Local Law 196 Compliance Checklist for Employers and GCs

If you run a crew or a GC office in New York City, Local Law 196 comes down to one question: can you prove that every worker on your site has the training and the card? This checklist covers what to check before someone else asks.

What Local Law 196 puts on you

Local Law 196 of 2017 added site safety training requirements for construction workers in New York City. Which parts apply to you depends on your site and your permit, so read the law text itself and not a summary.

Source: Local Law 196 of 2017, NYC DOB.

The employer checklist

Run this list for every site, every time a new sub shows up.

• Roster. A current list of every worker on site, by company, including subcontractors.
• Card in hand. Each worker has a card, and the card matches the person holding it.
• Expiry dates. An SST card expires 5 years from the date it was issued. Put every date on a calendar the day the card arrives.
• Right card for the role. Supervisors are on a different path than workers. See the SST Supervisor card and the 62-hour SST package.
• Site log and signage. Chapter 33 of the NYC Building Code, section 3321, is where the log and signage items trace back to. Read the section and confirm what your site needs.
• Records. Someone in your office owns the completion records and knows where they are.

Source: Site Safety Training, NYC DOB, and NYC Construction Codes, NYC DOB.

Where crews get stuck

The binder is never the problem. The problem is the one guy whose card expired in spring and nobody noticed until the gate.

The other trap is the worker who took classes years ago at a school that never recorded them. NYC DOB can require extra training in that case, and it can also require it when a card has lapsed too long. Students never pay Predictive Safety anything after checkout, except for that NYC DOB-required extra training.

Find these workers now, on your schedule. Finding them on the day of an inspection is a worse plan.

Getting the card in hand

A worker finishes the course, and the card still has to exist in physical form. Predictive Safety prints SST cards itself and ships them. NYC DOB does not print or mail them.

Once your course is complete, your photo and ID are accepted and your Training Connect certificate is in, the card is processed immediately, typically in hand within 48 hours. Every card ships with a tracking number, so your office can see where it is.

If we are late (no tracking number by the end of the next business day after requirements are clear), the next renewal course is half off and one replacement card is free.

Language is not an excuse to skip it

Our courses are online, self-paced, in English and Spanish. Do it on your phone on the train, at your own speed, in the language you think in. No more excuse for the crew falling behind.

A simple rhythm that works

• Check the roster against cards on the first day of every new phase.
• Review expiry dates once a month.
• Start renewals well before the date, not on it.
• Keep one person responsible for the whole list.

For the law and what it means for individual workers, see our page on Local Law 196 training.

Next step

Enroll the crew in one account. We track completion and the card for you, so your list stays current without a spreadsheet only you understand. See crews and companies, or go straight to all SST courses.

Predictive Safety