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Advisory Committee on Inspection Services
Special Codes Review Committee
December 9, 2009
Agenda
Members Present: Jeff Rasmussen, Tom Karrels, Tim Franz
Meeting called to order at 2:00 PM, attendance was very limited due to inclement
weather.
• Discussion item one was permit issuance hours and minimum levels of service
expectations for permit hours and off hours. This item was discussed to solicit
input as to the effectiveness and customer service levels of the current
inspection hours. No negative comments regarding current hours were brought
forward, one item of concern or improvement is to ensure that the inspectors
make response to customers at the window their priority during their posted
office hours period.
• Discussion item two was suggestions for Developing an Awareness campaign
for Building Contractor Registration and Dwelling Contractor Qualifier
requirements for rental properties. Discussion focused on the new rules and
requirements for Dwelling Contractor Qualifier for owners to be issued
permits for properties they own. No specific suggestions form members
present, in January of 2010 insepctions office will work on plan of getting this
information out and opportunities to aquire dwelling contractor Qualifier to
rental property owners for any work that requires a permit. It is noted that
electrical and plumbing work have already had the requirement of a licensed
professional for a permit.
• Discussion item three development of a vacant property freeze up prevention
program did not produce any suggestions or support for such a program due to
difficulty in identifying vacant properties and staff time to do so.
• Additional discussion item brought up from Jeff Rasmussen regarding permits
and permits left "open" . The concern was raised that "everyone is not aware
of the need to call in when work is complete and that all permits require a
final inspection. Discussion about final inspections and what inspections are
required. This discussion was generated from a recent issue where a house
was in the process of being sold and the new owners discovered several
permits that were "open" meaning that they had no been inspected or called in
when the work was complete. The prospective buyers wanted assurance the
work was approved by the City. The division policy is a $100.00 fee per
permit is applied when a final inspection is requested after the permit period
expires.
Additional discussion took place as to how can a permit be closed out and the
answer is to call into the inspections line and the inspector will schedule the
inspection and close the permit when the work is determined to be completed to
code or if the inspector does inspect the work it is documented on the permit as
such or "timed out ". " Timed out" or no time on the permit is only documented
when the request for inspection has been called in and the inspector did not
complete the requested inspection in the allotted time period.
There was additional discussion on the need for more awareness on this issue and
if there could be some notice given to the person/agent the permit was issued to
prior to expiration.
• Final item of discussion brought up by Jeff Rasmussen was notices not
being sent to landlords before or in addition to the housing inspector by
the UWO student housing representative. Discussion was that the
landlords at times did not receive any communication from tenants before
complaints are filed. The inspection office will pass this conern on
through a letter.
Meeting Adjourned
Submitted by,
Timothy Franz
Acting Director of Inspection Services.