Hurricanes and massive snowstorms are inconvenient for many Nutmeggers, but they also prompt additional work for Connecticut’s already-busy building inspectors. During the Northeast’s recent rough winters, “we’ve been out umpteen hours measuring snow on roofs and determining whether we could let people back into schools and so on,” said Daniel J. Loos, director of licenses and inspections for the city of Hartford. “A couple of years ago, we were out there with yardsticks for two weeks straight.”
Whether the project is a backyard shed, an addition to an existing home, or St. Francis Hospital’s new 10-story emergency tower, the job of ensuring that the state building code is followed in Hartford falls to nine licensed inspectors, all of whom must complete 90 hours of continuing education every three years to stay abreast of new developments.
“A lot of mechanical things are getting really complicated,” Loos said. “It used to be just a thermostat, but not anymore. The new Panera Bread in Manchester, for example, is so complicated in terms of wiring and controls that things like air conditioning are actually monitored and controlled from out in California.”
Hartford’s inspectors deal with building, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, fire sprinkler and refrigeration issues, so the department tries to hire people with different areas of expertise to cover all bases. The volume is high — 13,226 inspections in calendar year 2012 — but in some cases several separate inspections might take place during a single site visit.
Inspectors look for things like improper grounding of electrical systems, failure to follow manufacturers’ installation instructions, and wrong-sized pipes in plumbing systems. When violations are found, the appropriate party is notified and given the opportunity to correct them before a follow-up inspection.
Depending on the complexity of the project, new construction might require one or two inspections, or several hundred in the case of large buildings or multi-building complexes. Once a project is completed and a certificate of occupancy is issued, there is no need for further inspections unless they are prompted by renovations, additions, change of use or natural disasters like wind or flood damage, Loos said.
Damage from a small kitchen fire might need only a quick fix, but in more serious cases, inspectors can deem a building unfit for habitation and force the premises to be vacated. “There’s never a dull moment,” Loos said. “One day you could be inspecting sewer lines and the next day a hospital operating room.”
