TELEWORK REVOLUTIONIZES BUILDING INSPECTION PROCESS Code Enforcement uses new technology to maximize efficiency and improve customer service
PROGRAM SUMMARY:
The City of Houston Planning and Development Department’s, Code Enforcement Group strives to remain at the forefront of building code administration. The Group’s Telework Program is yet another example of how goals can be reached through innovative thinking and the maximization of available technology.
The Code Enforcement Group is in charge of inspecting buildings in the City of Houston to ensure their adherence to applicable codes. This service protects the public from potential hazards caused by faulty construction practices and provides a standard for construction methods within the city. To accomplish this mission, the Code Enforcement Group maintains and updates a property information database, issues building permits, reviews building plans for code compliance, maintains information on contractors and licensees in Houston and assists the public with any problems concerning the building code.
The Group’s customers range from homeowners with small construction projects to developers and architects who design and build subdivisions and high-rise structures. In all, there are vast differences in the size of the companies and the way they conduct business, but there is one need they all share: the need for rapid information regarding inspection and plan status.
The purpose of the Telework Program was to develop a wireless strategy for entering inspection results from the field by building inspectors into the Integrated Land Management System (ILMS) a database used to track and report permit and inspection activity.
Contractors, architects and developers rely on this information to manage their projects. By providing inspectors with handheld personal data devices with remote transmission capability, the transfer of inspection data can be completed in a real time environment. This was the primary business requirement driving the initial pilot program. Our customers wanted information as close to real time as possible.
In the past, city-building inspectors would drive to the office each morning and input the previous day’s inspection results into a workstation connected to our mainframe computer. After the implementation of Telework, field inspectors can now leave their homes and drive directly to their inspection zone.
Inspection results are transmitted via handheld computer to the division’s mainframe computer, and are made available to customers through a telephone based interactive voice response (IVR) system and the Internet nearly instantly. Interestingly enough, this system had a cascading effect on Houston’s air quality too. Thanks to instant connectivity the Group is saving mileage and gas which leads to the reduction of pollution causing nitrous oxide (NOx).
