FY 2015-2016 Accomplishments

• The Building Services Department continued to ensure all permitted residential and commercial construction activity is in compliance with state and local building codes.
• The Building Services Department issued 20,495 building permits, with 881 new residential projects and 216 new commercial projects. The department also conducted same-day review of 53 percent of plans submitted, 95 percent within three days, and performed 34,196 inspections.
• Maintained Escambia County’s current CRS Rating of 6 and helped three families to obtain FEMA grants to remove their homes from the threat of flood within the special flood hazard areas.
• Reviewed 33 Applications for Examination for Certificate of Competency licensure that were approved by the Contractor Competency Board and Board of Electrical Examiners. Received and reviewed 16 written complaints against locally licensed contractors, with 50 percent resulting in disciplinary action toward their license.
• Investigated over 600 cases of unlicensed/unpermitted activity, with over $10,000 in citations, 15 arrest warrants issued and over $50,000 in restitution returned to victims. Achieved a 95 percent success rate of obtaining permits for unpermitted work.
• Building Inspections, along with Development Services and Environmental Code Enforcement, took a major step by switching the Accela permitting software from being self-hosted by the county IT Department to being hosted by the software company, Accela. Work is continuing to fine tune it.