We are having a difficult time attracting a building inspector to come and work for the Town of Revelstoke. There is obviously a problem in Town Hall that prevents us from attracting and keeping building inspectors. We can continue this revolving door or we can come up with a better solution. Elon Musk of Space X and Tesla fame is reported to have fired staff that used the old line “that’s how we did it in the past” when asked to explain their approach to a problem. He realized his lofty goals were not going to be met through conventional thinking. It’s his leadership and unwavering commitment to innovation that sets him apart from his competitors.
When I think of our building inspector problem, I keep coming back to the question, “Why do we need a Town employed building inspector?” The obvious answer is that structures need to be built to code and inspected to ensure compliance. In the past, we did this with a Town employed building inspector but it doesn’t need to be that way.
My understanding is that most building projects are required to be engineered. Engineers are required to design, inspect and certify that these buildings meet code. They carry liability insurance and professional certification to back that up. We don’t need to duplicate this with a Town inspector. Any buildings that are not required to be engineered would be required to hire a private building inspector to certify they meet code. For the vast majority of projects this will not result in any increase in cost because it is already being done. The Town has contracted building inspectors in the past to inspect construction work. Skip this step and require the builder to deal directly with inspector.
The result is the elimination of building inspection delays and it saves the Town a ton of money and grief.
Are we going to move ahead with innovative solutions or are we going to continue with the way we have done it in the past?
In my opinion.
Your Arm Chair Mayor,
Peter Humphreys
