Same Company To Do Building Inspection Services In Millcreek Again

Millcreek Township Supervisor John Groh hoped that builders in Millcreek, Harborcreek Fairview and municipalities could choose a company to conduct building inspections.

That was in the way when the three municipalities agreed to seek proposals and the award of a new contract for five years to one, the lowest responsible bidder.

As a result, the same company that had the contract for a decade will work again.

Groh said he did not have a problem with the Building Inspection Underwriters, but BIU was the sole bidder for a new contract that Millcreek Supervisors approved Tuesday night. BIU performs building inspections, certifications and other work.

Harborcreek Supervisors will vote on the new agreement May 6, and the Fairview supervisors will vote May 7.

The other two governmental bodies likely approve. "We are very pleased with the service we received from BIU over the past 10 years," said Supervisor Mark Gennuso Fairview.

There will be some resistance in Harborcreek Supervisor Dean Pepicello, which had voted in March against a single company going again. But the other two supervisors, Tim May and Joseph Peck, supported it.

"I think we choose not to, and people should be able to choose their own inspector," Pepicello, who has no problem with either BIU said.

Before voting for BIU in what was a unanimous vote, Groh said he wished there was a way to more than one company to do the job.

Groh said there's a lot of work for a company among the three communities, and competition never hurts. Some builders have said they would prefer a choice of building inspectors, according to Groh.

BIU owners pay for their services, and rates vary depending on the type of work, the size of a structure, the number of required inspections and other factors, said Millcreek Township Engineer Rick Morris.

Uniform Building Code Pennsylvania allows communities to hire more than one company building inspection - but there's a catch. The law only allows an official building code by town.

The three municipalities do not have their own building code officer on staff, so BIU serves as the official building code.

Groh said that if an employee municipality had an interest, he or she could become an official building code. Then the city could hire as many third-party inspectors as they wanted.