What is the Building Construction Resources Department?

Welcome to the Emmet County Building Construction Resources Department, our department is responsible for protecting the health, safety and welfare of the people who live and work in Emmet County by regulating the construction of our built environment to ensure compliance with the construction statutes, ordinances and related rules and regulations.

The Emmet County Building Construction Resources Department was established in 1974 and at that time consisted of 2 employees. Since that time the department has grown to a staff of 8 people all working simultaneously to insure the minimum requirements are being met in the construction industry to ensure the safety and health of the community.

Our office uses two computer programs; Lotus Notes and BS&A Permit Tracking which was designed for the purpose of expediting the processing of permit applications. These systems allow the user to follow permits through all stages of inspections. These stages may include Zoning, Health Department, Soil Erosion and Road Commission approvals. Each system uses a Data Propagator to extract tax and house numbering data based on the tax identification of the property to confirm that property records are correct. The users also have the ability to track Contractors and whether their licenses for performing the work are up to date. After the building permit is approved, the application becomes a Building Construction Resources tracker monitoring mechanical, plumbing and electrical inspections until a certificate of occupancy is issued. There are all sorts of classic workflow functions that keep construction jobs from falling through the cracks for example, warnings when it's been too long between the issuance of a building permit and when the first inspection should have occurred. It also sends electronic mail to department staff to inform them of appointments, meeting, etc.. We are planning on adding enhancement to expose portions of this to the World Wide Web to enable the contractors and homeowners to check the status of permits, indicate that they are ready for inspections, see the status of inspections or to apply for permits on line. Finally, the programs provide accounting information for planning and helping to determine fees to be charged for the various permits issued by the department.

As with any office, there is an organizational chart to identify the responsibilities throughout the department.
Building Official
Assistant Building Official
Inspectors
(Building, Electrical, Mechanical & Plumbing)
Plan Reviewer
Permit Processor
Support Staff

The Building Official is the individual appointed by the Board of Commissioners for enforcement of the building code and to work as inspector, or plan reviewer, or actively engage in the administration and enforcement of adopted building, electrical, mechanical or plumbing codes or any combination of these codes. The Building Official is also responsible for the direction of all employees in the department and sets office policy and procedures as he sees fit in order to provide accurate and efficient service to the public. The Building Official is fiscally responsible for the department's operational income and expenditures, budget preparation and reporting this data annually to the Emmet County Board of Commissioners.

The Assistant Building Official assists the Building Official in setting and implementing office policy and is responsible for administrative duties in the absence of the Building Official. Prioritizes and monitors all aspects of the departments functions and uses independent judgment to reorganize or change the work flow process. Additional duties include acting as Secretary to the Building Construction Resources Department Board of Appeals and at the monthly office meetings, maintains employee time cards and leave records, including employees of the Planning and Zoning Resources, and reports same to payroll department, prepares and submits vouchers for payment of all invoices, mileage, meals and overpayment refunds, processes Building Permit Applications and performs Plan Reviews on construction documents, operates scanner for E-file documentation of records on Lotus Notes application.

The Inspectors are responsible for the administration and enforcement of the construction of buildings, structures or appurtenances under the requirements of the applicable building, electrical, mechanical or plumbing code administered and enforced within the jurisdiction of the employing enforcing agency employing the person. These responsibilities include performing plan reviews and inspections of construction projects as it pertains to their respective fields.

The Plan Reviewer is responsible for examining construction documents to determine whether the construction indicated and described on the plans are in accordance with the applicable edition of the building code and other pertinent laws or ordinances.

The Permit Processor is responsible for the receiving and issuing of all electrical, mechanical and plumbing permits, tracks and maintains contractor license records to insure proper licensing; is responsible for all monies collected and submitting same to the Assistant Building Official for remittance to the Treasures's office, creates and maintains templates and programs for the office use, maintains sub-trade permit billing accounts, is responsible for ordering and distributing code books and other related materials and issues certificates of occupancy upon the completion of construction project.

The support staff is the secretary who is responsible for assisting homeowners and contractors when applying for permits, insures all supplies and forms are adequately stocked and maintains the filing system, operates a multi line phone system and schedules inspections for inspectors, releases all inspected and approved services to the power companies; opens and distributes all incoming mail and prepares all correspondence for mailing. The secretary also operates a scanner for the E-file documentation of records on the Lotus Notes Application.