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Morgan Hill, California
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Zucker Systems
support this change to the organizations reporting structure. To be generally consistent
with the organizational structure of other departments within the City is it reasonable
to assume that some other adjustments may be necessary relating to compensation and
position titles. We are not in a position to make specific recommendations regarding
those specific issues but feel comfortable in endorsing the change.
44.
Recommendation:
The recent organizational reporting change having the
Building Official report directly to the Assistant City Manager should be
accompanied by appropriate adjustments to compensation and job titles.
Fire Plan Review and Inspection
For many years the City of Morgan Hill contracted with the State Fire Marshal’s
Office for plan review and inspection services for new construction. Recently the City
allowed that contract to expire in favor of having those services provided in-house by
staff assigned to the Building Division. While this arrangement is not the norm in the
industry, we have seen it successfully employed in several jurisdictions. When such a
change in operations occurs there are legitimate concerns about the ability of the City
to maintain the same level of quality and responsiveness that customers have come to
expect. Based on our staff interviews and customer comments we believe the Building
Division has implemented this change in an appropriate manner. By utilizing the part-
time services of a highly experienced former employee of CalFire, they have initiated
a program to fully train one of the existing Building Inspectors to assume these
responsibilities in the future. The selected Building Inspector is not only benefitting
from the mentoring provided by the part-time Fire Plans Examiner/Inspector but also
has been enrolled in numerous off-site classes that have allowed him to gain the
necessary expertise to become certified in the variety of specialties necessary to
demonstrate competency performing both fire plan review and inspection activities.
The Building Official has adopted a very rigorous schedule to have the Building
Inspector assume all fire plan review and inspection responsibilities by July1, 2016.
This schedule might be too aggressive. We believe it would be appropriate to extend
the current contract with the part-time fire plan review and inspection expert for an
additional six (6) months in order to give the Building Inspector more time to benefit
from the mentoring that still needs to occur.
45.
Recommendation:
The Building Official should extend the current
contract an additional six (6) months with the part-time fire plan
review/inspector expert to allow for additional mentoring for the Building
Inspector assigned to assume these responsibilities.
Placing a single individual in charge of a new program, such as fire plan review and
inspection, can be overwhelming unless that individual is afforded access to other
professionals in the field that can be relied upon to provide expertise and advice.