Orlando Sentinel - Day 6 of 8

November 9, 2003

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/growth/orl-housingmain09110903nov09,1,4022034.story?coll=orl-dp-weekend-2-main

BUILDING HOMES: BUILDING PROBLEMS Code, inspections let flaws throughBy Dan | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted November 9, 2003

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HOW WE DID IT

We inspected more than 70 areas of every home. For details on how the series came together, click here.

ABOUT THIS SERIES

Oct. 31A yearlong investigation of housing construction in Central Florida shows that new homes are riddled with problems large and small, the result of builders who are constructing too many homes too fast, with not enough trained workers and inadequate oversight. Nov. 2New houses in Central Florida are likely to have heating and cooling problems; cracked walls and windows; mold and poor drainage. But many homeowners experience far more -- and worse -- than that. Nov. 3The new homes of greater Orlando aren't really built by the builders who sell them but by tens of thousands of anonymous men and women who work for subcontractors. They're often rushed, poorly supervised and poorly trained. Nov. 4 The production builders who dominate the Central Florida market are part of large national corporations. So the biggest investment Bali and Quinones have ever made is one of 20,600 "units" sold by their builder nationally in 2001. Nov. 5 Salano and Zavalla grew up together in a small town in the south-central highlands in Mexico. Soon, they'll have something else in common: Orlando. They're among the thousands of Mexicans who have migrated, or intend to migrate, here to work construction. Nov. 9 The state building code -- and the often-overworked, sometimes-careless inspectors who enforce it -- offers little assurance that a buyer will move into a well-built home. Nov. 10 From keeping regulators at bay to stopping legislation they oppose -- such as a bill that would have fined them $1,000 a day for being late in completing a house -- Florida's home builders are among the most powerful groups in the state. Nov. 11 Too many buyers accept problems in their houses because they don't know they are there or are eager to move in and figure the faults can be fixed later. In fact, new-home buyers have only limited leverage with their builders -- unless they're prepared to walk away.

PHOTO GALLERY

Graphics: Building Homes: Building Problems

Whenever the rain falls on Hefeli's two-story house in southeast Orange County, she can see right through the stucco and trace the outline of every concrete block in the walls.Once inside her $175,000 home, she can't use the handrail up the stairs because it is so loose it might pull out of the wall. Some of the baseboards are peeling away. In the kitchen, there's a growing gap between the counter and the wall. And the smoke detectors tend to fall from their mounts on the ceiling."How can something like this pass?" asked Hefeli, who moved into her home just before Christmas 2001.Actually, none of the problems in Hefeli's Centex-built home violates any part of the Florida building code, which sets minimum standards for the structural systems and materials that go into a house. Hefeli's issues fall into the categories of craftsmanship and aesthetics, neither of which is covered by the code."Those are not the type of things we look at," acknowledged Bob Olin, Orange County's acting chief building official.In fact, a yearlong investigation of new-home construction in Central Florida by the Orlando Sentinel and WESH-NewsChannel 2 found that the state building code -- and the often-overworked, sometimes-careless local inspectors who enforce it -- offers little or no assurance that a buyer will move into a well-built, fault-free home.The bottom line: Building inspectors look out for the structural integrity of a house -- but no one really is checking the quality of the construction."Caveat emptor [buyer beware] is the rule," said Wean, an Orlando attorney specializing in real estate.The Sentinel and WESH also discovered:

Significant differences in the way the code is enforced by the major jurisdictions in Central Florida. Though the code is part of state law, it's enforced by inspectors working for counties or cities.Lake County, for example, employs a building official who passes more than 99 percent of his inspections. The entire Osceola County Building Department, on average, passes almost 95 percent of its inspections.By contrast, one in four inspections in Seminole County ends up with a so-called red tag signifying the work was not good enough. One Seminole building official flunks more than half of his inspections.

Building officials are overburdened, on occasion conducting 40 inspections a day or more. That is at least twice what is considered by experts to be a reasonable daily workload.With too much to do and too little time to do it, inspectors can -- and do -- miss code violations. A Sentinel-WESH inspection of 406 Central Florida homes built in 2001 turned up 132 apparent violations of the state's building code -- the most common being stoves not attached to the walls.It's possible more were missed. Many areas checked by building officials could not be scrutinized by the Sentinel/WESH inspectors because they were covered by concrete, drywall and insulation.

Houses "built to code" -- with no evident infractions -- are still likely to have fit-and-finish flaws.The most common faults found by Sentinel/WESH inspectors -- leaky windows and roofs; mold; rooms that can't be adequately heated or cooled; cracks in floors and walls -- are not covered by the code, which sets only minimum standards. As a result, building inspectors ignore them.Said Bill Lang, a custom builder who works mostly in Lake County, "They [the inspectors] have nothing to say about workmanship. They have no say. I wish they could."Building codes' long historyBuilding regulations go as far back as the time of Hammurabi, about 1800 B.C. Then, as now, they dealt mainly with minimum standards, emphasizing structure and safety concerns.The stakes were a little higher then. If a house was so poorly built that it fell down and killed the owner's son, the builder's son was put to death.Boston was one of the first American cities to adopt a code, outlawing in 1630 thatch roof coverings and chimneys made with wood. And as codes developed in America, they focused primarily on safety and structural integrity.The code sets minimum standards for everything from air-conditioning ductwork to the amount of reinforcement in a foundation pad; the thickness of wood on the roof; and the amount of insulation in the attic. There are literally thousands of standards -- often spelled out in enormous detail.Consider how precisely the Florida Building Code specifies how to test a window's ability to withstand hurricane-force winds. "In the case of windows, the doors, and sliding glass doors," the code says, "a pressure-treated nominal 2-x-4 wood buck #3 Southern Pine shall be used for attachment of the specimen to the test frame/stand/chamber."But the code says nothing about how well -- or badly -- all those elements come together. It doesn't require that openings for windows be square and true -- and properly caulked so they don't leak. It doesn't require that all ducts provide consistent airflow, so one room isn't colder or hotter than another. It doesn't set a time requirement for a pad to "cure" (so it won't crack), or mandate that sheeting on a roof lie flat and level so the shingle line won't be "wavy."Dale Greiner, Lake County's director of building services and a member of the Florida Building Commission that oversees the code, bluntly sums up the code's standards: "To be perfectly honest, it's the cheapest way to build a box."Still, building officials say their role is critical because their bottom line is the safety and structural integrity of the house.They are, they maintain, a set of independent eyes, charged by law to ensure that the walls are sturdy enough so the house won't fall down, that the wiring won't short-circuit and cause a fire, that the roof will stay on in high winds."What we are looking to do is get the house built right," said Olin of Orange County.Some aren't so sure."If it meets the letter of the code, it could still be almost falling down," said Kelvin Eder, a private house inspector and builder.Inspection philosophy variesThe major governments in the region operate under different inspection philosophies -- and it shows in the pass/fail rates logged by their employees.A review of records from 2000 to this June in six counties revealed that Seminole flunked the most inspections, at 27 percent; followed by Polk at 21 percent; Orlando and Volusia at 19 percent; Lake, at 13 percent; Orange, at 12 percent; and Osceola, at less than 6 percent.In Lake, Orange, Volusia and Osceola counties, according to officials in each, the inspectors try to "get along" and cooperate with the builders, particularly when there is a dispute over a construction issue.Inspectors might not flunk an inspection when there is a problem, choosing instead to come back another day during a different check to see whether the original error was corrected. Only if the problem persists is it noted and a reinspection fee charged.Ken Scheitler, Lake's chief building official, said being amiable is the most practical approach, because it is impossible to watch everything a builder does at every single house."There has to be some kind of trust," he said.Added Olin of Orange County: "Some guys are going to not pass [an inspection] because that's the way they are. They take pleasure in turning someone down. What we are trying to do is get the house built right."Osceola's chief building official, Jeff DeBoer, said he counsels his inspectors to "build a relationship with the contractor . . . their superintendent and representatives."But disgruntled homeowners say a "work with the builder" approach encourages inspectors to get too cozy with construction superintendents, resulting in approval of slipshod construction.That's why other counties say they go by the book, not the builder."We're strict, but we're fair and reasonable," said Larry Goldman, Seminole's chief building official. "When the big hurricane hits, we still want our homes to be standing in Seminole County."Seminole, Polk and Orlando officials say they track their pass/fail rates because they think they are an important barometer of how effectively their inspectors are performing. They said they do not have a pre-set goal for rejection rates.Goldman, though, said he would be worried if one of his inspectors passed more than 99 percent of his building checks -- as has happened in Lake -- and likely would go out with him to make sure he was doing his job correctly. Goldman said he recently fired one inspector for consistently rushing through his inspections.Approach differsInspectors typically visit a house 10 to 15 times during the course of construction. They're supposed to eyeball the materials used and how they were installed. But when they are in a rush, they check paperwork instead.For example, inspectors often will look at a tag saying insulation was blown into an attic and move on, rather than climbing up and making sure.In fact, many can't climb up and look -- because they don't carry a ladder on the truck. They either inspect roof work, hurricane straps, the tops of block walls and insulation from the ground -- sometimes using a mirror mounted on a long pole -- or hope the builder has a ladder on site they can borrow.Some jurisdictions, such as Osceola, don't issue ladders -- saying they don't want their inspectors to put themselves in situations that could result in a fall or damage to the house.Some inspectors aren't particularly observant.In June, Orlando inspector Bargaineer was checking footer setups at a Weekley homesite in the tony Baldwin Park subdivision. Running across the trench on one side of the foundation area was a 6-inch pipe, left from the days when the land was the site of the Naval Training Center. This was a potential code violation, because the rules say the footers -- which will support the weight of the walls and roof -- must be clear of debris before cement is poured.Bargaineer, a 17-year veteran, ignored the pipe and approved the setup. Days later, the Sentinel and WESH gave a picture of the pipe to Mike , Orlando's chief building official. He suspended Bargaineer for three days without pay.Both Bargaineer and a representative of Weekley -- which subsequently cut out the part of the pipe that intruded into the footer trench -- would not comment. said Bargaineer told him he could not recall whether he walked around the entire foundation area before approving the inspection."I hope it's an isolated incident. I prefer to leave it at that," said.'Too much territory'Builders praise government inspectors, saying they work hard to ensure houses are constructed correctly."They're knowledgeable, and they're great," said Hannigan, a small custom builder and immediate past president of the Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando.But Hannigan concedes that the inspectors often are asked to check on too many homes. Area agencies typically promise next-day service once an inspection request is called in. Orlando pledges same-day service if the call comes in before 7 a.m.Orlando has 31 building inspectors, and they conduct nearly 70,000 inspections a year. The city hasn't added a new inspector in years, although said the workload has increased so much that he will seek to hire seven next year.Orange has 87; Seminole, 25; Osceola, 21; Polk, 20; and Lake, 17. Most have added inspectors in recent years -- Osceola picked up 15 during the past five years -- to try to keep up with the building boom.Almost 18,000 homes a year have been built in the region since 2001; about 23,000 will be built this year. That translates into at least 200,000 inspector visits, and as many as 345,000, each year.Experts say that 16 to 20 inspections are considered a full day's work. But government records show that building officials in metro Orlando conducted at least 21 inspections a day more than 2,900 times since October 2000."A lot of compromise comes from having too much territory to cover," said Alan Mooney, president of Criterium Engineers, a private home-inspection service operating in 35 states, including Central Florida.Some inspections take only minutes -- for instance, making sure the sewer line from the house is connected to a septic tank or the wastewater system. The inspector looks into a trench, checking that the pipes are connected and running downhill from the house.A framing inspection, however, can take far longer. The inspector is supposed to check a variety of elements, including the hurricane straps that attach the roof trusses to the walls of the home, the bracing of the roof trusses and the connection of load-bearing walls to the concrete foundation. That might take 30 minutes for a small, basic production house; a large, custom house with an elaborate roofline could consume three hours, according to Ron Resch, a certified private building inspector and former general contractor who is a paid consultant to the Sentinel and WESH.The Sentinel and WESH followed three different inspectors -- without their knowledge -- for several hours each and never witnessed a check taking more than 30 minutes, including at least three framing inspections on larger homes.One inspector worked for Orlando and was checking houses at Baldwin Park; the other two were employed by Lake County and were going over homes in the bustling Clermont area.Chief building officials in Orlando and Lake defended their inspectors, saying they were diligent workers who do their jobs well. As for rushing through their inspections as observed by the Sentinel and WESH, Lake's Scheitler said, "That sounds atypical. That doesn't sound like any of my guys."Said of Orlando: "Are we in a hurry to do inspections? Sometimes I think we are."'You just can't do it'Reporters also retraced the steps of Orlando building inspector Godin, who completed 36 inspections at 32 separate houses in southeast Orlando during one eight-hour shift June 7, 2002.His day was chosen because it was not an abnormally high or low schedule for an Orlando inspector.Godin drove at least 45 miles from City Hall to his inspection sites and back. Driving his likely route, observing posted speed limits, took two hours and 20 minutes.Among his inspections were 10 final walk-throughs of homes almost ready for occupancy, four framing inspections and checks of two footers, five stucco and six wall lintels.Walk-throughs and framing inspections should take a half-hour each. Stucco and lintels should take 15 minutes each, and footers 10 minutes.Those estimates were made by Resch, who also studied the records of Godin's inspections and rode along during the retracing of his route.When Resch added up all the inspections, he estimated they should have taken at least 12 to 13 hours. That would include travel, but not a 30-minute lunch break or taking time to talk with builders or workers, which commonly occurs during inspections.When told Godin's timesheet showed he worked eight hours that day, Resch declared, "You just can't do it [in eight hours]" and do it right."The reality of the work is there are days lots of inspections are called in," responded. "Clearly, we would prefer not to do that many inspections."Since taking over this summer, is pushing back inspections a day if too many are called in. He could not say why his predecessor did not adopt a similar policy. also ordered the city to resume collecting the $50 reinspection fee, which is supposed to be charged when an inspector has to go back to make sure a problem he flagged has been corrected. Orlando largely stopped collecting the fee starting in the 1990s. No one -- including , who took over the department in July -- can say why.All of the other major governments contacted by the Sentinel or WESH collect reinspection fees.After starting up in July, Orlando brought in more than $105,365 through the end of October. The fee must be paid before a final certificate of occupancy is issued to the builder.'The quality suffers'For their part, inspectors say they have a lot to do but shrug off the workload as part of the job. Salaries start in the low $30,000s and top out in the mid-$50,000s, depending on expertise and the size of the government.One of their biggest complaints is that they cannot red-flag a builder for bad craftsmanship, such as too little stucco on the walls or a bad paint job or corners out of square. The problem, they say, is there is too much demand for new homes, causing workers to hurry and turn out a mediocre product."When the volume goes up, the quality suffers," said Lake building inspector Larry Schmidt, who flunks more than 22 percent of his inspections.Builders do not support toughening the code to consider quality, arguing the concept is too subjective an issue."That's a slippery slope you go down," said Mike Hickman, president of the Florida Home Builders Association and a custom builder in Lakeland.Some buyers, he said, may put great value on a square corner, but others might not because they are not willing to pay for it.Jack Glenn, the association's director of technical services and a code expert, said the builders don't want a building inspector involved in disputes over issues that are too open to the interpretation of individuals."There's no way an enforcement official can make those determinations without getting into the middle of a mess," he said.Instead, he and Hickman insist, "quality" is an issue best defined between the builder and the buyer.That's of little comfort to Hefeli, a homemaker who moved from Chicago with her family to the Waterford Lakes development because her husband got a new job in the area.Their Centex house was what's known as a "spec," or one built and completed without a specific owner. Centex declined comment.When she and her husband first saw the house, she said, it looked fine. Instead of going over it with a critical eye, she said, they were eager -- and excited -- to move in.Hefeli said she began to suspect her house wasn't as nice as she thought when the smoke detectors began falling the day they moved in."Shouldn't they have standards for this?" she asked.Dan can be reached at 407-872-7200, Category 5483, or dtracy@....

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