Mission:

To provide Oconee County the very best building inspection services in a friendly, courteous, and professional manner to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of our community through enforcement of the adopted Codes and Standards.

Function:

•  Building Permits - A building permit must be issued before starting any new building construction or making additions, alterations, renovations, and demolition of existing structures. Examples of permits are: building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, swimming pools, etc.

•  Building Plan Reviews – A building plan review is required before a building permit can be issued for all commercial construction, all single family construction over 5000 square feet, and all alternate methods or engineering.

•  Building Inspections – Inspections are required per building codes after the building permit has been issued at pre-determined intervals based on the type of permit issued.

•  Manufactured Housing Permits – Every mobile home being set-up in the County must have a moving permit from the Assessors office and a set-up permit and decal from Building Codes in order to have electricity turned on.

•  Unsafe Housing – This is a new program chartered to provide safer housing by requiring the renovation of repairable structures and demolishing structures that are a danger to you or your neighborhood.

Departmental Overview and History:

 The Building Codes Department plays a key role in the safety and welfare of the residents of Oconee County in addition to the collection of revenue for the general funds. The main function of the department is administering the adopted codes to establish the minimum requirements to safeguard the public health, safety, and general welfare from fire and other hazards attributed to the constructed environment. This function is carried out by the process of on-site inspections, performed by the building inspectors and certified plan reviews prior to construction. The department was created in July of 1999 as part of the planning division. Currently, the department has five inspectors and three permit staff who report to the building official.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

1. Continue to provide outstanding customer service in permitting and inspection.
2. Provide consistent code interpretation and communicate this to the public, through written policy manuals, instructive publications, and educational seminars.
3. Provide professional inspections within one day of requests.
4. Provide certified commercial plan review within fourteen days and residential reviews within seven days of application.
5. Provide continuing education and training for all inspectors and staff.
6. Investigate and implement new permitting software to better equip and enable the department to serve its customers, while being fiscally responsible stewards of public dollars.
7. Obtain the top Building Code Effectiveness Grading Classification from ISO to lower insurance premiums on new structures.
8. Comply with SC Department of Natural Resources and Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations concerning floodplain construction.
9. Help keep Oconee beautiful and safe by the development of a code enforcement program.

SERVICES PROVIDED (7/1/05-6/30/06)

-Issued over 98 permits for commercial buildings
-Issued over 1267 permits for residential buildings
-Issued over 397 mobile home permits
-Reviewed plans for over 100 commercial projects
-Total permit valuation over 269 million dollars
-Performed over 9152 inspections
-Collected over $ 900,000 in fees

Accomplishments 

During the 2005-2006 Fiscal Year, the Building Codes Department continued to provide outstanding professional permitting and inspection service, with the following highlights:

1. Continued enforcement of the 2003 International Building Codes as adopted by the South Carolina Building Codes Council.
2. Partnered with the Oconee Home Builders Association for educational opportunities and developing clear avenues of communication with area builders.
3. Integrated plan review and inspection procedures on industrial and commercial projects with Oconee County Rural Fire and local architects to promote economic development.
4. Compliance with the Freedom of Information Act concerning public documents.
5. Permitting Staff obtained a 95% rating on Customer Service Survey.
6. Eligible inspections have been performed the next business day 90% of the time.
7. Inspectors obtained four individual International Codes Council Certifications.
8. Sponsored an International Codes Council Training seminar at Greenville Tech in cooperation with the Tri-County Building Association.
9.  Conducted in-house continuing education with Inspectors on the International Residential Code.
10.  Met with local groups and private citizens in response to complaints or concerns about development in Oconee County.

To provide quality service to our citizens and to protect our heritage and environment for the future by planning for the best utilization of our resources.