PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — In Florida, homebuilders are allowed to hire private provider inspectors whom they pay directly instead of using inspectors employed by city or county building departments.
The process can be more convenient and efficient for homebuilders and reduces caseloads for municipalities.
The I-Team has uncovered that the Pasco County building department is getting multiple complaints about the performance of private providers, and reports indicate they haven't been taking action to hold those firms accountable.
Construction on the rise in Pasco County
Building is booming in Pasco County, thanks in part to the arrival of 50,000 new residents since 2020.
“I’m the green paint guy. I paint things green that need to be fixed,” Stephen Graff said as he marked mistakes in the framing of a new construction home with a can of green spray paint.
Graff owns Inspect-O-Graff Home Inspections.
For the past 30 years, he's been hired to perform start-to-finish inspections of homebuyers.
“I want to find everything I can find and present it, get it fixed, come back and check and make sure it’s all been fixed,” Graff said.
Graff said he often catches builders’ mistakes, and he said that at the construction sites he inspects, what’s going up doesn’t always match approved plans.
He points out those mistakes to contractors throughout the process.
But it’s the job of other inspectors to enforce Florida’s Building Code.
New homes in Florida must pass about 30 separate inspections, from slabs to roofs and everything in between, before a home can be issued a certificate of occupancy.
A certificate of occupancy must be obtained before someone can legally occupy a home.
Private provider inspections increasing
Most building inspectors work for cities or counties, but some, called “private providers,” are paid directly by the homebuilders whose work they’re inspecting.
“There are companies that have an engineer or an architect in charge. They hire employees. They send them out to do inspections,” Graff said.
“Any inspection is only as good as the guy doing the inspection,” Graff said. “It’s about time and how much time is spent looking at the home.”
According to the Pasco County Building/Permit Utilization Report for the fiscal year 2021, private providers conducted 25% of building inspections in Pasco County.
But that number increased to 30% in FY 2022.
John and Margaret Dimina paid $475,000 last year for a Del Webb home in the Bexley Community in Land O'Lakes.
“They’re telling me it’s not their responsibility”
The builder, Pulte Home Company, LLC, hired private provider Weintraub Engineering and Inspections to do inspections throughout the inspection process.
“The way I look at it is Weintraub works for Pulte,” Dimina said.
John, a retired engineer and electrician, sent a letter to Pasco County Building Director Esther Oluyemi complaining about construction issues he said weren’t caught by Weintraub inspectors.
He later met in person with Pasco County building officials.
“They’re telling me it’s not their responsibility. But yet it is their responsibility because they issued the certificate of occupancy,” Dimina said.
Dimina said none of Pasco County’s building inspectors ever went to his home.
“They just took whatever Weintraub supplied to them,” Dimina said.
That’s allowed under Florida law.
In fact, county inspectors don’t even have to set foot on a property for a home to receive a certificate of occupancy.
The idea is that licensed engineers, architects, and inspectors put their professional licenses on the line every time they sign off on an inspection.
Homeowners who have complaints about an individual inspector can file them with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Lawsuit filed against private provider
Weintraub Engineering and Inspections was sued by a competitor in U.S. District Court in 2020, accused of a “long-running fraudulent scheme” … “that jeopardized the public welfare”… “by engaging in fraudulent inspections at every phase of construction.”
The complaint alleged the company “sent unqualified inspectors to job sites” and alleged that owner Jerry Weintraub “instructed WEI inspectors to ignore applicable provisions” of the building code.
Weintraub denied the allegations in court filings and asked for the case to be dismissed, but it was eventually settled.
We contacted Weintraub Engineering and Inspections multiple times about Dimina’s complaints but didn’t get a response.
Pulte said the company addressed the Diminas’ complaints, writing in a statement, “While the home was properly inspected and built in compliance with all applicable building codes, we installed additional HVAC and electrical components in an effort to address the homeowners’ concerns.”
County reports concerns from citizens but doesn’t audit private providers
The private provider issue came up at a Pasco County Commission meeting in August.
No inspection companies were named, but commissioners expressed concerns about the law that allows private inspections.
“We have quite a few homes that have been built that have mold. But because they have been inspected by a third-party provider, there’s nothing we can do,” Commissioner Kathryn Starkey said during the meeting.
“I think some of them are actually using that so they avoid our county inspectors from seeing what’s going on. I think it’s very important that we know it’s being built right and it’s being looked after,” said Commissioner Ronald Oakley.
Under Florida law, counties can audit private inspectors.
Records show that private providers performed 198,000 inspections in Pasco County in the past two fiscal years but did not conduct a single audit.
“The county, the city, or the state must police them. Because if they feel they’re not being policed, they can do whatever they want to do,” Dimina said.
If you have an issue with a private inspector in Pasco County, you can let officials know by contacting the building director at eoluyemi@pascocountyfl.net or Pasco County Commissioners.
Pasco County’s Building Director Esther Oluyemi and Pasco County Commissioner Ronald Oakley declined our requests for interviews.
If you have a story you think the I-Team should investigate, email us at adam@abcactionnews.com
