The Community Development Department’s Building & Safety Division was recognized as the “Building Department of the Year” during the California Building Officials’ (CALBO) Annual Business Meeting this month. The award recognizes a building department’s exceptional accomplishments in four key categories: education, state affairs, community involvement and innovation.

Several programs set the City of Glendale Building & Safety Division apart from other state agencies:

• The City’s Back to Business (B2B) Program, an innovative public-private partnership which focuses on getting the registered business up and running following an event such as an earthquake or other natural disaster, was among the programs highlighted during the awards presentation. Glendale’s B2B Program is the first of its kind in Southern California, joining the City with DreamWorks Animation whose campus is in the heart of Glendale. The program works with businesses to pre-certify their buildings or campuses prior to a disaster to expedite the inspection process and provide business owners information about the safety of their buildings days, if not weeks, sooner than would be possible without B2B.

• The Parallel Plan Check Program recently adopted by the City also set the Building & Safety Division apart from other Building Departments in the State. The program shortened and streamlined permitting and entitlement by allowing for the permitting process of major developments to run concurrently with the later stages of the design process. This parallel program can result in construction starting several months sooner than the traditional sequential process.

• The California Code Adoption Webinar for Local Jurisdictions presented by Stuart Tom, Glendale’s past Building Official, provides valuable information that helps code officials throughout the state understand and adopt the changes to laws and regulations in California. The video is available online on the California Building Standards Commission website.

CALBO is a non-profit corporation dedicated to promoting public health and safety in building construction through responsible legislation, education, and building code development.