On the Money: Inspecting Your Building's Facade… with Rope

One Local Law 11 cycle ends and another begins. The first step in any filing is the façade inspection, and then paying for it, of course. Some inspection methods include

1. Using binoculars from ground level
2. Dropping a suspended scaffold utilizing a "C hook" on a parapet wall
3. Dropping a suspended scaffold utilizing outrigger beams and counterbalance weights
4. Using a window washing rig
5. Observing from a boom truck
6. Rappelling

Say what? Rappelling? Like what people do on mountains? Indeed. Relatively new in New York City, this method offers several advantages:

Scaffold drops. If your building is large it probably needs more than one scaffold drop to allow for a proper façade inspection. Rappelling is less expensive.

Time. If your building requires scaffold drops, it takes time and money to rig them and to take them down. Setting up ropes for rappelling is much quicker, and taking them down is a snap.

Intrusiveness. Suspended scaffolds from rooftops or building setbacks can be intrusive for residents, particularly in buildings with glass curtain walls and terraces. Securing access from residents can be difficult. Rappelling avoids those problems.

Who Rappels and How Is It Regulated?

Remember, though: just because an engineer or architect is an avid rock or mountain climber doesn't mean he or she can rappel down the side of a building.

Like most activities in New York City, rappelling inspections are regulated, and the Department of Buildings requires that a CD5 permit be filed for all riggings. For rappelling, the city also determines the type of certification necessary to perform rope inspections, the type of rigging and ropes used, and the people who must be present during the process.

Everyone who does rappelling work must be trained and certified. There is a national certification program that offers three levels of training, with additional hourly requirements to meet each level. Level 3 is the highest level attainable, with only about 250 individuals certified in the United States.

The Quantifying Advantage

The information gathered during a rappelling inspection can help a board more accurately budget for what needs to be repaired. Most Local Law 11 inspections look at only one wall of a building, and then assumptions are made about what the other walls will show. During actual repair work these assumptions may not hold up.

The rappelling inspection, however, allows individuals to inspect the entire surface of a façade - they can take photos of all four walls and detailed notes of their condition. "Quantifying means locating the work and accounting for the amount of repairs needed," says Sara Tsiropinas, project associate at RAND Engineering & Architecture DPC.  "We're getting a hands-on opportunity to inspect the building and predict more accurately what exactly needs to be done and where." For boards that need to budget for their Local Law 11 repairs, rappelling is a new and affordable inspection tool that offers a lot more precision to quantify the required repair work.

Who's Rappelling Now?

There are two companies currently offering rappelling inspection in New York City: RAND Engineering & Architecture DPC and CANY Architecture + Engineering DPC.

Personal Note

I was amazed at how easy it was to move the rope rigging from side to side, and the "up-close" look that Monroe and Tsiropinas were able to get.

I was also very grateful that it wasn't me hanging off that building.