The 40 year and older Building Safety Inspection Program was created in 2005 and has become effective throughout Broward County in January 2006. Modeled after Miami-Dade County’s program, which was established in the mid 1970s, Broward’s program calls for structural and electrical safety inspections for buildings 40 years old or older and every ten years thereafter. One and two family dwellings, U.S Government, State of Florida buildings, schools under the jurisdiction of the B.C. School Board, and buildings built on Indian Reservations are exempt from this program. Miami-Dade County’s effort exempts other buildings under 2,000 square feet while the Broward program excludes all buildings under 3,500 square feet. Both Counties have had instances of structural building failures. By having such a program in effect we are minimalizing the possibilities of future building failure and will be better prepared for hurricane winds.

 

On the noted website are checklists and guidelines for buildings to be inspected for structural integrity and electrical safety. State licensed architects and engineers will be hired by private building owners to do the safety inspection. The local government has the authority to establish a fee to review the Safety Inspection Reports. The Building Department will review the reports submitted to verify that if the inspecting agency has deemed the structural and electrical systems as safe. If any deficiency is noted, the building department shall follow the guidelines of Policy #05-05.

 

Each June (preceding the specified calendar year), a list of buildings meeting the program requirements are provided to Building Officials from a database that the Board of Rules and Appeals obtains from the County Property Appraiser’s Office. The program is then to be administrated by the City Building Department or the County Building Department and a notification letter is sent.

 

The owner of a building or structure shall then furnish within 90 days the required Safety Inspection forms to the Building Official prepared by an engineer or architect. In the event that repairs are necessary, the owner has 180 days from the date of the building inspection report in which to correct the structural and electrical deficiencies that pose an immediate threat to life safety. Repairs that are incidental and nonlife threatening can be completed at a later date.

 

 

 

 

 

***All information retrieved from the Broward County website