Date:  March 24, 2020

To:     Miami County Contractors and Permit Holders

From: Mike Davis, Director of Code Services

RE:     COVID 19 Emergency Special Policy and Procedures for Processing of Permit Applications and Inspections

A State of Emergency has been declared in Miami County, Kansas and the state of Kansas in response to the COVID 19 Virus. The purpose of the State of Emergency is to promote social distancing in an attempt to slow the spread of infection from exposure to the virus. In order to protect the public and county employees the Miami County Administration Building is closed to the public however employees continue to work to provide essential services.

The Code Services Department will continue to operate under modified policy and procedures details in this document until further notice. Should the policies and procedures covered in this document change, updated revisions will be posted on our web page at http://www.miamicountyks.org/147/Code-Services . A link is provided on this page to register for automatic notifications when any information is available.

Permit Applications and Processing:

Permit applications can be made through email or by USPS or other commercial delivery services. Staff will continue to process applications and perform plan review in the order that documents are submitted. There are no changes to our standard requirements in the documents or plans that are required to be provided with a permit application. All applications, forms and application instructional guidelines can be found through the buttons and links on the department web page at http://www.miamicountyks.org/147/Code-Services . Our department email and mailing addresses are also provided on this web page.  

Inspections:

Most inspections will continue to be performed. Staff will take extra precautions to practice social distancing and ask that contractors, subcontractors and property owners cooperate to protect the health and safety of all concerned. The following guidelines will be followed by county staff during scheduling and performing inspections.

• Scheduling inspection will continue to follow the current procedure of scheduling an inspection the day or more prior to an inspection being performed. You will be asked for a phone contact name and number so the assigned inspector can contact you on the day of inspection.
• On the morning that the inspection is scheduled the assigned inspector will make contact to verify that the inspection is still needed and to:

• Give a two hour window during working hours on the time frame they will be on site for the inspection.
• Confirm that only minimal workers be present on the project and that any workers can either isolate themselves away from inspection staff or go to their vehicles for the duration of the inspection. Any workers on site will be expected to maintain at least a 10 feet separation from inspection staff.
• Confirm that the work being inspected is in a non-inhabited structure. Inspection staff will not enter an occupied residence to perform an inspection unless the work is for essential health or safety concerns.
• Inspection staff will ask screening questions to confirm that any workers that will be on the project at the time of the inspection do not fall into high risk category for potential infection of COVID 19.
• During the inspection:
  • The assigned inspector will exercise their discretion and evaluate their risk for exposure.
    • Should the inspector feel unsafe they may terminate the inspection and leave the site.
    • Inspections will not be rescheduled until the inspection staff has assurance that any conditions that caused the termination of an inspection have been corrected.
  • Third party inspection reports will be acceptable for any structural component of a building system.

• Staff will issue a report approving the work covered by third party reports.
• Work should not proceed until approval is confirmed by inspection staff.

• Subject to discretion of inspection staff, some work may be allowed to be inspected through submittal of photographs.
  
  • Authorization to utilize photographic depiction of work must first be obtained and work is not approved until a report is issued by inspection staff.

Sincerely,

J Michael Davis, MCP

Director of Code Services

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You may contact us by phone or email:

   Building Code Services:  (913) 294-4145
   Environmental Health:    (913) 294-4117
   Email address:               comdev@miamicountyks.org

Electronic Submittal Policy

Payments or applications may also be mailed to us:
           Miami County Code Services
           201 S Pearl St, Ste 201
           Paola, KS 66071

To receive updates on any changes, sign up at http://www.miamicountyks.org/list.aspx

The Code Services Department has notification groups for Building Trades Contractors and Onsite Wastewater Contractors.  The county also has a new COVID-19 Updates group.

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The code services department is assigned responsibility for enforcement of the codes and regulations related to construction and onsite wastewater systems, enforcement of regulations related to property maintenance and operation of three sewer treatment facilities. Compliance with the adopted codes and regulations is accomplished through reviewing plans and documents related to construction, periodic inspections of construction in progress, licensing of contractors and investigation of complaints.

The mission of the code services department is to protect the safety, health and welfare of the public and preserve property values through efficient, effective and reasonable enforcement of codes, standards and regulations relative to the construction and use of buildings and property.

Building Code Services

Building Permits, Inspections, Licensing, Codes and Regulations 

Contractor Licensing

Contractor Licensing

Environmental Health

Sanitary Code, Septic Systems, Water Wells