Building Department Services

Birmingham is one of Michigan’s premier communities with a thriving mixed-use downtown and beautiful residential neighborhoods. As a result they have set the bar high in terms of prompt professional inspection services. Both developers and residents have come to expect great service from the City’s Building Department.

With the ever-increasing rate of development in the City, the existing staff was being stretched thin, making it more and more difficult to provide the expected high level of service.

Birmingham contracted McKenna to assist with building inspections and McKenna immediately provided licensed, experienced Building Inspectors that were able to assist the City in maintaining their level of service. McKenna inspectors were able to integrate with existing Building Department Professionals, seamlessly providing full inspection coverage. Our process of bringing professionals in to shadow existing inspectors and to meet staff and local contractors, made the transition successful.

As the number of complex projects involving several stories and mixed uses continued to increase, the City of Birmingham was looking for a team of certified, and responsive professionals that could provide thorough and efficient plan reviews in a timely fashion. McKenna stepped in and has been providing expert plan review for some of the most prominent buildings in Birmingham.

With construction in the City booming, the City of Birmingham issued a “Builder’s Code of Conduct” which clearly outlines the expectations for contractors within the City, not least of which includes treating neighbors with courtesy and respect.

In order to oversee dozens of construction sites, the City again reached out to McKenna who was able to provide courteous, professionals to inspect construction sites to ensure that they comply with the Builder’s Code of Conduct. The goal, as always, was to achieve compliance in a reasonable and minimally confrontational manner. The result – within a couple of weeks the number of resident calls significantly decreased.