Ask Habitat: When Does Local Law 11 Call a Six-Story Building Seven?

One of the City's best-known building statutes — and yet not always one of the best understood — Local Law 11 began as Local Law 10 of 1980 following the death of a Barnard College student who had been hit by a falling piece of masonry. The law required inspections and written reports by architects or engineers of the front facades of any building over six stories in height. There were a number of categories, of which "unsafe condition" was the most serious.

SWARMP Thing

But when a sidewall of a building on Madison Avenue collapsed in 1997, the city council revisited the issue and passed Local Law 11 in February 1998, which incorporated and expanded the existing law with two major changes: inspections had to include all facade walls (except those within 12 inches of an adjacent building), and the "precautionary" and "ongoing maintenance" categories were eliminated. There are now three categories: "safe," "unsafe" and "safe, with a repair and maintenance program" (SWARMP). In addition, the owner has to sign off on the inspection report along with the signature of the filing engineer or architect. 

The six-story restriction was amended, ever so slightly, as part of what some saw as an incremental expansion of coverage. A story now was defined as any floor level "having at least one-half of its floor-to-ceiling height above the lowest grade level adjacent to any one of its exterior walls...Regardless of building height as indicated on the Certificate of Occupancy, or...building height as measured from the curb level, a critical examination shall be conducted at least once every five years of all parts of, and any appurtenances to, all exterior walls of the building whose height is greater than six stories above the lowest grade level adjacent to such wall."

This text does not appear in the original law itself (see below), and the memorandum or other notice that has been quoted above since at least 2000 does not seem to appear online, but New York City does define "basement" and "cellar" as two different entities, with the former a half-story or more aboveground and the latter the opposite.

Six Plus Half Is Seven

The city, which denies it is sending out violation notices for newly faux six-story buildings, has estimated that 2,000 "new seven-story" buildings have been added to the mix. According to a spokeswoman for the  Department of Buildings, there were 10,000 buildings that were covered under Local Law 10/80; by requiring all four sides and 50-percent-aboveground basement/cellar areas in Local Law 11/98, that number has grown to 12,000. Property owners are responsible for knowing the rules and regulations governing their property. If they have any questions they should call the department. 

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