Answers
Short, checked answers to the questions workers ask us every day: NYC SST cards, OSHA cards, scaffold training, FDNY certificates and getting into the plumbing trade. Every answer links to the official NYC, New York State, New Jersey or OSHA source.
An SST (Site Safety Training) card is the NYC Department of Buildings card that proves you finished the safety training required by Local Law 196 of 2017. Workers need 40 hours for the SST Worker card; site safety supervisors need 62 hours for the Supervisor card. You need it to work on NYC job sites that have a Construction Superintendent, Site Safety Coordinator or Site Safety Manager.
Read the answerAn NYC SST card is valid for 5 years from the day it was issued. To renew it you take an 8-hour refresher (Worker card) or a 16-hour refresher (Supervisor card) within the 12 months before renewal. Under Local Law 10 of 2026, if your card expires on or after May 3, 2026 you have 1 year after expiration to renew it, but you cannot work on site with the expired card until it is renewed.
Read the answerOSHA 10 is a 10-hour course for entry-level workers; OSHA 30 is a 30-hour course for supervisors and workers with safety responsibility. Both are voluntary federal outreach cards, but on NYC and New Jersey construction sites OSHA 30 is the card most general contractors ask for, and in NYC it covers 30 of the 40 hours of the SST Worker card.
Read the answerNo. OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 construction cards have no expiration date under federal rules. The catch is local: in New York City an OSHA card counts toward a new SST card only if it is less than 5 years old, and any employer or general contractor can ask for newer training.
Read the answerIt depends on what you do on the scaffold. Anyone who works on a supported scaffold needs the 4-Hour Supported Scaffold User course, retaken every 4 years. Suspended scaffold (swing stage) users need 16 hours, people who install or remove supported scaffolds 40 feet or taller need 32 hours, and suspended scaffold supervisors need 32 hours. Your scaffold qualifications go on the DOB Worker Wallet card, which is separate from your SST card.
Read the answerYou get a Certificate of Fitness (COF) by passing an FDNY exam. Apply and pay online first (the fee for most exams is $25), then take the exam at FDNY Headquarters, 9 MetroTech Center in Brooklyn; most exams are walk-in. Most certificates must be renewed every 3 years, usually for $15.
Read the answerThere is no single NYC fire guard license. A fire guard holds the FDNY Certificate of Fitness for the specific job: F-01 for fire watch when a building’s fire protection system is impaired, F-60 for fire watch during torch work on construction sites and roofs, and F-03 for safety personnel in indoor places of assembly.
Read the answerConstruction Superintendent in NYC is a DOB registration, not an exam. You need a DOB-approved 40-hour site safety course completed within the year before you apply, a valid SST Supervisor card, and one of DOB’s experience paths, most often 3 years as a full-time project supervisor on NYC buildings within the last 5 years. You apply in DOB NOW and pay a $100 fee.
Read the answerNew Jersey’s state plumbing license is the Master Plumber license, issued by the State Board of Examiners of Master Plumbers. The usual path is a 4-year apprenticeship registered with the U.S. Department of Labor, then at least 1 year (1,200 hours) of hands-on work as a journeyman plumber in New Jersey, then the Board’s exam once you are at least 21.
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