Ryan Scipione is a climber… yes a mountaineer. He’s also a licensed architect with 20+ years of experience and the senior partner at MJM+A Architects, a venerable architectural firm with studios in Manhattan and Portland, ME. However, when he is “climbing” for the firm, he’s actually riding up on a suspended scaffold inspecting the exterior walls and appurtenances of buildings for material failures. If the building is over six stories, this inspection is mandated by the New York City Buildings Department every five years under the Façade Inspection and Safety Program (FISP, formerly Local Law 11). If less than six stories, there is no city-based-law requirement but there are similar dangers to pedestrians below from unstable facades that are crumbling from age.
Ryan explains, “The number of stories at six is pretty arbitrary to me when it comes to the integrity of a building’s envelope. I understand the DOB had to assign a number—there are so many buildings in NYC—but I see the same issues with townhouses that I see with high-rises. Much of the aging building stock can have significant deterioration which can present hazards to the residents walking the streets. These are not things that the layman can identify readily. Sure, a building owner can see a crack or a dark stain on the surface, but not know how this manifests itself inside either impacting structural integrity or façade component attachment. The vast majority of buildings in New York have traditional masonry building envelopes comprised of natural stone, terracotta, cast stone, brick, etc. These are by far the biggest culprits with building façade issues because the materials are inherently porous to a degree and so they absorb water and thus the damage over time occurs. Conversely metal, glass and composite material sheds water and mitigates those issues, which is why when we are recladding a building, we recommend the extra investment for these materials to avoid damage and in most instances to make a better and more modern presentation, which can positively affect rent rates.”
Insurance companies come into play with buildings of all sizes in that when they insure a building for the structure as a potential liability, they also look at other factors. Façade inspection is part of the overall criteria that could include safety locks on windows, housekeeping, charged fire extinguishers, etc. However, make no mistake, facades are one of the more critical aspects because of the damage it can do. As such, licensed architects like Ryan—a specialist in exterior envelopes--as well as engineers are hired by owners and carriers to make sure they are limiting their risk, which can be considerable.
The Hints to Look For
“There are the obvious visual cues like cracks. I see a crack that is not supposed to be there, or a broken corner of a stone façade and I have to ask the ‘why’ questions. Like was it broken because a scaffold or ladder smashed against it? And why is this stone cracking? If I can identify the source and it is not a structural problem, that’s one thing, but if it is the structure or substructure, the question is, how deep does the issue penetrate? Many times the go-to excuse for cracks is that the foundation is settling, but in reality, in most cases, that is typically not the reason. I have seen instances where an adjacent building was considerably excavated and yes, that can give way for the potential for cracks to appear in adjacent structures. However, the general settlement issue is pretty rare in my experience.”
Obvious Cracks
“Usually cracks and broken stone is due to movement of the façade due to weather-related temperature and moisture changes and a factor of time. Here in the northeast, we experience significant freezes and thaws… pelting rain and snow… even the sun and heat. All of these factors can create even small cracks that allow for moisture to get under the surface, and that’s when the damage begins to occur. These little entry points wreak havoc in the building facades over time, sometimes a short amount of time.”
Ryan cites these cracks and breaks as the more obvious indicators. Yet there are much more subtle clues that problems are either going to occur or are here already. “Any discoloration can be a clue. Staining can be the result of something on the inside like rusted steel framing or embedded rebar issues. These are deep moisture issues that are coming to the surface. And it can be a spectrum of colors from the aforementioned rust colored stain to a white or even fluorescence discoloration that you can see on brick. This is actually salt buildup that is carried to the surface and dries there… again carried initially by moisture.”
Abnormalities in the normal planes of a building is something else that Ryan searches for. These can take the form of slight bulges, which sometimes are very tough to see. In the case of a brick or other similar finished surface masonry building unit that should be attached to the backing structure, the assumption is that any separation is indicative of a compromised sub-surface. Over time the separation becomes greater and greater until there is complete failure of the surface attachment.
Cast Stone Spall Stages
“One failsafe indicator that I look for is deflection of the horizontal elements of any building. For example, looking at the lintel above any opening like a door, a window or even a large storefront, if it's starting to deflect (sag) something's happening in there that's causing whatever structural support is there to become compromised, and usually it’s a moisture issue.”
The Effect of Climate Change
“What exacerbates the situation—and you may see the city building ordinances relating to structural damage change accordingly—is that what used to be ‘Hundred-Year Storms’ are happening pretty frequently now due to the warming of the planet. These storms--sometimes are happening once or twice a year--are definitely accelerating the damage that typically would take much longer to occur. However, that’s our reality now so it’s important to be extra vigilant in our inspections, and to use very experienced individuals to carry out that work.”
A great strategy to follow these days both to catch issues early, and to limit risk is to have a set schedule of inspections that can be as frequent as every Spring, or perhaps every other Spring. Even every two years can be very effective in limiting the problems that may be starting up. Depending on the size of the building it could be a cursory review that the building owners could do themselves, as long as they have a baseline to compare to year-to-year. This DIY looksee would be supplemented occasionally by a more thorough inspection by a licensed architect or engineer. This would probably be a sound way to balance inspection fees and yet get in front of the invariable problems faced by older buildings and their associated snowballing of costs.
Deflecting Lintel Brick Staining
Facing Reality
“We see a balance between owners who are proactive and commit to the type of inspection regimen that prevents big problems and the ones who turn away from the issues. Obviously, the owners of buildings that are over six stories are forced to face reality and to those we actually try to convince them to consider metal cladding as both a preventative and as a design enhancement so that they can move their building to a more competitive market and uptick revenue generated. Some owners understand this and will make the investment for the long term. And the result is that they have much less façade problems moving forward. However, there are owners who either do not have the resources or are unwilling to spend. They will band-aid the problem which will handle it for the short term but not attack the disease itself. Remember the old Castrol oil ‘pay me now or PAY me later’ ad campaign? This is the epitome of that thinking.
Both my partner Michael Macaluso and I are certified exterior wall inspectors with the City of New York—in addition to being licensed architects—so it is important that if you are dealing with FISP reporting or even want that level of certainty, people like us are the pros you want to depend on to look at a building’s skin to determine if there are issues and the extent of those issues.
Yes, the city is aging, but you are also seeing a new vista of gorgeous, modern and sleek buildings. That is the silver lining of crumbling facades. Not so bad, right?”