Legislation Clarifies Ability of Communities to Contract for Building Department Management

LANSING, Mich., Oct. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Across Michigan, hundreds of cities, villages and townships have for many years used private contractors to enforce their building codes without, it seems, the official authority to do so. A bill introduced this month in Lansing will formally allow that practice.

House Bill 5011 clarifies the state construction code act (1972 PA 230) to say, "'Building official' means a person who is employed by a governmental subdivision and is charged with the administration and enforcement of the code and who is registered in compliance with the building officials and inspectors registration act, 1986 pa 54, mcl 338.2301 to 338.2313. This person may also be an employee of a private organization."

In 1975, an opinion by the state attorney general said the existing bill's language prohibited private contracting.

"What we heard from a variety of state officials and departments conflicted with what we saw in practice throughout the state," said David Thomsen, vice president of SAFEbuilt Michigan, a company that provides full service building department programs, building code plan reviews, complete project support and building code inspections for local governments. "We supported this legislation because it seemed like the only way to level the playing field."

The Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Townships Association, Michigan Association of Counties, Michigan Home Builders Association and Associated Building Contractors all support the legislation, which was introduced by a bipartisan, geographically diverse group of legislators.

"Legislators and the Governor have continually told municipalities to consolidate and create more and more efficiencies to save money," said Andy Schor, Michigan Municipal League assistant director of state affairs. "To do that, they need access to every possible tool. Communities need the flexibility to decide the most efficient way to deal with building inspections – whether to do it in-house or through a private contractor. This legislation will allow efficiency through local control for communities throughout Michigan."

The city of Troy contracted its building department function to SAFEbuilt Michigan in 2010 to save more than $1 million a year, according to Director of Economic and Community Development Mark F. Miller. The city received multiple bids from private firms and encouraged a bid from its internal building department based on the same terms. The bidding process required the successful bidder to meet quantitative performance standards, based on national criteria in that industry.  

"Developers require fast, fair and predictable decisions," Miller said. "The feedback is that SAFEbuilt's people are very, very professional and provide great customer service."

Communities have already innovated to find the best combination of people to handle construction. Some use state or county inspectors. Some share their own staffs with other communities. Some township supervisors are also the building official. Many hire outside inspectors for electrical, plumbing and mechanical inspections because of the special knowledge required.  

Anecdotal information suggests that customer service is the highest priority, from the smallest township to the largest city.

"Quality improved, service improved, costs were contained. Those are the things you look for when you're trying to manage a service." According to Superintendent Dan Carlton, that's what happened about eight years ago when Georgetown Charter Township in Ottawa County contracted with Professional Code Inspections Inc. to serve as its building official and conduct all construction inspections.

Carlton said the township once used state inspectors for plumbing inspections and constantly fielded complaints from contractors over the delay in inspections.

"It would take three days to get a plumbing inspection," Carlton said. "The state had one employee covering half of the region. They'd only be here on certain days. When we took over the whole process, our service to our residents and our contractors improved dramatically."

In Oakland County, Springfield Township was once a hotbed of development, with a full building department staff. As development slowed, the township shifted those functions to a contract firm, Carlisle/Wortman Associates, which Supervisor Collin Walls said enabled the township to provide a level of service equal to or better than before while staying within the funds that were provided by the permit fees.

"It's called a no-brainer," Walls said.

He said he briefly considered recommending the state take over inspections but was concerned about limited state staff available and delays getting inspections.

"Builders and people in the township deserve good service, not 'We'll get to you some day,'" Walls said.

Fawn River Township in St. Joseph County exemplifies the challenges that rural communities face. They use a contract building official and the state conducts their inspections, according to Supervisor Richard Yesh. He, three other townships and the city of Sturgis are exploring the possibility that the five communities could share a building department.

"We're all going to be in a tough position when the economy picks up," Yesh said. "If we wait for the state of Michigan to come down it's 'We'll get there every two weeks.' Contractors don't want to wait. If we can group this up you we'll have qualified people working in our area over and over. We'll get consistency in how things are applied," Yesh said.

SOURCE SAFEbuilt Michigan