Construction could come to a halt In Pa. In 2009 If more funds are not made available?
By Nick Markowitz Jr.
There is a looming crisis in 2009 In Pa. becuse of the fact that the 5 yr Grandfather Provision which allowed practicing code officials to continue to do code enforcement while they got there needed ICC cards for there area of specialty with the Passing of Pa. Uniform Construction Code (UCC). Unfortunately communities in many cases lacked the funding to send there inspectors for these classes which can run several hundred dollars each and can cost several hundred more to take the actual test just getting certified to do single family home inspections can run $3500.00 or more per inspector. So late this summer many communities will have no one available to approve plans and do inspections which means either everything is going to have to be sent thru the state labor & industry division and cause tremendous back ups or thru 3rd party groups which are already at maximum with the amount of work they are doing .But either way its going to mean more cost and agravation getting jobs done on time and on budget and with many projects already hanging by a thread many will be cancelled or grind to a halt. A similar thing happened back in 1983 when the state fire and panic act was amended and all fire system plans had to go thru Harrisburg L&I and they where so overwhelmed they finally allowed the local inspectors to approve them . The quick solution would be to allow current inspectors who are grandfathered to continue being grandfathered a couple more years till funding becomes available but at this point there has been no word from L&I or Harrisburg on the matter. As bad as things are right now with the economy something drastic needs done now so This freight train coming down the wrong tracks is stopped and economic disaster avoided. Or the consequences for builders, investors, contractors and communities will be Millions in lost tax revenue, companies and investors bankrupt and even more people out of work.