Brooklyn Sidewalk Shed and Scaffolding handles sidewalk shed installation across all five boroughs. One crew works from first measurement to removal. Permits run 90 days now, so plan for renewals from the start.
Emergency? Call (929) 566-7313, day or night.
Want a quote? Send the address, borough, frontage in feet and your start date. Tell us what the shed is for (facade repair, new construction, demolition, something else) and whether one’s already up.
When DOB and the Building Code require one, and what it does for the people below.
A roof over the sidewalk. Crews work above it, pedestrians walk under it, and whatever falls lands on the roof instead of a person.
The Building Code (§3307.6.2) requires a shed in four situations: when the sidewalk sits directly below a scaffold, mast climber or chute; when a building over 40 feet is under construction; when facade work happens more than 40 feet above the curb; and when demolition happens above 25 feet. The sidewalk has to sit within half the height of the work. DOB can also require one for any other danger to the public. A shed isn’t required where the sidewalk is closed to the public or where equivalent overhead protection is in place. The rules match in every borough.
Here’s what the job covers, from the first site visit to changes while other trades work above.
We walk the frontage, find the property line and mark every door, fire escape and exit. The layout leaves all of them open.
The permit usually comes before the build, and applications go through DOB NOW: Build. In an emergency, the shed can go up first. See Emergency Sidewalk Sheds below. If the shed reaches into the street, you also need a DOT Building Operation Permit.
The shed runs the full length of the frontage along the property line. On buildings over 100 feet it extends 20 feet onto the neighboring properties. The roof deck has to carry at least 300 pounds per square foot, or 150 for sheds with no storage on buildings under 100 feet. The crew holds NASP/SSS and NYC Site Safety Training credentials and builds to the approved layout.
The walkway is 5 feet wide at minimum. For sheds with applications filed on or after August 15, 2025, the clear height under the roof is 12 feet, unless that would block a building’s required light, air or exits. The passage stays lit. The Building Code bans advertising and other messages on a shed, apart from the signs it requires.
Trades above change their plans. When the shed has to change too, the same crew makes the adjustment once we’ve checked what the change needs from DOB.
DOB NOW applies a 90-day term to every shed permit issued or renewed on or after February 2, 2026. Earlier permits run until they expire. A shed permit no longer renews itself, so somebody has to renew it by hand, and each renewal costs $130.
Since August 13, 2026, renewals for sheds under Local Law 48 of 2025 also need a progress report. Local Law 48 covers sheds that stay up without work in progress, and Local Law 51 adds repair deadlines when the shed protects an Unsafe facade condition.
A registered design professional (a licensed engineer or architect) writes the report, and DOB charges $90 to file it. With the $130 renewal fee, that’s $220 in DOB fees per renewal, plus whatever the design professional charges for the report. New building, enlargement and demolition work skips the report when DOB has issued a permit for that work, and so do sheds on one- or two-family homes.
If a shed stays up after its permit expires, DOB says the violations can run as high as $8,000 each (DOB Sidewalk Sheds page, checked November 4, 2026). And since September 1, 2023, DOB no longer waives the work-without-a-permit penalty for a shed with an expired permit.
Fees and dates checked against DOB’s January 8, 2026 service notice and rule 1 RCNY 102-07 on November 4, 2026.
Permit coming due? Call us with the address and the permit date.
Facade pieces coming loose? Fire damage over a public sidewalk? Call (929) 566-7313. We answer 24/7 and can set up an emergency visit to the site.
If there’s an immediate threat to public safety, DOB lets the shed go up before the permit is issued, as long as the permit application is filed within 24 hours.
Work before 7 a.m., after 6 p.m. or on a weekend may also need an After-Hours Variance (AHV). That’s DOB’s permit for construction outside normal hours.
The crew that builds your shed takes it down. Nobody new has to learn the site.
Once the construction, demolition or remediation work ends, DOB says the shed comes down.
The process starts with a Sidewalk Shed Removal request in DOB NOW: Build. DOB schedules an inspection, and the request moves forward once the inspection reaches Pass/Final. Removal can be full or partial, and our crew handles both.
136 Chester Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11218. Sidewalk shed, 2019. See the 136 Chester Ave project.
We install in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Send the address and frontage, and we’ll quote it.
Facade work above a shed usually means scaffolding too, and traffic beside the site means Jersey barriers. Got an open lot? That needs fencing. We supply all of it, so one call to one NYC scaffolding contractor covers the job.
What we hold, what covers the job and what the crew has trained for.
Call with the address. If a permit is close to expiring, give us that date too. Need more than a shed? See all our services.
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