Chesterfield County building inspections reports about 110,000 annual inspections, outlines blight acquisitions and permitting trends

Mr. Clemons, the county’s building inspections presenter, told the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors that the department performs about 110,000 inspections a year and processed nearly $974,000,000 in commercial construction value in 2024.

The update outlined how the division has moved permitting and plan review online, staffed inspections with real‑time reporting tools, maintained a largely self‑funding fee structure, and used a blight‑abatement process to acquire and rehabilitate a small number of deeply distressed properties into affordable housing.

Clemons said, “We do about a 110,000 inspections a year.” He described a largely digitized workflow: customers can apply and upload plans electronically; staff review using Digiplan and an Accela permitting platform; and inspectors in the field use mobile devices to enter results immediately so customers can see inspection outcomes in their portal.

Staffing and workload metrics were a central focus. Clemons reported a staff size of 69 in the building inspections office (16 permit technicians, nine plan reviewers, 35 inspectors, three automation and six administrative staff), with additional technical…