Department of Buildings
Parapet observations
If your building has a parapet facing the street, someone qualified has to look at it every year, and you keep the report.
The clock
When it comes due
- One observation every year since January 1, 2024
- Keep each report at least six years
- Who it applies to
- Buildings with parapets fronting the public right-of-way, any height; not detached one- or two-family homes, or buildings where a fence or barrier blocks access to the wall
- When
- Every year, since January 1, 2024
- Who does it
- A competent person: a bricklayer, superintendent, handyman, mason or similar tradesperson, architect, engineer, or insurance or State-authorized inspector
- What happens next
- The owner keeps the reports at least six years and shows them to DOB on request. Unsafe: the observer notifies DOB (311 and parapets@buildings.nyc.gov), the owner installs public protection and corrects within 90 days
- Legal basis
- NYC Administrative Code 28-301.1.1 and 1 RCNY 103-15
What Stoop does
- A reminder every year before the observation is due
- The observer’s report and photos kept on the record, dated
- If it’s unsafe: the steps to take and the 90-day correction clock
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