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Rural code enforcement

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bill1952

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Joined
Aug 12, 2021
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Location
Clayton NY
This is a link to a Facebook page, an NPR article on code enforcement in the north country where I live. Article focus on one code enforcer covering 5 jurisdictions by himself. An intertesting smattering of comments. Certainly respect anyone who does not touch Facebook.

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walker.t said:
I don’t use Facebook but found this by searching for “NPR article on code enforcement in northern NY”, might be the same article:

www.northcountrypublicradio.org

North Country at Work: Piecing together code enforcement work in Essex County

We hear from a code enforcement officer who works for five different towns in Essex County.
www.northcountrypublicradio.org www.northcountrypublicradio.org
Click to expand...
Thank you!! I appreciate the quote from in the article from Colin Mangan, the Code Enforcement person for 5 jurisdictions.

"I can't imagine doing the job without having been in construction," he said. "It sometimes sort of blows my mind when I do meet code officials throughout the state that have no construction experience. I don't know how you do a framing inspection without having framed a house...you just kind of see things."
 
The small towns who rely on one person to cover three or four or five towns (we have some of those in this state, too) scare the beejeesus out of me. IMHO, they can't be doing the job.

I interviewed for a position as building official for a small town a few years ago. They wanted someone to work 16 hours a week. But not two 8-hour days. Oh, no! They wanted office hours at least 4 days a week. I asked how many permits they handle a year. The mayor didn't know, but a woman from the land use office said about 400. No clerical staff. Literally a one-man (okay, one-person) show.

So 400 permits. Figure working 50 weeks out of the year times 16 hours -- that gives you 800 hours. Which works out to 2 hours per permit, to do everything: intake, plan review, permit issuance, all necessary progress inspections, final inspection, issuance of certificate of occupancy. And then close out all the paperwork for the project administratively.

All in two hours.

Not possible.

Now take that same person and give him/her five towns. Depending on where the projects are located, he/she could chew up the entire two hours allocated to a permit just in driving time.

There was another town that advertised for a part-time building inspector. They wanted 12 hours a week. I didn't even consider that one. Taking a gig like that is just setting yourself up for failure -- unless you don't intend to do the job correctly when you apply.
 
Yankee Chronicler said:
There was another town that advertised for a part-time building inspector. They wanted 12 hours a week. I didn't even consider that one. Taking a gig like that is just setting yourself up for failure -- unless you don't intend to do the job correctly when you apply.
Click to expand...


I faced some of that when I first started, because, frankly, things were a freaking mess where I was. The issue was that the boss had no idea how long a plans review or inspection should take.
I still face some pushback on how we classify inspections - there's still a gap in understanding how long it takes us to actually do a competent inspection....and if we find issues, the time just increases.
 
Inspector Gadget said:
I faced some of that when I first started, because, frankly, things were a freaking mess where I was. The issue was that the boss had no idea how long a plans review or inspection should take.
I still face some pushback on how we classify inspections - there's still a gap in understanding how long it takes us to actually do a competent inspection....and if we find issues, the time just increases.
Click to expand...

But I'm not talking about a part-time inspector with a boss -- these were vacancies for the Building Official position. But there was no "department" -- no staff, not even clerical, so the building official was also the secretary, the permit technician, the plan reviewer, the field inspector, and the file clerk. These were strictly one-man shows.
 
Yankee Chronicler said:
But I'm not talking about a part-time inspector with a boss -- these were vacancies for the Building Official position. But there was no "department" -- no staff, not even clerical, so the building official was also the secretary, the permit technician, the plan reviewer, the field inspector, and the file clerk. These were strictly one-man shows.
Click to expand...
Just like around me. One person, 4 jurisdictions, zoning and building, everything except electrical inspections.
 
Yankee Chronicler said:
But I'm not talking about a part-time inspector with a boss -- these were vacancies for the Building Official position. But there was no "department" -- no staff, not even clerical, so the building official was also the secretary, the permit technician, the plan reviewer, the field inspector, and the file clerk. These were strictly one-man shows.
Click to expand...
I had a brief stint as a development officer for a small community. One day, I saw a building had been erected without my oversight. The application had gone to the building inspector (who was the CAO without any training.)

They had no clue that the development officer was supposed to, like, check for setbacks, height, lot size coverage, yadda yadda.

I handed in my resignation the next day.
 
Inspector Gadget said:
I had a brief stint as a development officer for a small community. One day, I saw a building had been erected without my oversight. The application had gone to the building inspector (who was the CAO without any training.)

They had no clue that the development officer was supposed to, like, check for setbacks, height, lot size coverage, yadda yadda.
Click to expand...

They always overlook this part:

1763474595131.png
 
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