When you enter a home or any other building, most likely you’re not thinking about whether it is properly constructed and safe. Fortunately, your local safety experts think about building safety and fire prevention every day. To raise awareness of building safety, the City of Eugene is celebrating Building Safety Month during May.
“As our community grows and density increases, the public’s safety and wellbeing is our top priority” said Kyle Richardson, Building Inspection Supervisor. “We’re collaborating daily with owners and builders to construct and maintain a safe and prosperous community. During Building Safety Month and all year long, building safety and fire prevention officials are here to help protect you, your family and our community.”
Last year the City of Eugene’s Building Inspection Team conducted over 3900 inspections of new construction and remodels every month – about 180 per day.
In honor of Building Safety Month, Eugene Building Inspectors and staff will answer questions and provide information about building permits at four local home improvement stores from 8:00am to 12:00pm on Saturday, May 10. Staff will be available at:
• Jerry’s Home Improvement Center, 2600 Highway 99 N
• Home Depot, 808 Seneca Road
• Home Depot, 1045 Green Acres Road
• Lowe’s Home Improvement, 3595 W 11th Avenue
It will also be an opportunity to view the new “mobile office” building inspection van that bring the tools usually associated with an office to the job site where the construction takes place
Earlier this year, the City’s Building Inspection team was honored by Mayor Kitty with an Employee Recognition Award at the 2014 State of the City Address in recognition of their commitment to excellence, innovation, and professionalism in their work.
This team continues to develop innovative ways to serve the community, both in the office and at the construction sites. They focus on building partnerships with builders, contractors, tenants and owners to identify potential problems before they occur and working collaboratively to reduce costs and complete projects on-time. They have created mobile work stations for inspectors, built an online building permit search system and launched a smartphone app to easily schedule inspections.
First observed in 1980 as Building Safety Week, Building Safety Month is sponsored by the International Code Council, an organization dedicated to building safety and fire prevention. The International Code Council maintains the codes used to safely construct most buildings, including homes, factories, offices and schools. The building safety codes are uniform across every community and county in Oregon as well as adopted by most U.S. cities and counties.