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Commission presses DBI for clearer timelines on NOV 'purgatory' and data fixes
Summary
Commissioners flagged long‑running notices of violation stuck in planning or city‑attorney review and urged DBI to categorize and accelerate cases; DBI described a working group, new data mapping into Exela and plans to report back with counts and categories.
Commissioners at the May 21 Building Inspection Commission meeting pressed DBI staff to resolve long‑running notice‑of‑violation (NOV) cases that participants described as being stuck in 'purgatory' while cases await Planning or City Attorney action.
Deputy Director of Inspection Services Daniel Lowery presented DBI’s complaint and inspection metrics — "Inspections within 48 hours for billing inspections was 4,967" and building inspection response rates met the 48‑hour goal — and described a working group to improve NOV reporting and categorization. Lowery said the department expanded its monthly report and added new code‑enforcement breakdowns so the commission can better see how complaints route through the system.
Jerry Dretler, a civil grand juror working with DBI staff, told commissioners he is organizing NOV data to improve reporting and transparency. "I've been working with Dan and his group on organizing the NOV data so the reporting can be improved," Dretler said.
Commissioner Maher and others asked DBI to set firmer time frames and tracking labels (active, inactive, in planning, referred to the City Attorney) and to consider escalation rules for cases that linger. Commissioner Walker urged development of a consistent policy so staff do not treat similar cases differently. Several commissioners also suggested interim, narrowly targeted safety fixes (smoke detectors, carbon‑monoxide alarms, limited egress improvements) that could be implemented while a project proceeds through planning.
DBI staff said they will provide a refined NOV report and a recommended categorization process. "We have a working group together, and we have all the chiefs involved... we're at earlier stages but we came up with ideas to keep NLVs open, open inactive NLVs," Lowery said. Staff estimated they could report back with more detailed counts on outstanding complaints and NOVs next month and will work toward a year‑end deliverable to further hone categorization and referral practices.
Next steps: DBI to continue NOV data work with the grand jury volunteer and inspectors, standardize reporting fields in the Exela workflow, mail informational packets to owners where applicable, and return to the commission with more specific counts and a proposed policy for cases that remain in planning or in active review.
