A Special Inspections Primer
What are Special Inspections?
Special Inspections were formerly known as Controlled Inspections and have been required in New York City since the 2008 Building Code updates. According to the New York City Building Code, Chater 17, Section 1702.1: Special inspections are ‘inspection of selected materials, equipment, installation, fabrication, erection or placement of components and connections, to ensure compliance with approved construction documents and referenced standards as required by this chapter or elsewhere in this code or its referenced standards’. Special Inspections exist to make construction safer for the future tenants of the space, and to ensure compliance with the design and local codes. Special inspections must be performed by qualified Special Inspectors who work for a registered Special Inspection Agency (SIA).
What are Special Inspection Agencies?
The Department of Buildings (DOB) describes a Special Inspection Agency (SIA) as an organization registered with the Department of Buildings that conducts Special Inspections. A Special Inspection Agency must have at least one full-time Primary Director and up to four full-time Technical Directors, who are all Registered Design Professionals (either a Professional Engineer or a Registered Architect). They must have relevant industry experience in inspections and testing and be managers in the Special Inspection Agency.
When applying for a Special Inspection Agency license, the agency must register for all special inspection categories that they will be conducting inspections for, and for their Class of inspections. For a description of the different special inspection classes and their restrictions, see the EPIC Knows article found here.
When are Special Inspections required?
Most projects in New York City require Special Inspections except where exempt by the NYC Building Code, Section 1704.1:
• Special inspections are not required for building components unless the design involves the practice of professional engineering or architecture as defined by the Education Law of the State of New York and applicable regulations governing the professional registration and certification of engineers or architects.
Since the Special Inspector is not on site every day, it is the contractor or permit holder’s responsibility to schedule inspections. Section 1704.1.1.3.3 required that “The holder of a permit covering work requiring a special inspection shall notify the relevant special inspectors or special inspection agencies in writing at least 72 hours before the commencement of any work requiring special inspection.” Additionally, the permit holder must provide the Special Inspector with the most current approved construction documents with which to conduct these inspections.
How are Inspections Conducted?
Most inspections are visual, meaning that the components shown on the plans need to be visually inspected for conformance with the plans and to ensure that the installation is in conformance with the code. There is also required testing for certain inspection types. The requirements of these tests are described in the code. Many of the testing requirements can be found in Chapter 17 of the NYC Building Code. Some inspections require invasive or destructive tests to confirm code and design conformance.
• An example of a visual inspection of fire resistance rated construction would require that the materials/components/layers of the construction match the details for that construction, often found on the architectural plans.
• An example of testing that is required would be a 200-psi hydrostatic pressure test of a new sprinkler system.
• An example of an invasive testing inspection of fireproofing would require the use of a thickness measurement device to ensure compliance with code requirements.
What Types of Special Inspections Exist in New York City?
Special Inspections cover construction items from structure, to HVAC systems, to sprinkler/standpipe systems, to fire-resistant construction, and beyond. The Department of Buildings organizes inspections into various Technical Report (TR) sections. Most Special Inspections can be found on the TR1 and TR8 forms. Some of the most common inspection types that EPIC inspects include:
• Structural Steel – Details
• Structural Steel – High Strength Bolting
• Structural Steel – Welding
• Structural Cold-Formed Steel
• Mechanical Systems
• Sprinkler Systems
• Standpipe Systems
• Post-Installed Anchors
• Fire-resistant Penetrations and Joints
• Energy Code Compliance (TR8)
• Final
The full list of Special Inspections, updated to reflect the 2022 NYC code changes, can be found here.
