The questions GCs and owners ask us most, answered plainly, with links straight to the code and the Department so you can check the source yourself.
It is the drawn plan showing how a construction site protects workers, the public, and the buildings next door. Fencing, sidewalk sheds, netting, hoisting and loading zones, egress, fire safety, and the sequencing of major operations.
In New York City it is governed by Chapter 33 of the NYC Building Code, which covers safeguards during construction or demolition.
That depends on the height of the job. At 7 stories or more than 75 feet, the plan has to be filed with the Department of Buildings and approved before work proceeds. Below that threshold, a plan is still required and still has to be on site, but it does not go to DOB for approval.
Note that this threshold has changed. Older guidance, including some still published by other firms, cites a higher figure. If you are working from a number you read a few years ago, check it.
This distinction catches people out in both directions: GCs on small jobs who did not know they needed a plan at all, and GCs on mid-rise jobs who did not know theirs had to clear DOB. Send us the project and we will tell you which side of the line you are on.
Chapter 33 of the NYC Building Code covers safeguards during construction or demolition. It sets the requirements for site safety plans, construction fencing, sidewalk sheds, scaffolding, fall protection, and the protection of adjoining property. Site safety plan requirements sit in BC 3310.
You can read it in full via the link below.
For jobs in DOB NOW, site safety requests are submitted through DOB NOW: Build, from the Job Filings Dashboard under Requests. The plan examiner reviews the site safety criteria first, including height, stories, and footprint, and once that clears, the plans can be submitted.
For older BIS jobs, plans go by email to the Construction Safety Compliance Plan Examination Unit, as a zipped PDF under 15 MB with a digital cover sheet and a specific file naming convention.
Plans can be submitted as a Complete Site Safety Package, covering the project from support of excavation through superstructure, or as a Phased Site Safety Package, which splits the review into four parts.
A CCD1 is how you ask the Department to accept a condition that does not fit the standard rule. Most of what we file are personnel waivers: Site Safety Manager waivers and Construction Superintendent waivers, where two buildings sit on a single construction site and one manager can reasonably cover both rather than staffing each separately.
A determination from the Fire Department that a proposed condition does not obstruct their access or operations. We file them for construction fencing installed in front of a fire hydrant, hoist waivers on buildings that meet the criteria, and temporary standpipe waivers.
The plan has to be prepared by someone qualified to do it, with knowledge of the code, the agency’s expectations, and the specific conditions on your site. A plan that is drawn without anticipating what the examiner will look for is a plan that comes back with objections.
Direct links to the code and the Department, so you can check anything on this page against the original. These are official City of New York resources.
Links go to nyc.gov. The Department updates requirements periodically, so the code is always the authority over anything written here. If you are unsure how a change affects a job you are running, ask us.