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A Vertical Access technician performs an up-close investigation. Mark Danielson has dangled from stone turrets hundreds of feet in the air and watched peregrine falcons dive off the tops of skyscrapers as he stood on a swing stage, secured by ropes and anchors that he installed himself. While these feats might sound thrill-seeking, they’re all in a day’s work for the high-elevation building inspectors and rope access technicians that keep Chicago’s buildings safe. Nowadays, most yearly inspections take place on the ground outside the building, with teams using high-powered binoculars and drones to search for flaws in a structure’s exterior. But every few years, Chicago buildings are required to undergo hands-on inspections. The structural engineers and inspectors who clamber over the roofs, facades and crenellations of the city’s architectural masterpieces say there’s no better way to gauge a building’s health than to get up close and personal.