New York has issued an advisory opinion stating that providing site safety managers, fire safety managers, and emergency action watchmen for work on construction sites is subject to state and local sales and use tax. Site safety managers, fire safety managers, and emergency action watchmen are engaged in services to protect construction sites and workers from damage inflicted by fire or unsafe site conditions. They regularly patrol and inspect locations on construction sites and are required to notify the New York City Department of Buildings if they observe unsafe conditions. New York tax law imposes sales tax on “Protective and detective services, including but not limited to… protection against burglary, theft, fire, water, damage or any malfunction of industrial processes or any other malfunction of or damage to property or injury to persons…” The services provided by site safety managers, fire safety managers, and emergency action watchmen are within the scope of protective and detective services subject to tax. The taxpayer argued that the services should be exempt since they are a governmentally mandated inspection service. The services provided are protective in nature. They are not solely inspection services that are not provided in conjunction with taxable services to tangible personal property or real property. As such, the limited exemption for governmentally mandated inspection services does not apply and the services are subject to state and local sales and use tax. (TSB-A-20(14)S, New York Commissioner of Taxation and Finance, June 2, 2020, released August 2020)