What is Local Law 11 — and Does It Affect Your Brooklyn Building?

Local Law 11 — now codified as the Façade Inspection & Safety Program (FISP) — requires every Brooklyn building 6 stories or taller to be inspected and repaired on a recurring five-year cycle. Here's what that means for you.

Does it apply to your Brooklyn building?

If your building is 6 stories or taller, yes. That includes most pre-war apartment buildings, all mid-rise condos and co-ops, and many post-war commercial buildings. Single-family brownstones and 3-family rowhouses are exempt — but a typical 6-story Park Slope co-op is fully in scope.

The three FISP classifications

Your QEWI inspector files one of three classifications: Safe (no action), SWARMP (Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program — fix before the next cycle), or Unsafe (immediate sidewalk shed, 90-day repair). Deteriorated mortar is the single most common Unsafe and SWARMP finding.

What triggers brick pointing

Brick pointing is triggered most often by: open or deteriorated mortar joints on upper-story facades, parapet wall deterioration, loose cornice anchors, and spalled brick at lintels. Each of these is a documented repair line on a FISP report — and each is exactly what we do.

Cycle 9 deadlines

FISP Cycle 9 ran 2020–2024. Cycle 10 is now active. If your building filed an SWARMP in Cycle 9, the repair must be complete and re-filed before your next sub-cycle date — typically a 2- to 5-year window depending on your filing block.