NYC Facade Inspections: FISP Cycle 10 Reference

Your deadline depends on your block number

This catches people out. FISP sub-cycles are assigned by the last digit of the tax block number the building sits on, which means two buildings on opposite sides of the same street can have filing windows two years apart.

Look up the block number on the property's tax lot, take the final digit, and read it off the table.

Where the cycle stands right now

Sub-cycle A closes on 21 February 2027. If your block ends in 4, 5, 6 or 9 and nothing has been filed, that is roughly five months to engage a qualified exterior wall inspector, get scaffolding or a drop scheduled, complete the examination and file an acceptable report. Inspectors and rigging get booked up as a window closes.

Sub-cycle B is open now and runs to 21 February 2028. Sub-cycle C does not open until 21 February 2027, but a building in C with an unfiled Cycle 9 report is already accruing penalties, which is a different problem from being early.

Safe, SWARMP, Unsafe

A report returns one of three classifications, and the middle one is where most buildings land. Safe means no repairs needed. SWARMP - Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program - means the facade is currently safe but has conditions that must be repaired before the next cycle. Unsafe means conditions that threaten public safety.

An Unsafe classification starts a 90-day clock: the condition must be corrected within 90 days of the filing, with an amended report filed within two weeks of the repairs being completed. Sidewalk sheds usually go up immediately and stay up until the work is signed off, which is a carrying cost in its own right.

SWARMP is the one owners underestimate. The conditions must be fixed before the next cycle's report, and failing to do so carries its own penalty.

Filing fees

Penalties after the filing window closes

Late filing accrues monthly, so the cost of doing nothing compounds rather than sitting still.

Cycle 10 added an early-filing route out of accruing penalties

This is new and it is worth knowing if you have inherited a building with a compliance gap. An owner whose most recent status is No Report Filed, and who would file as Safe or SWARMP, can now file an initial report before their designated window opens in order to stop penalties accruing.

The mechanism is a Sub Cycle Override in DOB NOW: Safety, which reassigns the building to sub-cycle A for Cycle 10 only. The Cycle 9 status has to be No Report Filed to qualify.

One trap in the process: once the report is found acceptable, the owner has ten business days to pay all related civil penalties. Miss that and the report can be deemed incomplete, with penalties continuing to accumulate as though nothing had been filed.

What this means when you are buying

Facade exposure is one of the largest uncosted liabilities on a pre-war NYC building, and it is entirely knowable before you close. Ask which sub-cycle the building falls in, whether the current cycle's report has been filed, what it returned, and whether any SWARMP conditions from the previous cycle were actually repaired or simply carried forward.

A building with an open Unsafe condition, a shed on the sidewalk and an unfiled report is not the same asset as one with a clean Safe filing, even when the rent roll looks identical. Scaffolding alone can run into six figures annually on a mid-size building.