The City of New Orleans Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a performance audit of the City of New Orleans’ (City) Department of Safety and
Permits (S&P). The objective of the audit was to determine if S&P inspectors (City inspectors) conducted their inspections in accordance with S&P policies and procedures. The scope of the audit was all building, mechanical and electrical permit inspections conducted by City inspectors during the period April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020.
The audit resulted in the following major findings:
- City inspectors did not perform in-person inspections for 20% of the inspections selected for review.
- City inspectors did not spend adequate time conducting inspections, spending ten minutes or less for 40% of the inspections reviewed.
- City inspectors did not upload required documentation into LAMA1 in violation of S&P policies and procedures.
Based on these findings, the OIG made the following recommendations to the City:
- S&P management should update and enforce S&P policies and procedures in order to ensure that City inspectors are conducting on-site inspections. S&P should also verify on a quarterly basis that GPS is installed and working for all vehicles driven by City inspectors.
- S&P should require that City inspectors complete an inspection checklist that details the required steps necessary for each type of inspection. City
inspectors should upload the checklist into LAMA to document that a comprehensive inspection was conducted. - S&P supervisors should perform regular quality checks to ensure City inspectors upload required documentation to LAMA for all
inspections.
Improperly performed inspections could lead to catastrophic and deadly situations. It is imperative that City inspectors perform their inspections in
accordance with S&P policies and procedures before an inspection is passed to ensure buildings and work comply with applicable Codes and approved Plans. Any defect and/or hazardous or illegal conditions in the work, buildings, or plans could result in future building collapses, injury or death to person, or damage to property that could affect the City, its citizens, and its many visitors.
The OIG’s Investigations Division released three Reports of Investigation (ROI) in 2021 that focused on three S&P building inspectors (“three Hard Rock Hotel inspectors”) who performed inspections at the Hard Rock Hotel during its construction. The ROIs determined that the three Hard Rock Hotel inspectors violated S&P policies and procedures in their Hard Rock Hotel inspections,
including the following:
- The inspectors were not physically present on site to conduct inspections of concrete pours for each floor of the Hard Rock Hotel prior to its collapse.
- The Inspectors issued “passed” inspection reports for inspections for which they were not physically present on site.
Due to the severe harm resulting from the violations included in the OIG investigations’ findings, the OIG decided to conduct a separate audit of the S&P
inspections process to determine if inspections by City inspectors occurred in accordance with S&P policies and procedures. The scope of the audit was all
building, mechanical and electrical permit inspections conducted by City inspectors during the period April 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020. Due to the
seriousness of the allegations against the three Hard Rock Hotel inspectors, the OIG divided the total population of inspections conducted during the scope period into two separate populations for review purposes. The first population was all building, electrical and mechanical inspections performed by the three Hard Rock Hotel inspectors. The second population was all building, electrical and mechanical inspections performed by all other City inspectors.
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