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Gardner building department shifts to neighborhood inspections, proposes full‑time plumbing inspector
Summary
The building commissioner told the committee the city is moving from sporadic inspections to neighborhood-based periodic inspections of high‑risk properties, and proposed moving the plumbing inspector from part‑time to full‑time to meet demand.
The Gardner City building commissioner told the Public Safety Committee on March 28 that the city is expanding periodic inspections and shifting to a neighborhood‑focused approach to address longstanding inspection backlogs.
“Over the last several months, we focused primarily on high hazard areas, so areas where large numbers of people congregate,” Building Commissioner said, noting schools, day cares and large assembly spaces have been brought into compliance and that the focus will move to large multifamily properties such as The Hayward Wakefields and The Lofts at 30 Pine.
The commissioner said past practice of issuing notices in alphabetical order created the perception that individual properties were singled out; the new approach groups inspections by neighborhoods so enforcement and education happen across clusters of properties. The department emphasized an education‑first policy and said additional enforcement follows only after outreach and compliance efforts.
To sustain the program the commissioner proposed converting the plumbing inspector position from part‑time to full‑time next fiscal year and shifting the current plumbing inspector to an alternate inspector role. The commissioner said that change would improve capacity and “actually, lower my budget by about a thousand dollars” while allowing more inspections and better documentation.
The department also noted vehicle‑and training‑related needs: one code enforcement vehicle recently failed inspection and may need replacement, and fines collected by the department would be earmarked for inspector training and a possible departmental stabilization fund for vehicle replacement. The commissioner said expanded training would include conflict resolution and building code refresher courses and could be shared with fire officials.
Committee members did not take formal action; the report is intended to inform budget planning and potential personnel changes.
