Quality Control - Staff Downsizing and Inefficiencies

Faced with downsizing, Fairfax County’s Department of Environmental Management (DEM)* needed a process to assure the structural integrity of residential construction within the restraints created by limited staff and budget resources.

Random Inspections Program - Staff Reorganization

DEM reorganized managerial staff in the field inspection branches by reassigning branch chiefs from trade branches to quality assurance, engineering research, industry liaison, and training development duties. The reorganized "chief engineers" perform random in-depth inspections of construction at unannounced intervals to assure that latent structural defects are recognized and addressed by the builder prior to granting occupancy.

The Quality Control Program is a method whereby construction quality is assessed either before or after a County inspector’s visit. The goal is to provide a cost-effective inspection program that saves both the County and the builder time and money. The process does not interrupt the project time schedule and allows the builder an early intervention to assess and correct deficient procedures without incurring repeated violations. The process has two aspects:

1. Initial inspections by County engineering staff. During the construction of the first home or residential unit within a given project, a team of County engineers reviews the construction "under the microscope" looking for design or construction flaws that, when identified and corrected, will not be repeated throughout the project.

2. Priority inspection quality control. Lists of construction elements are created and prioritized in order of the level of risk a failure of that element poses to the public. These lists are created for each of the electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and building trades.

Quality Control County Engineers, in concert with senior division staff, developed a program to review one or more construction elements. This program includes the number of projects viewed, the specific parts of the construction covered, the reporting format, time line, and recommendations for remediation as necessary. Quality Control Engineers conduct the inspections after the County inspector has completed the inspection and a report is forwarded to senior staff. Senior staff determine acceptable levels of deficiencies noted and takes appropriate action. Re-checks of elements are conducted until senior staff directs the Quality Control Engineers to focus on other priority items. Remedial measures are developed by Quality Control Engineers and may include formal training classes for industry and staff, field exercises, written policies, acquisition of pertinent videos, and briefings.

Two examples illustrate the effectiveness of this program. During the initial construction of a multi-family dwelling project, the County’s initial inspection determined that the configuration of the units’ utility rooms caused inadequate access to the furnace. This is a code violation. The builder was notified early in the project so that a redesign could resolve the issue promptly and avoid the costs that a retrofit usually exacts. The project’s County inspector was briefed and could then ensure that the rest of the project had no furnace access problems.

In another example, a priority item from the electrical list was selected by senior staff and the Chief Electrical Engineer for focus. In Fairfax County, annual electrical inspections of commercial swimming pools and spas are performed by private master electricians. The Quality Control Engineers examined a sample of these sites and identified deficiencies. Senior staff then reviewed the resultant quality control report and closed several public swimming pools because of hazardous electrical systems. In addition, certification reports were redesigned to strengthen the effectiveness of oversight by private inspectors.

The program relies on the combined efforts of four senior staff to provide the initial quality control assessment and subsequent training measures. It may also involve administrative staff.

SAVINGS:

The unmeasurable results of this program are related to the quality of structures built within the County. As an illustration, the amount of time an inspector needed to spend on a house during the entire time it was under construction was approximately 4.5 hours spread evenly over the nearly three month construction process. Today, the inspector spends less than 1.5 hours per house without deterioration in quality. The Quality Control Program in conjunction with other initiatives is responsible. It could be estimated that the County is now able to reduce its inspection costs by over 60% per unit which equates to a per annum savings of approximately $504,000 for the County.

This program and several others were undertaken by DEM’s Division of Inspection Services, making it less expensive to perform an inspection than it did in 1992.

• The program increases productivity and reduces time and costs;
• Allows the builder/contractor to know problems and correct them early in the process, thereby reducing the number of inspections and increasing the quality of work.
• Strong training component.

Drawbacks

• Small jurisdictions probably could not implement it.

The Streamlining Committees designated this program as a streamlined model with the following comment: This model would be most appropriate for medium to large size jurisdictions.

IMPLEMENTATION:

This program was implemented by administrative action of DEM. Yearly operating costs consist of $266,000 for salaries of four staff members and $10,800 for vehicle and office expenses, totaling $276,800.