Key takeaways
- For the special inspection category Subsurface Investigations, Borings and Test Pits, one of the ways a supplemental inspector can qualify under Appendix A (Alternative 2) is a NICET Level II Geotechnical certification.
- That program has not existed since 2017, when NICET discontinued it. The rule text was never updated, so the requirement pointed at a certification nobody new could obtain.
- Buildings Bulletin 2026-011, issued June 29, 2026, names an equivalent alternative: NICET Level II Construction Materials Testing in Soils, plus one year of relevant experience and training with the primary inspector.
- It is an interpretation under the Administrative Code, not an amendment to the rule. The qualifications for primary inspectors, and for every other special inspection category, are unchanged.
In this article
A rule that requires a certificate nobody can get is a quiet kind of problem. Nothing fails an inspection, no violation is issued, and the job goes on — until an agency tries to qualify a new technician for borings and test pits, reads Appendix A, and finds the door has been closed since 2017. The Department of Buildings has now said, in writing, what it accepts instead.
What the bulletin says
The document is Operational Buildings Bulletin 2026-011, issued on June 29, 2026 by the Department's Office of Technical Certification and Research and signed by its director, Alan Price, P.E. Its stated purpose is to establish "an equivalent alternative to the supplemental inspector (Alternative 2) certification" for the Subsurface Investigations, Borings and Test Pits special inspection category.
The bulletin itself is two pages and worth reading in the original: bb_2026-011.pdf, listed with every other current bulletin on the Department's Buildings Bulletins page. The rule it interprets is 1 RCNY 101-06, Appendix A, which sets out, category by category, who is qualified to perform a special inspection — a primary inspector, and a supplemental inspector working with them.
Why the requirement was stuck
Appendix A offers more than one route to qualify as a supplemental inspector in this category. The route known as Alternative 2 names the NICET Level II Geotechnical certification. As the bulletin puts it, "NICET discontinued this certification program in 2017."
Anyone who already held the certification kept it. But for nine years there was no way for a new technician to take that route, because the examination behind it no longer existed. The rule was not wrong so much as frozen: it described a world in which that program was still running.
The alternative, exactly
Relying on its interpretation authority under section 28-103.2 of the Administrative Code, the Department accepts, in place of the discontinued certification, a combination of two things:
- NICET Level II certification in Construction Materials Testing, Soils. This program is current, and it is the closest living relative of the discontinued one: soils sampling, moisture and density, compaction testing.
- One year of relevant experience and training with the primary inspector. The certificate alone is not the alternative. The year alongside the person who holds the primary qualification is part of it.
Both parts, not either part. The bulletin describes the pair as an acceptable alternative to the discontinued NICET Level II Geotechnical certification.
What it does not change
Three things are worth saying plainly, because a bulletin like this is easy to over-read.
It does not change the qualifications for the primary inspector on borings and test pits. It does not touch any other special inspection category — concrete, masonry, structural steel and the rest are exactly where they were. And it does not amend the text of Appendix A: the rule still names the discontinued certification, and the bulletin sits alongside it as the Department's interpretation. If you are checking an inspector's credentials against the rule alone, you will not find this alternative there. You find it here.
What this means if you are hiring an agency
For an owner or a general contractor the practical question is not which certificate is on the wall at the agency's office. It is who will be standing at the rig when the borings are drilled, and what that person is qualified under for that category.
Two questions cover it. Ask the agency which of its people are qualified for Subsurface Investigations, Borings and Test Pits, as primary and as supplemental. And ask, if a supplemental inspector will be sent, under which route they qualify — Appendix A as written, or the alternative in Bulletin 2026-011. An agency that follows the Department's bulletins will answer both in a sentence. An agency that cannot answer is telling you something useful.
Frequently asked questions
Does this mean the rule has changed?
No. 1 RCNY 101-06 Appendix A still names the NICET Level II Geotechnical certification. Bulletin 2026-011 is the Department's interpretation of what it accepts as equivalent, issued under section 28-103.2 of the Administrative Code.
I hold the old NICET Level II Geotechnical certification. Is it still good?
Nothing in the bulletin withdraws a certification already held. The alternative exists for the people who cannot obtain the discontinued one.
Is the year of experience in addition to the certification, or instead of it?
In addition. The alternative is the Construction Materials Testing, Soils certification together with one year of relevant experience and training with the primary inspector.
Does this affect concrete, masonry or steel inspections?
No. The bulletin is limited to the supplemental inspector qualification in the Subsurface Investigations, Borings and Test Pits category.
Where can I read the bulletin myself?
It is published as a PDF on the Department of Buildings website, at the link in the second paragraph of this article, and listed on the Buildings Bulletins page with the rest of the current bulletins.
Conclusion
Small bulletins like this one are the reason it is worth reading what the Department publishes rather than only what the rules say. Appendix A, read on its own, still asks for a certification that stopped existing in 2017. The Department's answer — the Construction Materials Testing certification in soils, plus a year beside the primary inspector — is only findable if someone was watching the bulletins. We will keep reading them and writing up the ones that reach a job site.
Written by the engineers and laboratory technicians of Metric Consulting and Inspection, a Class 1 special inspection agency with a DOB-licensed concrete testing laboratory in Hicksville, New York, serving NYC construction since 2003.