BOARD DEFENDS INSPECTIONS IN CITY

(Last of two parts)

Cape Girardeau building trades contractors who serve on the city's Board of Appeals say complaints against the city's building inspections division are largely unwarranted.

The Board of Appeals was established this year to serve primarily as a forum for contractors to resolve disputes with city inspectors over interpretation of the city's building codes.

The board consists of contractors representing various building trades. The members were appointed to the board by the City Council.

Thomas Phillips, a Cape Girardeau architect who serves on the board, said he thinks many of the past problems with building inspections and the building permit process in Cape Girardeau have been resolved.

Ralph Flori Sr., a plumber on the board, said the city has taken steps to make the building permit and inspection process more efficient and thorough.

Board member Dave Pfeiffer said he thinks the city inspections division is better now than it has been in years.

The city department has come under fire lately from some contractors who have said delays in the permit application process and what they view as dogmatic enforcement of the building codes by city inspectors are hurting development in the city.

Some contractors also are critical of the city's adoption of the updated, 1990 Building Officials and Code Administrators (BOCA) national building codes.

But Flori said adoption of the updated codes, combined with other changes in the way the city handles building permits and inspections, are an improvement.

"The adoption of the '90 codes has simplified the process tremendously, with the exception of just a few minor things," he said.

"We tried to incorporate all the codes under one classification, so that it's all under one city code, whereas before there were separate codes for plumbing, electrical, mechanical and building."

The Board of Appeals reviewed the updated codes last year and recommended the City Council adopt them. It was the first time the city had updated the codes since 1984. The BOCA organization updates the codes every three years.

Flori said that since the adoption of the new codes, there have been fewer problems between contractors and city building inspectors with regard to code interpretations.

"Frankly, we're working in the right direction," he said. "Because the codes are standard across the country, it's just a matter of dragging contractors in this area to something they're not use to dealing with."

Flori said criticism of the inspection department is unwarranted. "There's a more professional inspection department down there than we've ever had.

"There are problems in every business, and they're working on it. The inspection department needs a little growth and training, and that's going to take some time.

"That's part of where the Board of Appeals comes in. With our age and experience we should be able to give a pretty reliable interpretation if there's a problem.

"We're not a little town anymore. We're becoming a city, and we have to develop that mentality," said Flori.

The appeals board has full authority to grant building code variances that can only be challenged in the courts. Pfeiffer said the board's role is important.

"If they go to the inspection department and get an answer that they don't feel is accurate, or feel is mistakenly applied," Pfeiffer said, "then the Board of Appeals is something that's set up in the code that gives them another place to go.

"The board is a part of pulling the whole inspection and permit process (together) to try to make it more uniform and objective instead of subjective."

Steve Higgerson, chief building code inspector, said that not only do contractors have the board of appeals at their disposal, they also can contact national BOCA officials for objective interpretations of the codes.

"It can be used and people need to know they can use that," Higgerson said. "It is a way out with them. We're not dictators and we don't have total authority."

But City Planner Kent Bratton said many contractors still don't realize the board is in operation. The board's responsibilities formerly were taken care of by the City Council.

Bratton said some residents and contractors complained that the old policy "politicized" the appeals process too much. He said the Board of Appeals, made up of contractors, is a "better situation beyond all doubt."

But, Bratton said the policy still has its critics.

"If somebody has a half-baked idea, he's not going to want to go before a board of his peers, who know what they're doing, to try to get it through," he said. "There's less propensity to fly trial balloons just to see if they would fly."

Flori said he thinks many building-code disputes are settled before contractors need to resort to the appeals board.

One case the board did rule on this year involved the city's request for a variance for renovation work at the A.C. Brase Arena Building. Flori said the variance was denied.

Another variance request involved a "rec room" in the basement of a building near the Southeast Missouri State University campus. Flori said the code requires that ceilings be at least seven feet from the floor, but the builder wanted a variance for the six-foot basement ceiling.

"We turned that one down," Flori said. "It just so happens that two of the members of the board, maybe three, are six feet or taller. That's the kind of variance that common sense would not allow you to grant."

Leonard Jansen, a gas fitter who served on an ad hoc committee that recently recommended the city require licensing for virtually all city contractors, said contractor apathy might be a primary reason many contractors aren't using the board.

He said very few people attend the public Board of Appeals meetings, nor did many attend public hearings during the process to update the BOCA codes.

"The people who've done the most hollering weren't present at those meetings," Jansen said. "You didn't see them until after everything was cut and dried and then they started complaining."

Jansen said the city's gas fitters and plumbers have been subject to licensing requirements for many years. He said requiring the rest of the contractors to abide by a similar standard is not unreasonable.

Flori said he thought the additional licensing requirements are "one of the greatest things to come along" since the BOCA codes were updated.

"The real problem we have is so many people working out of their garages and the trunks of their cars, trying to make an extra buck," he said.

"People are asking for a lot of trouble when they use these people. Some of them are very good, and I can't fault them because that's where I started.

"But a lot of them don't intend on getting bigger, they're just trying to supplement their income, and I don't think it's a good situation when they're competing with licensed contractors who have insurance and overhead to worry about."

Jansen said many of the contractors who complain the loudest about the city inspections department bring many problems on themselves.

"Either they've got an incomplete set of plans when they present them to the inspectors, or they're trying to get something pushed through that's contrary to the code," he said.

"Then when the city tells them they have to change it, they make minor changes and try to push it through again. For the most part, the city inspectors are doing their job. It's definitely going in the right direction."

Jansen said some contractors favor eliminating the BOCA code and the permit process to place the burden of safety and code compliance solely with the building inspectors.

"But that's not fair to the inspectors," Jansen said. "They're not out there to direct, teach and educate the contractors. They're just trying to see that it's done properly.

"If it ever gets to the point where the inspectors are the smartest people in this, we've got a problem. That's putting undo pressure on them. We're supposed to be doing our job as contractors and they're just supposed to be making sure everything is up to code.

"The people who are complaining the most are the people trying to get by with the most they can."

Phillips said the changes in the inspection division really amounts to little more than modernizing the city policies. "It's a matter of bringing Cape Girardeau into the 20th century," he said.

Phillips said the underlying force behind all the changes is public safety through quality construction. He admitted that the changes could cause some temporary friction between contractors and inspectors, which might affect development.

"I believe it's going to hurt Cape for a while," Phillips said. "People will tend to go to the fringe areas maybe to build a house, because they don't want anybody looking over their shoulder. But as time goes on, it will be better for the entire area."