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Roof collapse exposes problems in city inspections

The City of St. Petersburg failed to inspect a new roof at Bed Bath and Beyond that collapsed in last Friday's storm because gaps in the inspection process

By CARRIE WEIMAR
Published February 7, 2006

.ST. PETERSBURG - The collapse of Bed Bath & Beyond's roof during Friday's intense rainstorm uncovered a gap in city inspections that officials are scurrying to fix.

A contractor got a permit to put a new roof on the building at 2060 66th Street N on April 4 but the city never inspected the work as required.

The cause of the collapse is still being investigated, so it is unknown whether the city's failure to inspect the roof contributed.

But city officials want the system changed anyway.

While new buildings must be inspected before they can be occupied, building officials say it's common for contractors in St. Petersburg to finish jobs like new roofs or air conditioning systems without an inspection.

"It happens constantly," said Rodney Fischer, executive director of the Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board, which regulates contractors. "There are a lot of contractors who never get final inspections."

That's because there's little incentive.

It's up to the contractor to call for an inspection after the permit is issued. A permit expires after 180 days, but it's unlikely the city will catch a contractor who fails to call because it doesn't track expired permits.

Julie Weston, the city's development services director, blamed the problem partly on the workload: 20 inspectors for 30,000 permits in 2005.

Rick Mussett, the city's development administrator, is considering ways to increase oversight, including creating a computer-generated prompt warning inspectors when a permit is almost expired so an inspection can be done.

"Right now we're reviewing the process to see if we should alter it and put the city in a more pro-active position," Mussett said. He also wants to know what other local governments do.

Some City Council members were surprised the city didn't already have a notification system.

"Anything that keeps us in the loop so we can track these jobs would be good for the city," said council member James Bennett. "It sounds like an idea whose time has come."

Bed Bath & Beyond's contractor was Peach State Roofing Inc. in Georgia. Calls to a company vice president in Florida were not returned Tuesday.

The contractor will probably face a fine for failing to get a final inspection, Fischer said.

New construction and other major projects require inspections before a certificate of occupancy is issued. Progress Energy requires a certificate of occupancy before it turns on the electricity, said Milton Massonet, director of construction services.

But for remodeling work, such as the new roof at the Bed Bath & Beyond, a certificate of occupancy isn't required, Massonet said.

Because the city doesn't track permits, it's hard to say how often St. Petersburg contractors skirt the process. But a 2003 audit found the Pinellas County Building Department failed to conduct inspections on 22 percent of the permits issued during the 2001 fiscal year. That comes to 4,182 permits.

The biggest offender: roofers. Nearly 1,000 of the 3,846 residential roofing permits issued, or 26 percent, were not inspected. For five roofing contractors, between 70 percent and 95 percent of their jobs were not inspected, the audit showed.

So the county now notifies contractors when their permits are about to expire. County Administrator Steve Spratt said contractors are more likely to comply when they know someone is looking.

"Some contractors were sloppy," Spratt said. "This improves the discipline on the part of the industry."

But some contractors take the risk because an inspection may not be in their interest, said Ed Dees, head of the Florida Gulf Coast Building and Construction Trades Council, a group of 15 trade unions.

"Why would they want to do that?" Dees said. "What if the inspector turned them down?"

Dees said he thinks it's more important for the work to be inspected before the job is completed. It's hard to tell much from a finished roof, he said.

St. Petersburg also needs to add more building inspectors, Dees said. The number of construction permits has been rising steadily over the past four years to nearly 30,000 in 2005. The city's 20 inspectors compares to about 50 in Tampa.

But St. Petersburg city council member John Bryan, a former home builder, said he doesn't see a need for more inspectors. He said he hears far more complaints about the city's permitting process, which has been criticized for being slow.

"We have traditionally had inspectors who really know a lot about the business. They seem to be getting the job done," Bryan said. "And while we've seen some improvement in permits, we're still a long way from where we should be."

Bryan also said inspections are more useful before the work is completed and an inspection would have made a difference for Bed Bath & Beyond.

"If they want to do this, that's fine," Bryan said. "But I don't think it's catastrophic that it hasn't been there the whole time."

[Last modified February 7, 2006, 20:32:08]