How to Read Your Building's FISP Report: Safe, SWARMP, or Unsafe

Your report has one classification that matters most — here’s how to find it

If you’re a building owner or board member who just received a FISP (Facade Inspection and Safety Program) report from your engineer, the document can run dozens of pages of photographs and technical notes. But the entire filing turns on one word: Safe, SWARMP, or Unsafe. That single classification determines whether you have any obligation at all, a five-year window, or an immediate, 90-day legal deadline.

This guide walks through what each finding means and what NYC DOB requires next. For background on FISP itself — the filing cycle, sub-cycle deadlines, and fees — see our FISP Cycle 10 guide.

Who writes the report, and why it’s legally binding

FISP, created by Local Law 11, requires owners of buildings taller than six stories to have a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector (QEWI) — a New York State licensed Professional Engineer or Registered Architect approved by DOB — examine the exterior walls and appurtenances and file a technical report through DOB NOW: Safety. This is governed by NYC Construction Codes Section 28-302.1 and RCNY 103-04. Once filed, the classification in that report is the official record DOB uses to determine whether your building is in compliance and what deadline applies next.

Safe: no repair obligation, but you still have to file

Safe means the QEWI found no repair or maintenance needed to sustain the facade’s structural integrity, and none is expected to become necessary within the next five years. This is the outcome every owner wants, but it doesn’t remove the filing requirement itself — the report still has to be submitted by your sub-cycle’s deadline (see the FISP Cycle 10 guide for your building’s specific window).

SWARMP: safe today, but a countdown starts

SWARMP — Safe With A Repair and Maintenance Program — means the facade is currently safe, but the QEWI has identified repairs or maintenance that will be needed sometime in the next five years (though not less than one year out) to prevent the condition from deteriorating into an unsafe one.

There’s no immediate public-protection requirement with a SWARMP finding — you don’t have to put up a shed tomorrow. But it is not a finding you can ignore: the repair or maintenance program identified in the report has to be completed before your next FISP filing cycle. If it isn’t, DOB requires that condition to be reported as Unsafe the next time around — which then carries the 90-day correction clock and mandatory public protection described below.

The practical read: a SWARMP finding is the cheapest point at which to act. Waiting until the next cycle turns a maintenance item into a mandatory, shed-and-deadline Unsafe repair.

Unsafe: two things happen immediately

Unsafe means the QEWI found a condition hazardous to people or property. This finding triggers two immediate obligations:

1. Public protection goes up right away — typically a sidewalk shed, construction fence, or netting, installed immediately to protect pedestrians and building occupants from the hazardous condition.
2. The condition must be corrected within 90 days of the report being filed, under 1 RCNY §103-04. If the scope can’t be finished in that time, the QEWI can apply to DOB for an extension. The QEWI files an amended report within two weeks of the repair being completed.

Any SWARMP condition from a prior cycle’s report that was never corrected must now be reported as Unsafe — there’s no way to carry an unaddressed SWARMP finding forward indefinitely.

Note also that as of January 12, 2026, a shed installed for an Unsafe facade condition is subject to Local Law 48 and Local Law 51’s own permit and repair-timeline rules — see our Get Sheds Down guide for the 90-day permit renewals and repair-completion deadlines that now run alongside your FISP 90-day clock.

If an Unsafe condition is an active hazard (masonry already coming loose, a cracked lintel or a leaning parapet), see emergency structural repair and containment for the first-hour steps and what can start before a permit.

What an Unsafe or SWARMP finding costs to ignore

Per NYC DOB’s Facade Fees & Penalties page: late filing of the initial report is $1,000 per month; failing to file at all is $5,000 per year; failing to correct a SWARMP condition carries a $2,000 penalty; and failing to correct an Unsafe condition is penalized per the schedule in 1 RCNY 103-04. None of these are one-time fees you can absorb and move on from — they accrue monthly until the underlying condition is actually fixed and reported.

Reading the report itself, not just the classification

The classification is the headline, but the body of the report is what a restoration contractor actually works from. A typical QEWI report documents each elevation separately, with photographs keyed to specific conditions — spalled concrete, cracked or displaced masonry units, failed sealant joints, corroded lintels and shelf angles, and loose or deteriorated parapet coping. Each documented condition is usually tied to a location (elevation, floor, bay) so that a contractor can scope the repair without re-inspecting the entire building from scratch.

If your report includes recommendations for a repair and maintenance program (the basis for a SWARMP finding), read that section as closely as the classification itself — it’s effectively the scope of work your next contract needs to cover, not a vague suggestion. Vague or missing detail here is worth raising with your QEWI directly before you go out to bid, since a poorly scoped SWARMP program is one of the more common ways owners end up back at Unsafe by the next cycle.

What to do once you have your classification

A Safe report closes the loop until your next filing cycle. A SWARMP or Unsafe finding means the next call is getting the actual restoration work scoped, permitted, and executed — not just filing the report and waiting.

Altius CM has taken buildings through this exact sequence, from an engineer’s initial finding to permitted, completed restoration work. Our 529 West 42nd Street project — a $3M+ FISP 9 facade restoration for The Armory — and 45 Crosby Street, a multi-phase facade and roof deck restoration, both moved from inspection finding to executed repair under active sidewalk shed permits. The repair side is covered on our facade repair and replacement and parapet repair pages. If your FISP report came back SWARMP or Unsafe, talk to us about scope, permitting, and timeline before the clock on your finding starts working against you.

This page cites NYC Department of Buildings’ own classification definitions and fee schedule directly (linked above) and does not restate them from memory. Confirm your building’s specific filing status and repair deadlines against your QEWI’s report and DOB NOW: Safety.