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Morgan Hill, California
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Zucker Systems
recommendations contained in this report. It is our belief that the cost of retaining
these services has already been factored into the current permit fee schedule.
34.
Recommendation:
The Building Official should utilize the services of a
qualified outside plan review consultant to help insure plan review
turnaround times are achieved, and contract inspectors to make next day
inspections.
Building Staff Technical Qualifications
Critical to the effective enforcement of construction codes is staff’s overall technical
knowledge of plan review and inspection practices. The City of Morgan Hill utilizes
the practice of employing inspection staff to perform combination inspections. The
practice involves assigning inspectors to perform a variety of inspection types such as
building, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, energy and accessibility inspections. In
many larger jurisdictions inspectors perform these types of inspections with
specialties in only one or two of these disciplines. This specialist approach is typically
used in the inspection of commercial projects that tend to be more complex and
deserving of a higher level of expertise. While these larger jurisdictions employ
specialists for commercial work, many utilize a combination inspector approach for
residential projects. We support the concept of using qualified combination inspectors
for residential and minor commercial construction projects.
The City of Morgan Hill currently employs both full-time and part-time Inspectors to
perform combination inspections on both commercial and residential projects. A
review of the job description for the Building Inspector II position clearly states that
employees in that classification shall possess ICC Certification as a Combination
Inspector. During our on-site interviews it became apparent that not all of the
Inspectors performing combination inspections have obtained such certification. We
encourage the Building Official to establish and implement a plan that will bring all
staff assigned to perform combination inspections into alignment with their job
description. The Building Official should instruct the Building Inspector Supervisor to
evaluate the need to adjust daily inspection assignments in order to ensure that
complex projects are assigned to individuals who have demonstrated the ability to
perform such work. In pursuing such a program, it is important that the City actively
participate by continuing to authorize and reimburse staff for the costs of obtaining
the appropriate training and periodic certification renewals (every three years).
35.
Recommendation
: Inspection staff assigned to perform combination
inspections should obtain ICC Certification as a Combination Inspector.