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The county spent $150,000 to bring in an outside group to re-inspect 2,749 homes to determine whether roof trusses were fastened together correctly. Nearly 670 homes needed repairs.
County administrator Gary Kubic then decided to spend another $15,000 to get the department reviewed and accredited, in large part to restore its damaged credibility.
To say county inspectors are on notice that they need to be careful inspecting homes in Sun City -- especially roof trusses -- is an understatement.
And yet again, a licensed home inspector reports that county inspectors aren't catching trusses that weren't fastened together or braced according to specifications in Sun City homes.
Tony Kunich, hired by Sun City homeowners to inspect the houses before their one-year warranties expire, also says one county inspector ordered him to stop writing down that trusses were improperly fastened.
Enough. Kubic should bring together Kunich; Arthur Cummings, the head of the county building codes department; someone from the accreditation group; and representatives of Sun City developer Pulte to get this matter resolved.
The accreditation group, International Accreditation Services, has said inspectors were given "focused training" on how trusses should be properly installed. But the group also has said audits to determine whether the building department is adhering to policies and procedures are not conducted.
If this group wants us to believe that the county department is worthy of "accreditation," it needs to do more than make sure paperwork is filled out correctly. Someone from the group should check behind inspectors to make sure they're doing what they're supposed to do on inspecting trusses and other aspects of construction.
Kunich says Pulte promptly responds to homeowners' request to fix problems found. The missing pieces of this equation seem to be getting construction workers to do the work right in the first place and getting inspectors to consistently and properly inspect this aspect of construction.
If Cummings or any of his inspectors aren't up to the job, they should go. In this slow construction market, the workload for inspectors is no longer an excuse.
And the roof truss problems still raise the question: What else are inspectors missing?
That credibility issue is what accreditation was supposed to fix. Kubic should make sure it truly is fixed and not papered over.
