County to step up inspections, raise permit fees
Homebuilders in Fayette County can look forward to closer inspections – and steeply higher permit fees – as the county moves to comply early next year with a state mandate that municipalities adopt and enforce Building Officials Code Administrators standards. The BOCA codes will apply to all types of construction, including commercial, according to officials who explained the move at Tuesday’s agenda meeting of the Fayette County commissioners.
Raymond. C. Polaski, executive director of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority, and Tammy Shell, director of the county planning and zoning apparatus, said the state requirement would ensure that new construction meets industry standards.
That assurance, however, will come at a price. Shell said that in the 32 municipalities covered by county planning and zoning, the new home permit fee is currently $50 plus $1 for each 100 square feet of building space.
For a new 2,000-square-foot home, the current county building permit would cost $70, a price that includes no inspections. Polaski said that his preliminary Internet research of other places in Pennsylvania shows that the permit/BOCA inspection fees vary from $200 to $750 for the same sized home in the $100,000 to $120,000 price range.
“There are no additional fees for (the) inspections; it’s all part of the permit,” said Polaski. “When you get issued a (building) permit, it covers the costs of the inspections and the certificates at the end.”
Polaski and Shell agreed that the homebuilder or commercial builder would end up paying more. “No doubt about it. And it’s obvious that the builder will pass it on to the owner,” said Polaski.
Shell added of the cost increase, “This is correct. (But) the guarantee that you have for the extra money is that your house is built as it should be (according to accepted industry standards).”
Polaski said that the Pennsylvania Builders Association and its local chapter, the Fayette County Builders Association, have endorsed the move to mandatory inspections to ensure BOCA compliance.
Within Fayette County, Polaski said that to his knowledge the cities of Uniontown and Connellsville and the borough of Brownsville have already adopted the BOCA code standards. “Did they actually have staff and carry out an aggressive program for enforcement of building and demolition permits? I don’t know. (But) that’s neither here nor there at the moment,” said Polaski.
The state Department of Labor and Industry has put together rules and regulations and in the January-February 2003 period plans to print a bulletin notifying all municipalities – townships, boroughs and cities – that they have 90 days to tell the state how they intend to comply.
“What they have to tell the state is how they’re going to adopt it,” said Polaski, who added, “This is something of an unfunded mandate.”
To set the stage for this required compliance, particularly since 32 of the county’s 42 municipalities are covered by county planning and zoning, the commissioners agreed to place on Thursday’s agenda a vote to solicit requests for proposals from firms and individuals capable of conducting BOCA-level inspections.
Those inspections will cover what Polaski terms the “Five F’s” – footer, foundation, framing, firestops and final – as well as such things as electrical, plumbing and heating systems. He said the two most viable options for municipalities appear to be hiring their own state-certified inspector, which would likely be costly, or joining a countywide consortium.
Polaski said that if such a consortium is formed, the county could either put together its own inspection staff or hire an outside consulting firm to do the work.
“The RFP gives us information. It tells us what vendors are out there and what it would cost,” said Polaski. He added that the BOCA inspections would help ensure public safety and would theoretically eliminate issues of structural unsoundness.
Such things as shifting foundations and collapsing roofs should not occur if buildings are constructed to BOCA codes, said Polaski.
Also at Tuesday’s agenda meeting:
? Laurie Nicholson, director of the Fayette County Election Bureau, told the commissioners that by November 2003 the county should be “up and running” on a statewide computer system that will make it easier to catch duplicate voter registrations throughout the Commonwealth.
Nicholson also said the new system would interface with the state transportation and health departments, which will also make it easier to cross-reference voter registrations for accuracy.
Commission Chairman Vincent A. Vicites noted that since the state is picking up the tab, “For once it’s not an unfunded mandate.” Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh noted that by next November every voter would be in a statewide database, which makes it easier to catch duplications and eliminate fraud.
? Heard a report from Bill Lukach, the county’s Clean & Green Program assessor, on outcomes for the ongoing round of tax assessment appeals. Lukach said that 47 percent have seen reductions, 36 percent have seen no change, 17 percent have been abandoned by the property owner and only 1 percent have seen an increase.
Lukach further noted that 200 duplicate appeals were discovered, which means that the number of actual appeals stands at approximately 10,000. He also reminded property owners that Oct. 15 is the deadline for filing for inclusion in the Clean & Green Program, which offers a preferential tax assessment to owners whose property is at least 10 acres in size. However, those property owners must agree to limit development of the land.