New York City Local Law 11 Inspections

Local Law 11 of 1998 was passed by the City CouncilLocal Law 11 Inspections are done to assess the
of New York as a response to the highly publicizedsoundness of all facades of buildings except those
exterior wall failures that took place in the city inwhich are less than 12 inches from an adjacent
1997 and 1998.building. All building that have six stories or more are
Before the Local Law 11 Inspections, New York Citysubject to this inspection, even if only a portion of
was under Local Law 10 of 1980. This particular lawthe building is more than six stories tall.
was enacted after a pedestrian was killed when aAccording to the law, a licensed engineer or architect
piece of masonry fell from the façade of a buildingmust inspect the building’s façade using
on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. An NYCbinoculars and at least a scaffold drop on a street
building code was amended by the City council infaçade. This drop should be from the base of the
order to minimize the chances of such accidents frombuilding to the top.
happening again. Under the law, buildings with at leastThe reports for Local Law 11 Inspections are to be
six stories above the basement were subjected tofiled with the City once every five-year cycle.
periodic inspection by licensed professional engineers.The cost for this inspection differs from each firm of
Despite the mandate of Local Law 10, manyengineers, architects and service providers. It also
accidents and exterior wall failures still occurred in thedepends on the type of rig used. If the demands for
city. These events lead to the passing of Local Lawrigs, sidewalk sheds and labor increase, the cost
11 Inspections in March 1998.would most probably be high has well.