My time at the City of New Orleans started right after the Hard Rock collapsed and ended nearly two years later after I graduated from university in civil engineering. The City of New Orleans Building Department is not much different from surrounding building departments. I think, in general, the inspection industry is comprised of many people who don’t know what they are looking at. The difference between the City of New Orleans Building Department and surrounding Building Departments is the scale of structures and the number of permits. My advice would be not to outsource the problem to someone looking to make a dollar. My advice is for the city to increase the salary cap, offer competitive salaries, and to hire experts in the industry with degrees (bachelor/master/doctorate) in engineering. Also, to invest much more time, effort, capital, and resources into training in-house staff. This is how the City can effectively grow a sustainable Department that can function at high levels of competency and consistency. During my time at the City of New Orleans, I advocated regularly for training for myself and training for others within the Department. Years later, although I have moved on to other ventures, my message is still the same: Train the employees on staff. Give them the opportunity to succeed. The Department needs to invest in itself. If you want green grass, water the grass.
It's crucial to invest in proper training and expertise for sustainable growth and competency. Water the grass to achieve greener pastures
I've always heard a good inspector in Nawlins was gatorbait. You can have it.