Inspections at senior communities have become increasingly more difficult to obtain in most communities and states. The primary reasons for the sum of the inspection complexities are as follows:
- The number of communities that have licensed plan examiners for both civil and building design review is constantly reducing due to budget constraints in the communities.
- The lack of municipal review capabilities has caused these plan examinations and inspections to be turned over to third-party reviewers that get paid for each review and inspection.
- Budget constraints at the State Department of Health and State Fire Marshall’s office which is causing ever increasing plan review delays in the state’s that require plan inspection prior to the start of construction and the timeline in all states for final inspections.
- The current building code being enforced in most states requires a number of special inspections to have to occur as part of the normal inspection process which can cause delays depending on the availability of the third party reviewer selected for each special inspections.
The additional timelines and the additional inspections are not all bad things. The additional reviews help provide a very thorough review process which helps assure that all code requirements are complied with on today’s healthcare projects. The project teams have to make sure adequate timelines are provided at the beginning of projects for plan approval and at the back end of senior projects to allow adequate time for the required final inspections.
Brian McCarthy
Executive Vice President, Midwest Construction Operations
Executive Vice President, Midwest Construction Operations
The Douglas Company
