RETAINING WALL INSPECTION CYCLE
Owners of properties with a retaining wall that faces a public right-of-way and has any portion of the wall extending ten feet or higher must have their retaining wall inspected every five years by a Qualified Retaining Wall Inspector (QRWI) and a condition assessment report of the inspection must be submitted to the Department by the QRWI within 60 days of completing the inspection.
To be qualified as a QRWI, a licensed structural engineer must apply to the Department’s Retaining Wall Unit. See NYC Construction Codes §28-305.1 and RCNY §103-09 for more information. View the current list of active QRWIs.
Inspection Cycle
The current inspection cycle (Cycle 2) runs from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023.
Staggered Sub-Cycles
Cycles are staggered into five (5) sub-cycles. For retaining walls in the:
| Bronx | January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 |
| Manhattan | January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 |
| Staten Island | January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 |
| Queens | January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 |
| Brooklyn | January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023 |
Retaining Wall Ratings
All retaining walls must be given one of four ratings by the QRWI:
- Safe
- Safe with Minor Repairs or Maintenance
- Safe with Repairs and/or Engineering Monitoring
- Unsafe
Steps for Compliance
- Identify if the retaining wall must be inspected.If you have an entire retaining wall or part of a retaining wall on your property and it is ten feet or higher at any point on your property and faces a public right-of-way, you must have the wall inspected by a QRWI, and an assessment report must be submitted by the QRWI to the Department. Owners that share a retaining wall with one or more neighbors may hire one QRWI to inspect the wall.
- QRWI conducts inspection.The QRWI conducts the inspection of the retaining wall and determines the rating of the wall.
- QRWI submits condition assessment report and filing fees.Within 60 days after completing the assessment the QRWI must submit a report to the Department that meets, at a minimum, the criteria listed in 1 RCNY §103-09. The filing fees are payable by each property owner the report is submitted for, meaning a wall with multiple owners may have one report submitted for all of the owners but the filing fees must be paid by each individual owner.