LaSalle County weighs replacing or re-scoping SafeBuilt inspections after staffing disruptions

County staff told the LaSalle County Land Use Committee on March 4 that the county's building inspection contractor, SafeBuilt, has struggled to provide consistent on-site inspection coverage since the county's inspector left the position. The contractor currently performs plan reviews and remote "video inspections," and county staff have been completing permit review and issuance in-house during the interim.

"They've become unreliable, I would say," Brian said of SafeBuilt's recent performance, describing pauses in inspections and a shift to remote video inspections that require contractors or homeowners to walk a site with a smartphone link. Brian said the remote inspections have been working for many final inspections, but the county has no local on-site contact for contractors with immediate questions.

Committee members discussed several options: retain SafeBuilt for plan review and video inspections on an ongoing trial basis while hiring one full-time or one full-time plus part-time county inspector; advertise a non-union or union position depending on status; contract locally for licensed trade inspections (plumbing, electrical) on a per-inspection basis; or negotiate a re-scoped contract with SafeBuilt that keeps the county's permit and software access.

Brian said he received a per-inspection plumbing-coverage quote from Al Stout in Ottawa and that the county had paid roughly $40,000 for the permit and inspection software setup in prior years. Committee members raised practical points about software migration costs, data ownership and whether SafeBuilt would accept county-provided inspectors for liability reasons. Jeremiah (county staff) advised confirming licensing requirements and whether a county position must be unionized; members noted that, as of 2027, inspectors must be licensed.

The committee directed staff to continue the virtual-inspection trial and to prepare a cost comparison and implementation plan for a possible in-house inspector hire or a revised contract with SafeBuilt. Staff also will ask SafeBuilt whether it would accept county-employed inspectors as site inspectors under a new contractual arrangement.