SWARMP & FISP Cycle 10: NYC Local Law 11 Facade Status, Deadlines & Fines

A plain-English guide to what SWARMP means, how FISP / Local Law 11 facade cycles work, the Cycle 10 deadlines, and how to see every SWARMP and UNSAFE building in your borough.

What is SWARMP?

SWARMP stands for Safe With a Repair or Engineering Monitoring Program. It is one of the three classifications a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector (QEWI) can assign to a building's facade under New York City's Facade Inspection Safety Program (FISP), enacted as Local Law 11 (originally Local Law 10 of 1980).

A SWARMP facade is not an immediate danger today, but it has deteriorated conditions — cracked masonry, spalling, loose terra cotta, failing lintels — that must be repaired before the end of the current inspection cycle. If a SWARMP condition is not fixed in time, it becomes UNSAFE at the next filing, which triggers mandatory sidewalk sheds, expedited repairs, and escalating penalties.

SWARMP vs UNSAFE vs Safe

Status	What it means	Obligation
Safe	No significant defects.	Re-inspect next cycle.
SWARMP	Defects that are not yet hazardous but will worsen.	Repair before the next cycle or it becomes Unsafe.
UNSAFE	Conditions that threaten public safety now.	Immediate protection (sidewalk shed), repair within strict deadlines, ECB exposure.

FISP Cycle 10 deadlines

FISP Cycle 10 is the current round of Local Law 11 inspections. Every building over six stories must have its exterior walls inspected by a QEWI, who files a Technical Facade Report classifying the facade. Filings run on a staggered sub-cycle schedule (10A, 10B, …) based on the last digit of the block, so different buildings have different deadlines across the cycle window.

Missing a filing window, or leaving a SWARMP condition unrepaired into the next cycle, is what converts a manageable repair into an UNSAFE designation with fines and a sidewalk shed clock.

What it costs to ignore it

The NYC Department of Buildings refers FISP non-compliance to the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH/ECB). Typical exposure:

• Failure to file: $1,000/month civil penalty, plus a $5,000 violation.
• Unsafe not corrected / failure to maintain: penalties commonly $5,000–$25,000.
• Plus the cost of the facade repair itself — often tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per building.

See every SWARMP & UNSAFE building in your borough

NYC Data Co maintains the live, scored feed of every building filed SWARMP or UNSAFE under FISP / Local Law 11 — cross-referenced to the owner, managing agent, filing engineer, ECB fine exposure, and repair deadline. It is sold one contractor per borough, so your competition is locked out of the same leads.

Manhattan feed → Brooklyn feed → Queens feed → Bronx feed → Staten Island feed →

Frequently asked

What does SWARMP mean on a NYC facade?

Safe With a Repair or Engineering Monitoring Program — a facade with defects that must be repaired before the next FISP cycle or it becomes UNSAFE.

What is FISP Cycle 10?

The current round of Local Law 11 facade inspections for buildings over six stories, filed by a QEWI on a staggered sub-cycle schedule.

What are the fines?

ECB penalties commonly run $5,000–$25,000, plus $1,000/month for failure to file, plus the repair cost.