New York City Local Law 11/98: Consequences of Administrative Regulations on the Conservation of Buildings

In 1979 a piece of terra-cotta fell from a 1912 residential building at 115th street and Broadway in New York City and killed Grace Gold, a student from a local college. The Department of Buildings became increasingly concerned about the general aging of the city building stock and the overall lack of maintenance. A city law (Local Law 10/80) was passed soon after that dramatic event: it imposed a requirement on building owners to file a report on the structural soundness of their building facades every five years. Since then, the law has evolved to become increasingly strict in terms of procedures for the inspections and liability for owners, architects and engineers. Currently about 12,000 buildings are affected by the law. The building facades can be placed in three categories based on the severity of the conditions observed during the examination: Safe, Safe with Repair and Maintenance Program (SWARMP) and Unsafe. Defects in the “unsafe” category are supposed to be repaired within 30 days, unless the Buildings Department grants an extension, which typically requires that temporary pedestrian protection must remain in place until the repair is completed. SWARMP conditions must be repaired within the next five-year cycle. Although it is true that sometimes heavy and useless interventions were carried out in the name of public safety, the continuous monitoring and the subsequent repairs have helped to preserve the integrity of many building facades, including those of landmark buildings. Ultimately it has been positively welcomed also by building owners who, after initially lamenting additional costs for the inspections and mandatory repairs, have seen an advantage in doing minor preventative maintenance as opposed to drastic and expensive once-in-30-years restorations. The paper will present the main provisions and requirements of the law, illustrate its evolution, and discuss the consequences for the physical preservation of facades by showing some case studies.