What Is Local Law 11 in NYC? (FISP, Plain-English, 2026)

The short answer: Local Law 11 is the NYC law that requires buildings over six stories to have their exterior walls and appurtenances physically inspected every five years by a qualified professional, and to file a report with the Department of Buildings about what was found. It's officially called FISP — Façade Inspection Safety Program. Most owners just call it Local Law 11, or "the LL11 thing."

That's the headline. Now the detail.

01 · WHY IT EXISTSThe 1979 origin story

In May 1979, a freshman at Barnard College named Grace Gold was killed in front of 601 West 115th Street when a piece of facade masonry fell from above. The city responded with what was then called Local Law 10 — the first façade safety inspection law in the United States. Local Law 11 of 1998 expanded coverage and tightened the inspection methodology. The law has been amended several times since (Cycle 9 in 2020, Cycle 10 starting in 2025), but the core obligation has never changed: tall buildings must prove their walls aren't going to fall on anyone.

02 · WHO IT APPLIES TOThe 6-story rule

FISP applies to any building greater than six stories tall, measured from the ground floor up. There are a few nuances:

• If your building is exactly six stories, you're typically not covered (six stories = "not greater than six").
• If your building is six stories with a mezzanine or partial floor that puts it over six, you may be covered. DOB has the final word.
• One- and two-family homes are exempt regardless of height (there are very few of these over six stories).
• Buildings entirely behind unscaffolded perimeter setbacks may have reduced inspection scope.

Most NYC owners can answer "do I have a FISP obligation?" by counting floors from the sidewalk. If the answer is seven or more, yes.

03 · THE CYCLES5-year cycles, 3 sub-cycles

FISP runs on five-year cycles. Cycle 9 ran 2020–2024. Cycle 10 is running now through 2029. Within each cycle, NYC is divided into three sub-cycles — A, B, and C — by community district, so not every building's deadline falls in the same year:

• Sub-cycle A: due Feb 21, 2025
• Sub-cycle B: due Feb 21, 2026
• Sub-cycle C: due Feb 21, 2027

Your sub-cycle is determined by your community district number. You can look it up on the DOB website or just ask any QEWI familiar with FISP — they'll know.

04 · THE THREE RATINGSSafe / SWARMP / Unsafe

The QEWI inspects every façade and certifies the building as one of three ratings:

• Safe — façade is sound. No further action required until the next cycle.
• SWARMP — "Safe With A Repair And Maintenance Program." Façade has issues that need fixing within the next cycle but isn't an immediate hazard. Most older NYC buildings get this rating at least once.
• Unsafe — immediate hazard. Sidewalk shed must be installed within 24 hours of the rating, at owner cost. Repair work follows immediately.

The "Unsafe" rating is what owners fear, and rightly so — sidewalk sheds run $5,000–15,000/month depending on building width, and most repair-driven sheds stay up for 6–18 months while the work is scoped, permitted, contracted, and completed.

05 · WHAT IT COSTSThe honest numbers

FISP costs come in three layers:

• Inspection — the QEWI's fee for the visual + hands-on inspection and the FISP report. Typical range: $3,500–8,000 for a standard mid-rise. More for complex façades or scaffold-required hands-on inspection.
• Hands-on access — for taller buildings, the QEWI may need to rent scaffolding, a swing stage, or a drop scaffold to physically inspect the façade. $10,000–40,000 in scaffolding alone is common.
• Repairs (if any) — only happens if SWARMP or Unsafe rating issues. Highly variable — $20K to $1M+ for a full façade restoration, depending on damage.

The biggest line item over a building's life isn't the inspection — it's the sidewalk shed if the building goes Unsafe. A shed at $8,000/month for 12 months while a contractor is sourced and work is permitted is $96K of pure pass-through expense before any actual repair work begins.

06 · THE PART MOST OWNERS GET WRONGFiling the report

The QEWI inspects, but the owner files the report. The QEWI prepares the FISP report; the owner submits it via DOB NOW Build by the Feb 21 sub-cycle deadline. If the inspection happens in October and the report is ready, but the owner doesn't actually log into DOB NOW and file it, the deadline is still missed and the late penalty starts. $1,000 base + $250/month until filed.

This is the most common LL11 mistake we see: the inspection happens on time, the report is sitting in the QEWI's email or on a property manager's desk, and the actual filing slips because no one's specifically owning that step. By month four, you're at $2,000 in penalties for what was a fully-completed inspection.

07 · BOTTOM LINELL11 in one paragraph

Local Law 11 (FISP) is NYC's mandatory five-year façade safety inspection program for any building over six stories. You hire a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector to physically inspect every façade and produce a report rating the building Safe, SWARMP, or Unsafe. You file that report through DOB NOW by your sub-cycle's Feb 21 deadline. Sub-cycles split the city by community district, so not every building's deadline falls in the same year. Inspection cost is typically $3,500–8,000 + scaffolding access; failure to file accrues $250/month indefinitely. The most expensive thing about LL11 is missing the filing deadline after the inspection is already done.

Going deeper

• LL11 FISP Cycle 10 Owner's Guide — what's different in Cycle 10
• Local Law 11 Contractors in NYC — how to hire a QEWI
• Local Law Tracker — automatic deadline tracking + 60/30/7-day reminders ($59.99/yr add-on)