Boston, MA
City of Boston Facade Inspection Ordinance
Scope/Solutions
The City of Boston requires the inspection of exterior walls and appurtenances of buildings as described in Ordinance 9-9.12 of the City of Boston Municipal Code. SGH performs ordinance-compliant assessments of buildings within the City of Boston.
Ordinance 9-9.12 has the following requirements:
- Scope: all buildings over 70 ft high must be inspected for unsafe condition, movement, significant deterioration, and water tightness (single and multiple family dwellings excluded)
- Frequency: once every five years for occupied buildings and once per year for unoccupied buildings
- Inspector: Massachusetts registered architect or engineer
- Report: written report prepared by the inspector documenting the condition of the exterior walls and filed with the City
- Consequence: owners of occupied structures without an exterior wall certificate are subject to a fine of $300 per day
During these projects, SGH generally performs the following activities:
- Review plans and specifications for general understanding and to help focus survey to problem areas
- Use binoculars to scan walls for large-scale problems
- Conduct a hands-on inspection of representative areas on each face of the facade
- Sound materials to evaluate internal cohesion and pulled on adhered materials to evaluate attachment
- Survey interior areas for signs of water damage and interview maintenance personnel on leakage history
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Project Summary
2007
Completion Date
Solutions
Repair & Rehabilitation
Services
Building Enclosures | Performance & Code Consulting
Markets
Government
Specialized Capabilities
Condition Assessments | Facade Inspection Ordinances
Key team members
Additional Projects
Northeast
Massachusetts State House Time Capsule
As part of an ongoing water-infiltration study, SGH led the consultant team that located and removed the time capsule after DCAMM raised concerns about the integrity of the artifacts.
Northeast
John Adams Courthouse
In 1999, the State started planning a major building renovation and quickly learned that years of leakage had caused extensive damage to decorative plaster and wood finishes throughout the building.