Two of the many basic services the City provides are to insure that the buildings in which we live and work are safe and sanitary, and that our neighborhoods are orderly, clean, and free of public nuisances. For those purposes the City has adopted various laws and policies that provide minimum standards to safeguard life, limb, and health in buildings; to extend the longevity and serviceability of buildings; to promote appropriate and compatible land uses in our neighborhoods; and to promote orderly and desirable development over time. Those include:

• Construction codes that regulate the location, construction, use, renovation, repair, and maintenance of buildings and their associated equipment;
• Licensing regulations that apply to certain construction trades, and to some businesses;
• Zoning laws that regulate the use and development of land; and

Laws that regulate nuisances within the City, such as unsafe buildings, junk and abandoned vehicles, accumulations of objectionable material, and uncultivated vegetative growth.

Having those regulations however, is not enough unless they are effectively enforced. The City’s original charter recognized that, and it is even more true today. By enforcing those regulations, the Building Safety Department promotes and protects the public health, safety and welfare.

The Building Safety Department also administers two City Commission appointed advisory and appeals boards. Those are the Construction Advisory and Appeals Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The primary purpose of both boards is to provide citizens a method to appeal decisions made by the Building Official and Fire Marshal related to the construction and zoning codes of the City. For further information, please click on the link in the bar to the right.

Finally, the department generates and maintains records for use by the public and by other agencies. Those include records about construction permits and inspections, contractor and construction trades licenses, nuisance complaints, and street address assignments.

Given those functions, the goals of the department are:

• To provide quick and accurate responses to requests for plan review, permit, inspection, license, address assignment, and information services;
• To resolve all observations and complaints concerning building safety issues, nuisances, and zoning violations as quickly as possible within the limits of the law; and
• To maintain current and accurate records, and provide them in a timely manner for use by the public, other departments, and other agencies.

To further those goals this web page is intended to provide you with:

• An overview of the Department
• Basic information about programs administered by the Department
• Answers to frequently asked questions
• Ways to contact the Department with your questions, comments or complaints
• Ways to contact other related agencies
• Notices about the effect of new regulations and policies, as well as their effective dates
• Notices about proposed new regulations
• Information about the advisory and appeals board administered by the Department