Pre-construction
surveys°
in /New York. /Manhattan. /Brooklyn. /Queens. /the Bronx.

A documented record of the existing condition of a property and its adjacent buildings before construction begins. It uses high-resolution photographs and measured notes to capture existing defects and structural conditions, creating a time-stamped baseline for comparison if damage is later claimed.

New York City Building Code Section 3309.4.3 requires a preconstruction survey before excavation 5 to 10 feet deep within 10 feet of an adjacent property, and before any excavation over 10 feet deep anywhere on the site. Section 3309.4.4 adds monitoring during the work, and TPPN 10/88 extends documentation to landmark buildings within 90 feet. The survey establishes the condition of neighboring structures before work begins.

High-resolution photographs of interior and exterior conditions, each geotagged and timestamped at capture, documentation of existing defects and structural settlement, notes on adjacent structures, and a time-stamped report archived for the duration of the project.

Surveys are quoted per project. Scope depends on the size of the site, the number of adjacent properties, and access. Send the project details through the form and we return a quote, typically within two business hours.

Timing has two parts. The site work is scoped by the number of adjoining properties and how much interior access their owners grant, so a single attached rowhouse and a mid-block site with four neighbors are different jobs. The compiled report follows the site work, and we confirm the delivery window with the quote. The date that isn't flexible is the outside one: the record has to exist before the trigger work begins, which is why most teams schedule the survey alongside permit finalization instead of at mobilization.

General contractors, real estate developers, property owners and managers, and architects and engineers. In most cases the party responsible for the construction project orders the survey to document existing conditions on neighboring properties and limit exposure to damage claims.

Yes. The survey covers the construction site and every adjacent property within the affected zone, including shared party walls and neighboring structures. Documenting existing defects on an adjacent property is the part of the record that defends against property damage claims.

Interiors need permission, and permission is a legal question before it's a scheduling one. Building Code Section 3309.1.1 covers the advance notice a project owes an adjoining owner when the work will require access to their property. If notice doesn't produce agreement, RPAPL 881 lets the project petition the court for a license to enter, and the statute's current text names preconstruction surveys and the installation, inspection and removal of vibration, crack and optical monitoring devices among the qualifying purposes. Whether to go that route is a call for your counsel. Where access is limited or refused, our report records which areas were not reached and on what date.

Yes. Building condition survey before construction, dilapidation survey, existing-conditions survey and pre construction photographic survey all describe the same deliverable: a dated, geotagged photographic record of the adjoining property around a site, captured before work begins. Engineers in some markets use one term, insurers another. New York's Building Code writes it as one word, preconstruction survey, in Section 3309.4.3, and that's the term a DOB reviewer or an engineer of record will use.

Not to shoot it, but they change what gets shot. The support-of-excavation drawings and the affected-zone plans tell us which neighbors sit inside the zone, how deep the dig goes, and where a monitoring plan puts its devices, so the coverage list is built from those instead of from a walk around the block. Send whatever is settled when you request the quote and we'll scope from that. The survey itself has to be complete before the trigger work starts, so it doesn't wait on a fully approved set.

We archive the time-stamped report for the duration of the project and keep it on file beyond closeout, since damage claims can surface after the work is finished. The record stays available as a claims defense mechanism for as long as you need it.