Cities with facade inspection ordinances
A handful of US cities require owners of taller or older buildings to have the exterior walls inspected on a fixed cycle. In those cities exterior work is scheduled, not discretionary: an inspection engineer needs a clean, visible surface, and the report that follows often calls for washing before repairs are priced.
The list below is built from the same sourced data as our state and city pages. Each entry carries the ordinance as the city or state publishes it and a link to the source. New York City's Facade Inspection and Safety Program is deliberately absent until a primary source is on file.
The ordinances, by state
Each entry is the rule as the city or state publishes it, with the source it was read from. City entries link to that city's page; state entries link to the state page.
California
- California (statewide note)
San Francisco's Building Facade Inspection and Maintenance Ordinance requires buildings five or more stories tall to undergo a comprehensive facade inspection by a California-licensed architect or engineer, resubmitted every 10 years, with added checks for buildings 15 or more stories.
Source - San Francisco, CA
San Francisco's facade ordinance requires buildings of five or more stories in Type I to IV construction to file a comprehensive facade inspection by a California-licensed architect or engineer every ten years, with supplemental reports at 15 or more stories.
Source
Illinois
- Illinois (statewide note)
Chicago's facade ordinance requires a critical examination of exterior walls on buildings 80 feet or taller, at intervals of 4 to 12 years depending on the wall's construction category, performed by a registered architect or structural engineer.
Source - Chicago, IL
Chicago's facade ordinance requires a critical examination of exterior walls on buildings over 80 feet, on a 4, 8 or 12 year cycle set by construction category, with reports due to the Department of Buildings by December 1.
Source
Massachusetts
- Massachusetts (statewide note)
Boston's Building Code, sections 9-9.12, requires exterior wall inspections of buildings over 70 feet tall or classified as high rise at least once every 5 years, administered by the city's Inspectional Services Department.
Source - Boston, MA
Boston's Building Code sections 9-9.12 require exterior wall inspections of buildings over 70 feet tall or classified as high rise at least once every 5 years, administered by the Inspectional Services Department.
Source
Michigan
- Michigan (statewide note)
Detroit's Property Maintenance Code, Section 8-15-34(d)(8), requires owners of buildings five stories or taller to have exterior walls and roof-mounted structures inspected by a competent person at least every five years.
Source
Ohio
- Ohio (statewide note)
Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland each have periodic facade inspection ordinances covering older mid-rise and high-rise buildings, requiring licensed architect or engineer inspections roughly every five years depending on wall material and building age.
Source - Cleveland, OH
Cleveland Codified Ordinances Chapter 3143 requires facade inspection of buildings at least five stories or 75 feet tall and 30 years or older, repeated every five years to ASTM inspection standards.
Source
Wisconsin
- Wisconsin (statewide note)
Milwaukee Code of Ordinances Sec. 275-32-13 requires buildings five stories or taller and more than 15 years old to undergo a professional facade inspection on a cycle of 5 to 12 years depending on wall construction.
Source - Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Code of Ordinances Section 275-32-13 requires buildings five stories or taller and more than 15 years old to have a facade inspection by a registered architect or structural engineer on a 5 to 12 year cycle.
Source
Cleaning on the inspection cycle
Drone soft-washing suits inspection-cycle buildings because it needs no scaffolding, swing stage or rope anchors on the facade being inspected, and it produces 4K aerial before/after footage that can sit beside the inspection report.
A tethered drone reaches up to 200 ft, about 18 stories, from one staging position; taller towers are worked from podiums, setbacks or the roof. Commercial work is quoted per square foot at our published national rate of $0.12–$0.25, fixed after a free site survey, and a maintenance contract on the inspection cycle runs 20–30% below the one-off price per visit. See how we price and where drones need permits.
Questions
Does drone cleaning satisfy a facade inspection ordinance?
No. The ordinances require an inspection by a licensed professional, not a cleaning. Cleaning before the inspection gives the engineer a clean surface to read, and cleaning after the report removes the staining the report photographed.
Which cities are on this list, and why not others?
Only cities whose ordinance we have opened and cited appear here. A city with a well-known program but no primary source on file is left out until one is added; the page grows as the data does.
How is inspection-cycle cleaning priced?
The same way as every other job: per square foot at our published national rate, fixed after a free site survey, with a maintenance contract available for buildings that wash on the inspection cycle.
Our core services
- Facade & building cleaningStucco, EIFS, painted concrete, glass and metal panel, cleaned from the air.
- Roof cleaningSoft-wash for tile, metal, shingle and flat roofs with no foot traffic.
- Window cleaningPure-water drone glass cleaning for high-rise and commercial buildings.
- Parking garage cleaningDecks, drive lanes, walls and stairwells at a flat per-square-foot rate.
Get a free site survey before the inspection
Tell us the building and the inspection date. We survey it for free and send a fixed price.