Stuff like that is really heartwarming… org identifies they aren’t safe enough and reaches out to an agency with experience in the area, then the agency coming in and helping make stuff safer instead of just writing a bunch of stuff up, charging some fines, and then leaving.
Building inspection is actually like this in my city. If they get a tip about unpermitted work, they just bring the permit application, will waive a few fees so it costs $7.50, and they electronically send it to the office wheee someone approves it immediately. This also enables the owner-builder to request they come by for a pre inspection or for advice. They actually want to keep buildings safe and most of the inspectors were formerly working in the construction industry and hated working with bad inspectors.
That needed some serious political effort to pull off. In many places, fine and fee income is a fixed part of the budget, so it incentivises everyone to optimize for "most amount of fines" instead for "best experience for builders and public safety".
This mentality sounds similar to Peels principles of policing. Get people on side and work to keep them there, ignore minor transgressions when there is a larger goal etc. The devil is in the detail though and achieving compliance is far from easy.
It is my understanding that the get most of their revenue (>95%) from fees charged to larger contractors and developers who all have access to a self serve portal (you just need a contractor license # which is not hard to get). As they build up a history with the city, they do not require as many inspections throughout the construction process (but they are on the hook to fix it if anything is found after the fact). The bare minimum for new construction would be the slab pour or pier/beam foundation setup, electrical, plumbing, framing, and final. For a reno, it’s just final.
For owner-builders there was a series of homeowners insurance claim denials in the 1990s and 2000s because unpermitted work was observed by the adjuster. This resulted in the former occupant simply abandoned the house, leaving a subpar structure, contributing to blight, and lower property values. The city building department made very easy and inexpensive for these people and to get a permit. For minor work, $30 out the door and for major work $87 (assuming you don’t get the discount). This fee includes two free inspections (pre and final) from professionals at the building department, usually same day.
I bought a fixer-upper in 2017, did a full rewire, repiped water supply lines, gas to electric range conversion, trenched 30ft to my detached garage (for 240V/125A power, data, and water), and installed a mini split system. They got to know me well and just instructed me to do a video walk through as they did not have any problems with my work prior. This was only possible because they care more about public safety than fines.
One theory I have is that policy dictates that they cannot issue a fine right away, they must leave a notice of some sort that they owner must respond to (usually by getting a permit, sometimes by arguing it’s not required) or will face a fine. They just cut out the junk in between by helping them the permit right there, which ends up being a good enough experience that most people just get the permit next time.
