The 411 - News You Can Use About Broward Schools

Building Department Takes on Proactive Duties

The District's Building Department has taken on a new role that is saving the District both time and money during the construction process. In addition to its inspection responsibilities, the department now participates in the plans examination (pre-construction) process. According to Chief Building Official Lee Martin: "This allows for an efficient and cohesive plan review process, reducing the time required to process plans. As a result, additional time and costs are saved in the construction process by eliminating change orders that caused delays." The net result should be a greater percentage of facilities completed on schedule with a high level of quality and within budget.

Chief Plans Examiner Eugene Adach and soon-to-be hired employees in building, plumbing, electrical, mechanical and clerical positions will process the new wave of construction project documents as the District attempts to gain ground on the student station shortages. The District's system of plan review is a three-stage process: Phase I establishes the shape, size and appearance of the project with its major components; Phase II refines the design details; and Phase III becomes a completed set of construction documents for the contractor to use as he builds. Currently, there are approximately 25 major capital expenditure projects under review for permitting.

Inspectors are now rotating throughout the Innovation Zones providing inspection services for Property Management, Maintenance and Facilities and Construction Management. They interact with school-based staff, design consultants and contractors. This rotation provides an opportunity for inspectors to work for a brief period at all facilities throughout the District enabling them to see the function of an Innovation Zone from an Area Superintendent's perspective (i.e., how the critical need for space is affected by the timely completion of projects). The rotation also allows the inspectors to become familiar with facilities and related personnel on a District-wide basis, creating a stronger network with the safety and health of students and staff as the goal.

Did You Know ...
• That the District's Safety Department is responsible for conducting annual comprehensive safety inspections for every facility that is either owned or leased by the School Board? (Currently, there are more than 300 sites that are inspected annually.)
• That the department is also responsible for the inspections of all charter schools within the District?
• The Annual Comprehensive Safety Inspection Report is actually three reports in one? It includes fire, casualty and sanitation safety issues.
• The state requires that inspections be conducted by both the School Board and local fire departments? (Both departments perform Inspections jointly.)
• During the 2002/2003 school year, Safety Department inspectors issued 12,804 violation notices to be handled by the District Maintenance Department and 5,352 violation notices to be corrected by onsite school staff?
• These reports are posted on the Safety Department's Web site at http://web/safetydept and are updated regularly to include work order numbers issued by our COMPASS Department?
• Beginning this year, the Safety Department will conduct re-inspections of all sites inspected during the school year? (These re-inspections will be completed by April of this year.)