When you think of the fastest-growing cities in America, most of us can probably name at least a few of the usual suspects — Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tenn.; and pretty much anywhere in Florida — but some of the other front runners may surprise you. According to Forbes’ 2018 list of America’s fastest-growing cities, eight of the top 25 spots come from the Sunshine State, but a seemingly inconspicuous Boise, Idaho, topped the charts with a 3.08% population increase in 2017. Looking at new population estimates released in May 2018 by the U.S. Census Bureau, 10 of the 15 fastest-growing large cities are located in the South, and seven come from Texas. Would you believe San Antonio added an average of 66 people per day between 2016 and 2017? That’s a fact, according to Amel Toukabri, a demographer with the Census Bureau, who cites a 1.6% growth rate for that city — enough to push its population above the 1.5 million mark. Some of the other cities posting the largest gains during that time frame included: Phoenix (+24,000); Dallas (+18,900); Fort Worth, Texas (+18,700); Los Angeles (+18,600); Seattle (+17,500); and Charlotte, N.C. (+15,600). As a result of consistent population expansion in certain areas, construction booms tend to follow suit in the residential, commercial and even industrial /infrastructure sectors. As electrical professionals, that’s good news for our readers who work in these locales. Having more work than you can handle is always a good problem to have, right? Apparently, the answer to this question is “not necessarily.”
Freelance Writer Tom Zind tackles the topic of inspector shortages in booming construction areas in this month’s cover story. Read “Inspection Delays Raise Red Flag” to learn why understaffed building departments in some busy regions of the country are struggling to complete timely inspections. Zind investigates whether this phenomenon is a temporary blip or signifies an outright shortage. For example, a 2014 look at “The Future of Code Officials” by the International Code Council and National Institute of Building Sciences suggests the typical code official is between 55 and 64 years old and has worked in the building industry for 26 to 35 years. The report reveals that 30% plan to leave the profession within five years, and 85% within 15 years. “In parts of the country where construction is at a breakneck pace, there’s talk of building inspection departments of cities and other jurisdictions scrambling to keep up with demand,” writes Zind in the cover story. “In some places, they’re evidently failing — constrained by too few inspectors and a surge in requests for electrical/mechanical/plumbing and related official inspections. The result is delays that run counter to policy and impose costs on builders, contractors, and other stakeholders.”
Some sources interviewed for the story report inspection delays of up to 30 days. Granted, in time, the problem of inspection backlogs may prove to be self-correcting (if construction activity reverts back to normal), but that remains to be seen. If these population hot spots continue to explode, the struggle will inevitably continue. Part of the answer may be to hire third-party private inspection services, train multi-discipline building inspectors, and develop new ways to recruit more hands on deck in the inspection arena. If you’ve experienced this problem first-hand, I’d love to hear your thoughts. This is a trend we’ll definitely need to keep an eye on going forward.
