Anyone who has walked a few blocks down the streets of New York City has likely seen unsightly sidewalk sheds and scaffolding adorning buildings and covering sidewalks. While such temporary protective equipment may be irksome to some, it serves an important purpose of protecting pedestrians and adjacent properties during construction projects of neighboring properties. Moreover, property owners and developers are required to install the protective equipment on their neighbors’ buildings pursuant to the New York City Building Code (the Code), when they are performing construction work on their own building.

When an owner seeks to make improvements or repairs to its property, and such improvements or repairs require access to the adjacent property, the owner must request access from the neighbor and attempt to negotiate a license agreement for access to install temporary protection on the adjacent premises.