Lyon County inspectors scramble to keep up

Lyon County granted 468 permits to build new homes in Dayton last year.

Fernley saw 1,240 new houses pop up in 2004, an astounding 17.3 percent increase in the number of houses.When waves of home building crash into once sleepy towns, how do building inspectors handle the growth? "We pray for snow," says Gail Loucks, chief inspector for Lyon County.

No kidding, says Jim Nible, interim building official for the city of Fernley.

"This last big snowstorm gave us a bit of a breather because lots of inspections can't be done.

Otherwise we're pulling our hair out."

Lyon County added three new building inspectors to the staff in July 2004, bringing the total to eight.

Although each inspector covers 15 to 18 houses a day, they can't work fast enough to satisfy a developer, who requested that the city inspectors work overtime on weekends, according to Loucks.

That request is under consideration by the county.

"The permitting and inspection process is inundated nationwide," said Lynda Marz, vice president of marketing and sales at Landmark Homes and Development headquartered in Reno."They are doing their best to accommodate the builders and developers, and to expedite all the processes."

Still, she said, buyers find it difficult to wait a year for a home.

The average house requires 13 inspections, said Loucks.

On any given day, a Lyon County building inspector can clock 100 miles, traveling from Yearington to Sweetwater as well as Silver Springs, Silver City, and Mound House.

Fernley,meanwhile, employs a staff of five building inspectors but one of the positions has been vacant for a month.

Pending city budget approval process,more will be hired this year.

On an average day in Fernley, an inspector may certify 19 houses."On other days, it's just incredible," said Nible, noting that a house needs a minimum of eight major inspections.

In addition to the workload of houses already under construction, Fernley must cope with a blizzard of permits for proposed building.

" We were so inundated with plans, the city took up to eight weeks to get something approved,"Nible said.

To clear the bottleneck, Fernley implemented a program of using outside examiners to review the plans for new construction.

The housing boom in Lyon County shows no signs of slowing.

In the Dayton area, for instance, Landmark's plans for 2005 include 60 singlefamily homes at Waterford, plus 122 at Prospect Point,with 100 finishing up at Brookhaven, said Marz.

Looking ahead, she noted that Tradition, a master-planned community with a 10-year build-out,will add an additional 5,000 homes.

Each will need multiple inspections.

People are in the pipeline to fill the building inspector jobs.

Most jurisdictions require a building inspector to have attained journeyman level in one of the building trades and be certified by the International Code Council, said Nible.

College classes are another way to qualify.

Those wanting to become inspectors can enroll in a construction technology program to prepare for the licensing exam required by the state.

A 10-credit, four-class course is offered at Western Nevada Community College, said Laura Lee Redwine in the department of Business and Technology.

So many students enrolled recently that a second section was added, to limit class size at 25.