Special Inspection Agencies
Special Inspections are required by Chapter 17 of the NYC Building code. They are specific activities and oversight processes performed by a 3rd Party Special Inspection Agency (SIA) to ensure a contractor has constructed specific portions of the approved set of drawings, to what was designed by the applicant of record. Special Inspectors directly observe the construction process periodically and verify the compliance of materials and construction methods submitted by the contractor. The inspector’s periodic observations and submittal review is documented within one or more Inspection Compliance Reports which ultimately serves as the official legal record of sign off.
Special Inspectors typically provide the contractors with an outline of inspections and associated milestones of the construction project. The milestones help to indicate the point at which each inspection should take place. The outline may also include specific documents to be provided to the SIA for review prior to their inspections. Required documents may include: approved construction documents, shop drawings and as-builts. These documents serve as a source of verification that what was specified and approved by the registered professional was installed in the field. Receiving these documents early on in the construction process will provide sufficient time for the special inspector to request clarifications or additional information to help ensure the inspection process runs smoothly and without delays.
The contractor should actively engage the SIA and provide updates of the construction progress and work with the special inspector to schedule the inspections in a timely fashion. Installation of items such as sprinkler piping, mechanical equipment, ductwork, firestopping, and other items that are intended to be concealed, should be completely visible during each associated inspection. Coordination between the contractor and the special inspector are critical. Better coordination will aid in early identification of issues which will help keep the project timeline on track and mitigate erroneous costs.
The SIA is tasked to visually verify that the as-built site conditions align with what is represented on the construction documents. Upon completion of the project; and once all outstanding issues and comments have been addressed; the SIA and expeditor will coordinate the creation and completion of the sign off forms. This will signify that the finished project is code compliant and meets all the requisite criteria for special inspections.
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