Rotation #13- Building Safety and Review

Today's rotation split between two building divisions; safety inspections and review.

Part 1: Building Inspections

I began with safety inspections, and went out with George Gleeson to look at the Legacy Apartments, the LA Fitness building site, Sargent Controls, LaserTel, and Marana Health Center. It was a fascinating process getting to see the buildings all in various stages of completion. George will go out to the same site multiple times throughout the building process to ensure the safety of the building. Many times, the project cannot continue until they've passed inspections on a specific areas.

At the Legacy Apartments, George focused on different areas depending on how complete the apartment building was. Because the apartment complex is phasing their buildings in, there were several that were at different stages in construction. For buildings that were nearly finished, George looked at electrical wiring and the vents on the roof. For buildings that were just a wooden frame, he focused on the number of nails hammered in to sustain the structure.





LA Fitness is an exciting new business going up in the Arizona Pavillion area off Cortaro and I10. It is in its very early foundation stage, and I learned about how masonry walls and built.

(Quick note: George told me that building requirements are constantly changing. When I asked him what method has stood the test of time and remains consistently prevalent, he told me that the masonry wall is probably the oldest and most dependable building structure).

Sargent Controls is moving in to the area where Sparklett's Water used to be off I10. They specialize in making products for aerospace and defense industries. George conducted an above cieling intermediate inspection on the second floor of this building, which focused on the duct work and wiring that is above the cieling tiles.

Lasertel is a company that is expanding their current location into a pre-existing part of their building, and are undergoing structural changes as a result. George checked their intermediate plumbing, insulation, mechanical wiring, and sheet rock. Tomorrow he plans to return and look at their electricity.

Finally we went to the new Marana Health Center, which is an exciting new building close to the Marana Municipal Complex. The first two floors are complete with a few exceptions, and the third floor is still heavily under construction. After an inspection of the third floor and checking to make sure previous concerns were addressed on the first, George allowed for the Marana Health Center to allow the public to come in, which will begin on Monday (exciting!).

Communication

Communication is an important part of George's job. Sometimes he has to deliver bad news to the superintendents presiding over the construction site. He suggests that focusing on the positives of the project before pointing out the problems may help them be more receptive to bad news. It is also important to emphasize that as an inspector George isn't trying to stop or restrict construction, but assist them in creating a building that is to code. It is important to be friendly, fair, but firm.

Part II: Review

I spent the second half of my day with Benny Sanchez and discussed his focus on examining the building plans submitted by developers to begin construction in Marana. He focuses primarily on code enforcement, and reviews and pre-approves documents for private construction. He works often when zoning, grading and engineering, and the fire department.

If an individual or developer violates a code, Benny sends them a Notice of Violation. If they do not respond or follow up, a citation is then given. If still no response, then a court summons is delivered, and the legal process begins on the code violation.

I got to look at two different plans for review. One is a new tenant improvement project involving a batter's box, the other the building for Sargent Controls. Even though the basis and the codes used for the plans were from the same source, the review of the plans were completely different because of the size and complexity variations between them. The batter's box is very simple, consisting of primarily the structure, the batting machines, seating areas, entry  ways, and a bathroom. Sargent Controls was much more complex, and involved looking at several floors of the building, looking at electrical wiring, placement of equipment, and much more.

The life of a Plan Examiner

Benny informed me that he enjoys his job because he gets to be involved with a project from the beginning and have imput. Codes read the same, but can be applied in many ways, so reviews are never monotonous. A good example of this is the batter's box vs Sargent Controls plans above.

Working with the community can be challenging, because many times the developer does not understand why the codes are used, and may see it only as an obstacle. Benny wishes that the community would have a positive look at the building codes. They may not be the answer they like, but it is important to understand them. Which brings me to what I think is an important aspect of his work:

Safety

In the end, it's all about safety. Benny showed me pictures of houses that burned in a fire, and explained the precautious that should have been taken that could have prevented the accident. Something as simple as having the doors swing outward on all exit doors instead of inward can make a big difference, especially in the case of  fire where lots of people have to exit at once. Inward swinging doors can prevent a large number of people from exiting efficiently.