QEWI
Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector
A QEWI, or Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector, is the licensed professional who inspects an NYC building's exterior walls under the city's facade safety law (FISP, also called Local Law 11) and files the resulting report with the Department of Buildings. Only a New York registered architect or licensed professional engineer with the required experience can act as one.
What it means in NYC
Any NYC building taller than six stories has to have its facade inspected by a QEWI every five years. The QEWI files a report that grades the exterior SAFE, SWARMP, or UNSAFE, and that grade drives what the owner has to do next.
Their name stays on the filing, and they carry the professional liability for it. One recurring problem: as a cycle deadline gets close, there just aren't enough QEWIs to inspect every building that's due, so owners who wait end up competing for inspection slots.
How DeedGraph uses it
DeedGraph shows the QEWI of record on each building's FISP filing, so you can see who ran the last inspection and when the next one comes due.
Common questions
- Who can be a QEWI?
- A New York State registered architect or licensed professional engineer who meets the Department of Buildings' experience bar for facade work. The owner hires one to do the FISP inspection and file the report.
- Is the QEWI the same as the building owner?
- No. The QEWI is the independent licensed inspector who signs and files the report. The owner pays for the inspection and is responsible for any repairs, but they don't sign off on the facade's safety themselves.