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Permits and plan‑review staffing: building inspections director seeks a residential plans examiner
Summary
Brian Ross, director overseeing building inspections, engineering and planning, presented modest budget adjustments and requested an additional residential plans examiner to provide backup coverage and reduce review delays amid increased permit volume.
Brian Ross, director for building inspections, engineering and planning, told commissioners he was requesting modest line-item increases and asked the commission to approve creation of a residential plans examiner position to provide redundancy and reduce turnaround times.
Ross said building‑inspections travel, training and supply lines were increased slightly to fund exam and continuing‑education materials for new hires and that current staffing changes—retirements and recent promotions—had required several employees to take on new duties. He said the department’s goal is to maintain roughly a two‑to‑three week initial review period for typical residential single‑family permits, though turnaround can vary based on the completeness of submittals.
Why it matters: Ross said demand has been variable—citing weeks with dozens of single‑family submittals—and that adding a dedicated residential plans examiner would create backup coverage when staff use vacation or handle higher‑complexity reviews. He said certification and continuing-education requirements drive some of the training requests.
Key points - New residential plans examiner: Ross requested the position to provide backup capacity for plan review and to protect service levels when staff are on leave or handling other duties. - Training and education: modest increases requested to cover ICC exam materials and continuing-education (CEU) travel and coursework for inspectors and reviewers. - Current staff changes: Ross said code official and plan-review duties were being redistributed after a retirement, with staff cross‑trained to cover residential and commercial workloads. - Performance: Ross reported the department is managing current budget numbers and is under current contractual-service allocations for the fiscal year; he said he would present a more detailed internal reorganization proposal to administration and the commission when it is ready.
Ending Commissioners praised staff responsiveness and said they looked forward to the internal reorganization proposal. Ross asked to present that proposal as soon as administrators and he finalize it.
