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DBI reports permit‑system progress and stable finances; commission approves technical code fixes
Summary
DBI reported progress on the Exela permit system UAT cycle, fiscal-year results showing ~$80.1M revenue with a decline in fee revenue, and monthly code‑enforcement metrics; the commission unanimously approved plumbing code and other technical corrections.
At the Jan. 16 meeting the Department of Building Inspection provided operational updates including a progress report on the city’s Exela permit system, a fiscal update for FY2017‑18 and December 2018, and routine code‑enforcement statistics. The commission also approved several technical code corrections.
Permit system (Exela): Henry Bartley (Department of Technology) said the project is in a user acceptance testing (UAT) cycle: about 350 items were fixed since last month, 123 items remain in the pipeline as in‑progress fixes, and 139 items had moved to retest as of the last report. Bartley said the team expects to complete current fixes by the end of the month and begin preparations for the next UAT cycle in February.
Fiscal report: Tyrus Madison, DBI deputy director, presented FY2017‑18 year‑end figures showing total revenues of about $80.1 million. He warned that charges for services (permit and fee revenue) are declining — charges for services were cited at roughly $66 million for the year, about $3.9–4.0 million lower than the prior year — but noted interest and deferred revenue adjustments helped stabilize overall totals. Madison said DBI has used conservative budgeting assumptions to mitigate the effect of slowing application volume.
Code enforcement and major projects: Tom Hui reported a 0.5% decline in construction value from the prior period. Ed Sweeney (Deputy Director, Inspection Services) presented December metrics: 5,006 building inspections performed, 350 complaints received, 341 timely complaint responses, 66 NOVs issued, 850 housing inspections and 129 housing NOVs. Commissioners asked staff to follow up on an earlier public comment alleging a complaint closed without inspection.
Code corrections: The commission unanimously approved two housekeeping items: a plumbing code correction (restoring language on building traps and minimum trap size) and a package of technical corrections to DBI code language; submetering provisions were removed from the technical package at the city attorney’s request pending further refinement.
The commission did not take additional action on the permit system or financial outlook beyond requesting continued updates; staff said they will return with implementation steps, outreach timing for the permit system go‑live and refined budgeting projections.
