Mr. Simons wrote a long message concerning the Inspections Department, Licenses and the lack of funding. Mr. Simons got the issue only partly correct. The Inspections Department has never inspected roofs from a ladder or climbed on the roof. They have always inspected roofs from ground level and upon completion of the work. Licenses and Inspections both have indeed gone through alot of new inspectors recently. The reason for the change is retirements and the improved economic environment lead to the lost of many inspectors. I do not believe these issues are the reasons for poor roof jobs in MPLS. In April 2000, the State of Minnesota Department of Commerce became the governing agency for building contractor licenses. The City no longer has jursidiction to resolve roofing problems. In the past the License Department would receive and resolve complaints against contractors through the city license. If we could not resolve the issue and the contractor violated city ordinance, action would be taken against the license and a claim would be made against the performance bond. This is no longer the city function. The state governs contractors. The state still takes complaint and action against contractors, however, if the homeowner has a claim for workmanship or code violations, they still must sue the contractor in court. The other problem is that the city building inspectors only have jursidiction on permits for one year after the work is completed. If the leak on the roof occurs after the one year period they no longer can write an order. After that year the homeowner must pursue their own problems. The city fought to keep the city building contractors license and lost after Governor Carlson vetoed the bill. Reality is that the city assistance on contractor issues became greatly reduced after APril 2000.
Julie Casey CIty of Minneapolis LIcenses _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
