Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Building Inspections topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee reviews building-permit volumes, inspection costs and software option
Summary
Staff reported 371 permits and 1,259 inspections in 2025, outlined options to bring inspections in house, and provided preliminary cost estimates including a $5,000-per-year software maintenance fee for up to five users; staff will seek more granular inspection-time data from the contractor to refine estimates.
LaSalle County staff presented June permit and inspection data on July 1 and discussed options to keep building-permit software while bringing inspection services in-house.
Land Use staff reported 371 permits issued in 2025 and a total of 1,259 inspections for the year. Staff estimated roughly 311 plan-review and administrative hours based on permit averages and said external plan-review costs at a $130-per-hour rate would total about $40,430. Using a conservative per-inspection hour estimate yielded an external-inspection cost estimate of about $81,770; combined figures are similar to the 2025 contract spend of roughly $101,000.
Staff said the vendor’s annual software-maintenance fee would be approximately $5,000 per year for up to five users if the county retained the software while shifting inspections in-house. Committee members asked whether bringing inspections in-house would yield savings; staff said savings are possible but depends on salaries, vehicle and insurance costs, and actual average inspection times. Staff committed to asking Safe Built for more granular data on average inspection durations for video inspections and plan-review hours to refine cost estimates.
The committee placed the monthly reports on file and asked staff to return with more detailed inspection-time data and a refined cost estimate to inform any decision about converting inspection services to county employees.
