City back down to only one building inspector... again.
Good afternoon all, quick PSA. It seems that the city is again back down to employing a single building inspector, with the only two other people who do plan reviews, the building official and commercial plan reviewer (formerly the deputy building official), spending the majority of their time now in the field as well. So, get those permit packages in earlier rather than later, because it might be a while.
According to the building code, from the time the permit holder/contractor notifies the city that the work is ready to be inspected, the city has 2 working days to do the inspection, or is required to accept third party inspections (which the contractor has to pay for and with which they can disagree with the results, of course, but that's a different discussion and may still be better than the delay). Note that it doesn't say anywhere that you have to go through the online portal to request inspections, which often pushes inspections out multiple days. You can also email inspections@charlottesville.gov to schedule (PRO TIP: Don't forget to ask for all your trade inspections at the same time if you need all your rough ins; it's not automatic). Unfortunately, owing to local gatekeeping practices, the approved third party inspector list consists of only two people, so it's currently of only limited utility. However it works out, it's going to be interesting. I'll try to post tips or other input as they occur to me. Feel free to respond and I'll help or explain what I can.