I enjoy posting photographs submitted by code inspectors. This one is from Kelly Anbach of South Carolina. What would you do as an inspector if a neighbor complained?
8 Children Die in Fire in Building with Code Violations
Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching Advanced Legal Aspects of Code Enforcement for Property Maintenance Inspectors for the Missouri Association of Code Enforcement at Lake of the […]
Same old excuses
Having prosecuted many owner/landlords, I have heard lots of excuses for the violations on their properties but they are all very similar. I started pondering this after reading […]
Contempt of court – a powerful enforcement tool
What can be done when a defendant refuses to obey a court order, whether it’s fixing up properties or turning over documents? The solution is the contempt power […]
Lack of sprinklers in residential high rises
Failure to retrofit older residential high rises with sprinklers continues to be controversial given the recent publicity surrounding the death of a man because of a fire in […]
Firefighter dies: no permit
A firefighter tragically died in Chicago recently when responding to a call. Unbeknownst to him, the elevator shaft was open where the elevator was being removed, allegedly with […]
Creative use of electrical boxes
I was recently in Columbus, Ohio teaching a couple classes for a conference for OBOA and COCOA. One of the attendees sent me a photograph of a magnetic […]
Inspectors reach settlement in retaliation case
Moreno Valley, CA spent $1.2 million dollars in a settlement after employees alleged that they were retaliated against for following the law and pursuing code cases. A former building official and code […]
German architect sentenced to jail after firefighter dies
Criminal prosecutions are rare in the field of building code enforcement but when there is a high profile death that results from shoddy construction, indictments do happen. Recently […]