Is your building covered? Four questions
Work through the four questions below in order. If you reach the end with a street-facing parapet and no exemption, the building is covered regardless of height or age. The home exemption is narrow: a detached three-family house does not fit it, and a detached store or office building is not a home at all.
- Does any part of a wall rise above the roof line? That is a parapet. A pitched roof that ends at a gutter has none, and there is nothing to observe.
- Does the parapet front a street, sidewalk or other public place? If none does, the rule does not reach the building.
- Is the building a detached one- or two-family home? Then it is exempt, even with a flat roof and a parapet.
- Does a fence or other barrier prevent access to the exterior wall? That is the rule's other exemption.
Townhouses and wood-framed parapets
Rows of attached townhouses with flat roofs and a parapet across the front are a familiar sight on the island, and attached homes do not get the detached exemption. Many are wood-framed, with the parapet built as a framed wall, finished in stucco, siding or panels and topped with metal coping.
That construction fails differently from old brick. Water gets in at coping seams, fastener holes and the joint where roofing turns up the parapet, and rot can spread inside the framing while the finish still looks fine. The rule lists rot among the signs of excessive deterioration, so on a framed parapet the observation looks for soft spots, staining, bulging or cracked stucco, and loose coping.
Shopping strips and buildings set back from the street
Many commercial buildings on the island sit behind their own parking lots. Do not assume the setback makes them exempt: neither of the rule's two exemptions, in the list above, turns on distance from the street. Whether a particular parapet fronts a public place depends on the site, so settle the question with a professional and keep the reasoning in your records.
Older storefront buildings that come right up to the sidewalk, often with apartments above, are a clearer case. Their parapets sit directly above people walking past, and they need the annual observation like any other covered building.
What the observation includes
A licensed engineer or architect observes the entire parapet close up, from the roof, the inside face of the parapet or another position with a clear view. The report, with dated photos, reaches you in 3–5 business days. It stays with you rather than going to the DOB: hold on to each year's copy for six years or more in case the DOB asks to see it, and have the year's observation done by December 31.
Pricing follows height: a two-story townhouse or storefront falls in the $300–$600 tier for 1–3 stories, 4–6 stories run $500–$1,200, and 7 or more $1,000–$2,500+. VetraCheck serves all five boroughs, Staten Island included.