Enclosed balconies must be properly secured as part of the Facade Inspection Safety Program, but do not need to be permitted.
Last fall, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) issued a notice requiring documentation of the permitting status of balcony and greenhouse enclosures as part of the city's Facade Inspection Safety Program (FISP), with owners of unpermitted enclosures being given until the 9th Cycle filing deadline to legalize the installations. The notice caused great concern for Owners of buildings with enclosures, due to the difficulty in many cases of legalizing existing enclosures without exceeding the allowable Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of the building.
However, building owners can now breathe a sigh of relief. RAND has recently received confirmation from the DOB that verification of the legal status of enclosures is no longer required as part of the FISP filing. It should be noted that enclosures must still be inspected for structural stability and cited to be stable and secure to achieve a Safe or SWARMP filing status.
FISP SUB-CYCLE 8C FILING DEADLINE
As a reminder, owners of buildings in Sub-Cycle 8C (block numbers ending in 1, 2, or 3) must have their buildings inspected and their 8th Cycle facade inspection reports filed with the DOB by February 21, 2019 to avoid $250/month and $1,000/year penalties.The 9th Cycle of inspections begins with Sub-Cycle 9A (block numbers ending in 4, 5, 6, or 9) on February 21, 2020.
REQUEST A FISP PROPOSAL
If you any questions or would like a proposal for RAND to conduct an 8th Cycle facade inspection for your building and/or to design and administer 7th or 8th Cycle FISP repairs, please contact us at 212-675-8844 or FISP@nullrandpc.com.
For more regarding this update, see the article in Habitat magazine.
