A NYC site safety plan is a set of sealed drawings, prepared by a licensed Professional Engineer or Registered Architect, that maps every safety element on a construction site and must be approved by the Department of Buildings before permits issue. It is required for any project classified as a “major building” under the NYC Building Code: seven or more stories, 75 feet or taller, or a footprint of 100,000 square feet or more.1NYC Department of Buildings. Buildings Bulletin 2026-006 The plan is filed through DOB NOW: Build, and no work can begin on site until it clears review.
Which Projects Trigger the Requirement
The major building threshold is the starting point. Any existing or proposed structure that is seven or more stories, at least 75 feet in height, or has a footprint of 100,000 square feet or more (regardless of height) needs a plan. The Commissioner can also designate a building as major because of unique construction or demolition hazards.1NYC Department of Buildings. Buildings Bulletin 2026-006
Full or partial demolition of a major building carries the same requirement.2NYC Department of Buildings. NYC Building Code Chapter 33 A vertical or horizontal enlargement that pushes an existing structure past the thresholds triggers it too. Façade work on a major building also requires a plan when the building exceeds 14 stories or 200 feet and the work involves a sidewalk shed.1NYC Department of Buildings. Buildings Bulletin 2026-006
Verify the building’s dimensions early. Misjudging height or footprint does not excuse compliance, and finding out during permit review that the project qualifies as a major building means going back to hire a design professional and start the plan from scratch.
What the Plan Must Show
The plan is not a written narrative. It is a set of sealed drawings prepared by a Registered Design Professional, either a licensed Professional Engineer or Registered Architect, showing every safety element mapped to the physical site.3NYC Buildings. Project Requirements Design Professional The drawings must meet NYC Building Code Section 3310 and the associated DOB rules.4NYC Department of Buildings. 1 RCNY 3310-01 Site Safety
At a minimum, the drawings need to show:
- Sidewalk shed locations and dimensions
- Construction fences and all access gates around the perimeter
- Scaffolding type, location, and height
- Crane and derrick positions, plotted to avoid conflicts with public infrastructure
- Emergency evacuation routes for workers during each construction phase
- Adjacent buildings and their relationship to the work zone
- Public utility locations, including water mains, gas lines, and electrical conduits
Every gate, fence segment, and piece of protective equipment must be individually labeled so a field inspector can walk the site with the approved plan in hand and confirm what was built matches what was approved.4NYC Department of Buildings. 1 RCNY 3310-01 Site Safety Most objections during review trace back to vague or incomplete drawings that leave equipment placement ambiguous.
How to File the Plan
Preparation starts with pulling the property’s borough, block, and lot (BBL) numbers from city tax records. Those identifiers link the plan to the right parcel in DOB’s databases. Site surveys and architectural drawings establish existing conditions, and the Registered Design Professional uses them to plot the safety layout and apply their seal.
Submitting Through DOB NOW: Build
All submissions go through the DOB NOW: Build portal. From the Job Filings Dashboard, click +Requests, select Site Safety, and then choose either Site Safety Plans or Site Safety Waiver. A plan can be submitted before the underlying job filing is fully approved. Once the job is submitted, a plan examiner reviews the site safety criteria (building height, stories, footprint, and other factors for alterations or demolitions). A banner and email will confirm when those criteria have been approved and plans can be filed.5NYC Buildings. Site Safety Plan Submissions
The initial filing fee is $610. Amended filings cost $545, and the fee must be paid before the submission can go through.6NYC Department of Buildings. Service Notice – New Fees for Site Safety Plan Review Older jobs filed through BIS rather than DOB NOW are submitted by email to the Construction Safety Compliance (CSC) Plan Examination Unit with a cover sheet and supporting documents.5NYC Buildings. Site Safety Plan Submissions
Review and Objections
After submission, the CSC Plan Examination Unit reviews the documents. Examiners may issue objections when drawings are incomplete, safety elements are missing, or the plan does not conform to current code. Each objection has to be addressed and the corrected drawings resubmitted through the same portal. Approval is a prerequisite to work permits. Nothing starts on site until the plan clears.
Who Needs to Be on Site
Every project subject to a site safety plan must have a designated primary Site Safety Manager. The owner, construction manager, or general contractor designates that person, who has to hold a DOB-issued Site Safety Manager certification.2NYC Department of Buildings. NYC Building Code Chapter 33 When more than one manager is on site, all parties must agree on who holds the primary role.
Smaller major buildings can use a less expensive alternative. A Site Safety Coordinator may be designated instead of a manager when the building is under 15 stories, under 200 feet, and has a footprint of 100,000 square feet or less.2NYC Department of Buildings. NYC Building Code Chapter 33 Cross either threshold and a full Site Safety Manager becomes mandatory.
When to Amend the Plan
A site safety plan is not a one-time filing. Conditions on active construction sites change, and the plan has to change with them. Triggers for a revision include changes in work scope, modifications to site conditions, different construction methods, accidents or near-misses on site, and updates to applicable safety regulations.7NYC Department of Design and Construction. Site Safety Plan Submission, Review and Approval Process Amendments are filed through DOB NOW: Build at $545 each.6NYC Department of Buildings. Service Notice – New Fees for Site Safety Plan Review
Treating amendments as a formality is a mistake. DOB takes mismatches between approved plans and actual site conditions seriously. If an inspector finds a crane in a spot that does not match the approved drawings, the gap between paper and ground becomes its own violation. Keeping the plan current after every significant change is the cleanest way to stay out of that trap.
Penalties for Skipping or Ignoring the Plan
Operating without an approved site safety plan when one is required is classified as an immediately hazardous violation. The civil penalty runs from $1,000 to $25,000 per violation, plus up to $1,000 per day the violation continues uncorrected.8NYC Administrative Code. Article 202 – Civil Penalties Two weeks of daily accrual is another $14,000 on top of the base fine.
Stop Work Orders
When DOB inspectors find unsafe conditions on a site, they can issue a Stop Work Order. A full SWO halts everything except remedial work needed to make the site safe. A partial SWO restricts specific activities or areas and lets other work continue.9NYC Buildings. Stop Work Order (SWO)
Violating an SWO carries a $6,000 penalty for the first offense and $12,000 for each subsequent offense.9NYC Buildings. Stop Work Order (SWO) Those penalties are separate from the underlying violation. Continuing work after an SWO issues is one of the fastest ways to turn a fixable compliance issue into a project-threatening financial one.
Related Requirements That Are Not the Site Safety Plan
Two obligations sit next to the site safety plan and are commonly confused with it. Both are separate approvals, and satisfying one does not satisfy the other.
A Tenant Protection Plan is required before a permit can be issued on any building with at least one occupied dwelling unit. Each permit (whether for construction, alteration, or partial demolition) needs its own TPP tailored to that scope of work.10NYC Buildings. Tenant Protection Plan The TPP is filed and approved separately from the site safety plan, and missing it is a common oversight on alteration projects in residential buildings.
Federal OSHA requirements apply independently on every construction site regardless of size. Under 29 CFR 1926.20, employers must maintain an accident prevention program with frequent inspections by a competent person, someone who can identify hazards and has authority to correct them on the spot.11eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1926 Subpart C – General Safety and Health Provisions A project can hold an approved DOB site safety plan and still face OSHA citations for inadequate fall protection, missing personal protective equipment, or weak hazard communication. The city plan covers physical site layout and equipment placement; OSHA governs the day-to-day safety practices that protect individual workers.