Report 2015-134 Recommendation 28 Responses

Report 2015-134: Residential Building Records: The Cities of San Rafael, Novato, and Pasadena Need to Strengthen the Implementation of Their Resale Record Programs (Release Date: March 2016)

Recommendation #28 To: Novato, City of

To ensure that it conducts its resale record inspections and completes the reports in a timely manner, Novato should review its time goals by July 2016 and establish an expectation that is significantly shorter than 10 business days for the period from inspection to report issuance and that is commensurate with the effort required to issue the report. Further, it should establish a time goal for the period of application to inspection. If applicable, Novato should update its policies and procedures to reflect the revised time goals.

6-Month Agency Response

Administrative procedures have been established for the resale program, including time objectives from the date of application to the scheduling of an inspection (7 working days) and from the inspection date to completion of the resale report (3 working days) in the attached Administrative Policies and Procedures.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

60-Day Agency Response

City staff are considering changes in procedures for resale inspections and follow-up that will likely shorten the time a report is provided.

The City's 2016-17 proposed budget includes a combination building inspector/code enforcement officer who will assist in performing resale inspections during peak periods to reduce delays in completing reports when real estate transactions are high.

A revised time goal will be established pending review of the success of procedural changes and enhanced staffing.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2015-134

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.