The Spider Woman of Facade Inspections

Sara Tsiropinas is a licensed architect who likes to spend her free time rock climbing. This unlikely pair of interests dovetails beautifully in her day job as head of RAND Engineering & Architecture’s Rope Access Team, five fearless souls who rappel down the sides of buildings inspecting facades, looking for leaks, performing emergency investigations, and getting a close look at such hard-to-reach spots as setbacks and church steeples. 

"People might think I'm crazy for being on the sides of buildings,” Tsiropinas, a project architect at RAND, tells Crain’s. She adds: “But I don't take chances. We triple-check everything, and this is why I have no fear: because I know I'm 100 percent safe."

For many co-op and condo boards, a major expense is the city requirement that the facades of all buildings taller than six stories be inspected every five years, then repaired as necessary – formally known as the Facade Inspection & Safety Program, or Local Law 11. Scaffolds are a ubiquitous – and costly – eyesore on such jobs, blocking views, darkening apartments, and otherwise making life unpleasant for the building’s residents. 

“Rope access can not only be more cost-effective, but it’s also more efficient, and less intrusive and disruptive for residents,” says Jennifer Wu, RAND’s marketing manager. After much resistance, the city agreed to allow rope crews on buildings four years ago. 

Heights don't bother Tsiropinas – surely a good thing since she sometimes works 900 feet above the street. One reason for her confidence is that she handles her own safety equipment – and she’s a Level II Certified Industrial Rope Access Technician, meaning she knows exactly what she’s doing. "When I'm preparing the rope and making anchors," she says, "I feel confidence in every single knot."