FEATURE Review
by Gabby Geraci and Karen Johnson
Remote Virtual Inspections Offer A Welcome Solution For City Building Departments The COVID-19 pandemic has added new complications this year on top of the manifold challenges many building departments are already facing. Simultaneously, with the financial toll of the pandemic on cities, building departments are also under tremendous pressure to stay on top of demand and ensure that city development plans stay on track. Remote virtual inspections (RVIs) are a win-win solution; they can provide cities with scalable, affordable, safe and easy solutions that help them address these challenges while expediting building inspections.
help address the critical need for safer working conditions, some jurisdictions suspended interior inspections; others limited the types of projects for which inspections would be scheduled; while others implemented safety requirements for jobsites and inspectors. In most cases, these either created project backlogs or less-than-ideal working conditions. Institute for Building Technology and Safety (IBTS) was facing a similar predicament. As a nonprofit organization that provides building department services for local governments, IBTS began exploring remote virtual inspections (RVIs) as a possible solution that would At Baker Tilly, we are passionate about building strong communities. That’s why we help meet demands while keeping created a top ten independent municipal advisor within one of the nation’s largest inspectors safe. and most diverse advisory and accounting firms. Where others have partial answers to your challenges and opportunities, we deliver comprehensive solutions. IBTS had originally utilized RVI technologies several years ago when Let’s face the future together. conducting disaster recovery work. RVIs are a useful approach to performing Tom Kaleko Art Davis inspections of damaged structures Principal Director that may be unsafe or inaccessible. Public Finance Human Capital Management With several clients under pressure tom.kaleko@bakertilly.com art.davis@bakertilly.com to complete inspections as quickly as possible but also concerned about Tom Denaway Ben Hart Director sending inspectors onto jobsites, IBTS Director Economic Development Public Finance was quickly able to put remote virtual tom.denaway@bakertilly.com ben.hart@bakertilly.com inspection processes into place. The key findings have been that RVIs are easy Jack Ryan-Feldman to conduct and easier to schedule; they Director allow for more flexibility from both the Public Finance client and the inspector. RVIs are also jack.ryan-feldman@bakertilly.com more cost effective, allowing for more now joined with Springsted inspections each day with less personnel.
At the start of 2020, building departments across the country were already struggling with limited budgets, staffing vacancies, a retiring workforce, and everyday hassles such as scheduling and rescheduling inspections. In March, when city workers began working from home as a result of the pandemic, most building departments found themselves struggling to identify the best path forward for inspectors, who traditionally have had to do their job on site, to continue working effectively without risking contagion. To
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theReview November/December 2020
