Clark County, WA is Leading the Way on Virtual Inspections

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, few considered the idea of virtual inspections. It seemed like a foreign concept for an industry that had developed and established a successful set of procedures to ensure the safety and compliance of new buildings, modifications and renovations. But long before stay-at-home orders and social distancing became the norm, Jim Muir, former Building Official for Clark County, WA, saw the potential in conducting inspections virtually.

The idea came about when one of his inspectors, Boyd, was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2012. Boyd was an incredibly dedicated inspector and wanted to continue working while on light duty, so Muir suggested that he remain in the office and conduct re-inspections over FaceTime video calls. There were some initial objections, but Muir wasn’t deterred. He pushed for solutions to every possible obstacle and was determined to give it a fair try.

“The five bolts that might not be tight or missing or whatever can easily be examined by video after the corrections are made,” said Muir.

He was right – and in time, Clark County expanded its virtual inspections program to cover some first-time inspections.

Consider the normal, multi-day process for installing a water heater. First the technician arrives on site to complete the installation. Then an inspector is required to come out and check the technician’s work; if any violations are found, the technician will have to return another day. After those corrections are made, the inspector must come back once more to make sure that everything is up to code.

All told, homeowners may have to endure as many as four visits and, if they don’t work remotely, take off as many as four days of work to accommodate the technician and inspector visits.

“It was ridiculous,” said Muir. “We eliminated all that two years ago. The technician, while he’s on the job site, needs to do a real-time video inspection. Initially, there was a lot of pushback – ‘You can’t make us do that,’ they said. But our goal was to make it easier for their customers and, really, their technicians. Then the dynamic moved, and things got interesting.”

Virtual Inspections Encouraged Technicians to Better Understand Code Requirements

Before Clark County transitioned to real-time virtual inspections, it wasn’t uncommon for technicians to perform work without knowing much about the building codes. This wasn’t necessarily the intent, but the person who made the installation was not always the one who made the corrections. Thus, the connection between the installation and the code requirements for that installation were not tied together as clearly as one would hope.

“With the technician now required to do the inspection virtually, all of a sudden they realized the things that were important that they had to do,” said Muir. “It’s gone from the inspector walking around and looking at things to the technician walking the inspector through. The technician would explain, ‘Here’s exactly what I did. I put in my pressure relief valve, I’ve got my clearances for my line sets, it’s all taken care of.’”

If any problems are discovered, the technician is required to make the corrections right then and there – they will not be given approval to simply walk away and return at a later date.

“I would tell other jurisdictions in Oregon, Washington and other places, ‘We’re doing these video inspections on FaceTime and it really is a game-changer,’” Muir recalled. Similar to the water heater example, he said the process for framing a house can lead to several visits between contractors and inspectors. He wanted other building officials to know there is a better way.

“With video inspections, you would get your corrections from an inspector on site and in the moment,” he said. “I told other jurisdictions about this over several years and everyone was like, ‘Jim and his crazy ideas.’ Then along came COVID and the number of calls I got [skyrocketed] – suddenly, they all needed remote video inspections!”

New Technology Makes Virtual Inspections Easier Than Ever

While Clark County used FaceTime and Skype initially, the county now uses Blitzz, a video engagement platform, to perform virtual inspections. But it’s far from the only solution available to building officials.

Municity, a cloud-based permitting and inspections solution used by over 250 jurisdictions, also offers virtual inspection capabilities.

“Municity allows the inspector to be brought to the site via the phone, tied back to the software,” said Dan Foster, General Manager for ICC Community Development, a subsidiary of the International Code Council. “The advantage for our users is that the inspector, while he’s being taken through the inspection, can stop and say, ‘Hold that right there.’ He can initiate a photograph, which will be downloaded as part of the inspection record within Municity. The inspector can make all his notes within Municity so that information relative to the inspection will be captured within the software.”

With more options coming into the fray, Muir’s hope for the future of virtual inspections may finally become a reality.

“Virtual inspections should be the industry standard,” said Muir. “Millions of hours of time are being wasted by back-and-forth inspections on these kinds of installations.”

In addition to the benefits of virtual inspection technology, Muir was also happy to embrace the use of drones when he was Clark County’s Building Official.

“This is another new tech that’s a game-changer,” Muir explained. “You can have your drone 500 yards away from something, zoom in and read a label on the side of an air conditioning unit. It’s amazing technology! Instead of walking a roof and looking at the nailing pattern, the inspector on the ground can put his drone up there and count nail heads.”

Clark County’s success with drones has caught on – now building officials from the county are performing demonstrations for other jurisdictions and building officials to highlight the benefits of drone technology.

“It’s more efficient, safer, and much quicker,” Muir added.

Embrace Virtual Inspections to Better Serve the Public

Muir said that building departments that want to follow Clark County’s lead can start by checking their preconceptions at the door.

“Do things because they make sense, not because it’s the way they’ve always been done,” Muir urged. “Evaluate your service and [strive to] understand what the customer needs. Don’t be afraid to try to do something different. And be more engaged with the public – technically you’re regulators, but really, you’re service providers.”

Learn more about Municity 5 and its solutions that cater to an ever-evolving Community Development space, here.