What a FISP Consultant Actually Does
FISP (the Façade Inspection & Safety Program, formerly Local Law 11) requires every NYC building over six stories to have its façade inspected by a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector every five years, with repairs and filings on a DOB timeline. The inspector writes the report. The contractor does the work. What most owners and boards are missing is someone independent in the middle: reading the report, planning the cycle, pressure-testing the proposals, and holding the work to the scope.
That is the role Panorama Restoration fills. We don't inspect and we don't self-perform repairs, so our advice isn't shaped by winning either contract. We advise, and we work alongside your inspector of record rather than in place of them.
When to Bring Us In
How an Engagement Works
It starts with a conversation and your documents: the QEWI report, any DOB correspondence, and whatever proposals you already have. From there we scope the engagement in writing. Some clients need a single afternoon of proposal review before a board vote. Others retain us for the full cycle, from reading the report through close-out. Both are billed transparently: hourly advisory, or a monthly retainer for ongoing owner's representation.
Why Independent Matters
Almost every opinion an owner hears during a FISP cycle comes from someone with a stake in the outcome. The contractor's proposal defines the scope they want to build. An inspection-only firm has no view into constructability or cost. Panorama Restoration's founder holds a NYC DOB Special Rigger License (#7735), an industrial engineering degree, and years of NYC façade project delivery, and has no crew to keep busy. You get the read of someone who has been on the scaffold, without the conflict.
Who We Work With
Co-op and condo boards, property managers, building owners, and the architects and engineers who advise them, across all five boroughs of New York City.