits extensions of time may be granted by the New York City Department of Buildings (NYC DOB) upon receiving reasoning for the delay and documentation that the public and building occupants have either been protected from unsafe conditions or access below and adjacent to unsafe conditions has been restricted. Upon completing all necessary repairs an amended technical report must be issued to the NYC DOB reclassifying the building as either Safe or Safe with a Required Maintenance Program. SWARMP Condition Building owners who receive a report classifying the building as SWARMP must carefully read the report and recommendations provided by the professional to understand what repairs are necessary and when repairs must be completed in order to stay in compliance with Local Law 11/98. Building owners must complete repairs to items listed as SWARMP in the report by the repair date and prior to filing the Cycle 8 report or the items will be reclassified as unsafe during the Cycle 8 period and require repair within thirty days. A subsequent technical report should be filed following completion of repairs to SWARMP items in order to reclassify the building as Safe. Building owners must know that retaining a professional to conduct the inspection and filing the report is only the first step in compliance with Local Law 11/98. For buildings classified as safe this first step may be all that is required besides normal maintenance of the building; however buildings with unsafe or SWARMP classifications will require additional steps to be completed for compliance with this Law. Building owners should consult their professional immediately after receiving the technical report and fully understand what is required of them to ensure the building is maintained in a Safe condition and unnecessary fines are not levied for non-compliance with the law. Look ahead to the next filing Cycle 8 Technical reports for the next filing cycle (Cycle 8) will commence in February 2015 and again as with Cycle 7 be divided into three sub-cycles based on the building's block number. Local Law 11/98 inspections and technical reports must be performed by a licensed professional engineer or registered architect knowledgeable in building façades and performing work in New York. Falcon Engineering can assist building owners and managers by performing required inspections, preparing and filing necessary reports and assisting with developing repair documents for any unsafe of SWARMP items. Anthony Volpe, P.E., is regional vice president for The Falcon Group, New York, N.Y.