Is Your FISP Engineer Putting Up a Façade?
Photography: Brett Deutsch, www.headshotsnyc.com
During a walk-through of the building with a building’s exterior professional engineer, the construction team pointed out that some of the caulking around the windows was failing or about to fail. It was not named in the initial Façade Inspection Safety Program (FISP) report where the building had received a SWARMP, and this was not a safety hazard to anyone outside.
The building conferred back with the engineer. It turns out he had noticed it too, but decided it wasn’t necessary to replace. The engineer’s opinion was that if the building wanted, they could just patch a few windows. Turns out, the life expectancy of the window caulking was 10 years, and this caulking was already 15 years.
In other words, it needed to be replaced immediately in full. The engineer made a unilateral decision on his own, without communicating this with the stakeholders. In reality, it was more cost effective to caulk all the windows now. The crew and the sidewalk shed were already on site and in place, and it would cause minimal additional inconvenience to the building.
Based on this experience, we asked the board the following questions:
Do you like your engineer?
Do you trust your engineer?
Does he communicate well with you?
Does he meet deadlines and promises?
Does he take a holistic approach to help you do your repair projects in the most effective way?
The board’s answer was no to all.
Your engineer must communicate and present all options and aspects with the stakeholders. If your engineer isn’t thinking strategically and communicating well, it may be time for a change.
Many boards do not have the courage to make a change like this since any change is foreign and out of their comfort zone. They are often told that the building’s engineer “knows the building.” Our opinion is that there are plenty of other architects or engineers who will be more than happy to get to know your building.
Having an engineer or architect is a requirement for all residential buildings over six stories, which every five years need to fulfill The Façade Inspection Safety Program (FISP), formerly known as Local Law 11 (LL11). This program is in place to ensure the safety of the building and those outside of the building. The outer envelope of the building is inspected for safety: cracking brick, loosening mortar joints, unsafe decorative attachments, etc. This is a key component of New York City building compliance and for everyone’s safety.
There are three outcomes from inspections: Safe; SWARMP; or Unsafe. According to the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB):
· Safe: No problems and in good condition (OK)
· Safe With a Repair and Maintenance Program (SWARMP)
· Unsafe: Problems/defects threaten public safety (UN)
Unsafe façades require public protection such as a sidewalk shed (façades designated as SWARMP require repairs within one to five years in order to prevent a potential unsafe condition). The next steps would fall under construction project management and are imperative to bring your building up to code and maintain the safety of the surrounding are.
This engineer had worked with the building for decades. The previous board had an arms-length relationship with him and of the opinion that “They are the experts and we do what they tell us to do.”
The current board is a very active board who run their building like a business. Needless to say, they have since replaced their exterior professional engineer.
At The Folson Group, our goal is to inspire you to run your building like a business. We enable and inspire co-op or condo board engagements to be filled with a feeling of accomplishment, excitement, meaning, happiness, and increased probability of success.
Read more about our Construction Project Management services, and email us at info@thefolsongroup.com or call (917) 648-8154.