Data
Below you will find statistical information on the 1st quarter of FY 2023 in the Building Department, and comparison of the current 1st quarter to previous years. Please note, while the building permit process comprises several City departments and regulations, the data below regarding number of reviews and number of inspections only pertains to the Building Department.
Public Outreach and Customer Service
The Building Department strives to provide those interested in the permitting process with continuous communication and transparency through the website, email communications, trainings, and meetings.
Emails blasts:
19 email communications have been sent in the 1st quarter from October 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022, on the following topics: 9 for Training and Meeting notifications (including reminders), 1 on instructions on what to do if a permit has expired, 2 on updated permitting procedures, 4 on Hurricane Preparedness for active construction sites, 2 on flood awareness, and 1 on employee recruitment.
Informational meetings and trainings held from October 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022:
October 20 – Monthly In-person permitting assistance and training.
November 16 – Annual Maintenance Log Public Training
November 17 - Monthly In-person permitting assistance and training.
November 18 - Community Feedback Hybrid Meeting.
December 15 - Monthly In-person permitting assistance and training.
January 17, 2023 – Private Provider training
Upcoming meetings:
Monthly in-person/open forum - Third Thursday of every month.
Community Feedback -Virtual meeting – March 2, 2023, 3pm, Hybrid meeting
# of Appointment served: 683
# of Walk-Ins served: 540
# of calls taken at the Building Department Call Center: 11,055
Customer Survey
Survey results for October 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022: 227 Respondents, Overall 54% were Satisfied or Very Satisfied, 12.7% were Neutral, 32% were Dissatisfied or Very Dissatisfied
Additional Updates
Hiring:
Building Department staffing continues to be a challenge but several proactive measures to identify candidates has allowed us to improve staffing levels.
Recent changes to streamline processes include:
The City Manager’s Office is the process of hiring an outside consultant for the study of the City’s development permit process and is holding biweekly meetings with all Departments involved in the permitting process to identify potential short term improvements. Several Departments are working to cull unnecessary reviews, a software update is scheduled for April with several requested modifications and additional coordination for third submittal meetings is seeking to improve the success of the designers on addressing comments.