Even though Hillsborough County may assign building inspectors 40, 50 or even more than 60 inspections a day, it doesn’t expect them to complete any more than they can adequately handle. After two inspectors submitted letters of resignation, citing workloads that are “ridiculously high,” it might behoove the county to relay that information to inspectors in the field.
In April, Benjamin Buckley fired off a resignation letter to county commissioners about an overwhelming workload. The letter said that on one day in 2014, Buckley was assigned 91 inspections. Stacy White was the only commissioner who reached out to Buckley. When 8 On Your Side reached out to commissioner White, he avoided our calls. Prior to a budget workshop, we caught up with White and asked him about his understanding of the issue.
“Gosh I, I don’t know. I’d have to collect my thoughts and get some information in front of me and talk to you at that time. I don’t know. It’s been a couple of months since I talked to this gentleman,” White said. In a May resignation letter, electrical inspector Michael Lindsay raised concerns about the workload and public safety.
Greg Yantorno, president of the Building Officials Association of Florida, points out the International Code Council recommends 16-18 inspections per day. The Insurance and the Insurance Services Office recommends 10.
“I would consider those as average. There are many factors that can increase or decrease the number of inspections per inspector/day. Type of inspection and distance of travel between inspections will have an impact on how many inspections could be done correctly in a time period. Each jurisdiction may have different procedures on handling the daily load,” Yantorno wrote in an email.
Hillsborough county administrator Mike Merrill is aware of the issue.
“So I’ve asked my staff to look at it, the history, look at the workload, let me know, and we’ll respond accordingly,” Merrill said. It took the county’s communications office nearly two weeks to provide someone who could comment on camera about the workload issue. News Channel 8 asked why there was a delay. “I don’t know, I don’t know how long it’s taken, but I’d have to ask Liana. I can’t answer that,” Merrill said.
The county finally provided director of development services director Adam Gormly, who oversees building inspectors. Gormly’s background is as a county attorney who previously represented the building department. He insists the first priority is quality inspections, rather than the number of inspections. “There should not be any pressure felt by staff to perform a number of inspections beyond what they can safely perform and insure that quality work is being done,” Gormly said.
