MAYOR SAYS CODES HELP HOMEOWNERS SAVE MONEY

Mayor Al Spradling III can cite examples of why enforcement of building codes and routine inspections can save homeowners thousands of dollars.

The Cape Girardeau mayor, a partner in the law firm of Spradling and Spradling, said his office is handling complaints that contend contractors did subpar work or failed to live up to contracts when they built homes in Cape Girardeau County and Jackson.

Three complaints involve homes built in Cape County and the other a home in Jackson.

"If the same people were building in Cape, they would have been caught," Spradling said. "An inspector would have told them that a basement patio was sloping into the house or that the retaining wall wasn't properly built. It probably would have shown up in their plans."

Spradling said that it will cost $30,000 to correct the mistakes made on a home that should have cost $100,000. "In one case we're asking the contractor to do the repair work, and it is being done. But we still don't know how the problems will be corrected in the other ones," he said.

"The house in Jackson was built about eight months ago, before Jackson got its inspections office up to where it is now," Spradling said. Spradling said none of the complaints has escalated into discussion of lawsuits.

Jackson, which has a full-time and part-time inspector, follows the Building Officials Code Administrators handbook when inspecting residential and commercial buildings. Cape Girardeau, which has three full-time inspectors, also refers to the BOCA handbook when inspecting buildings.

In 1992, voters eliminated planning and zoning in the out-county. There are no building codes enforced in the out-county.

"There has been such a huge building boom in the last couple of years," Spradling said. "A lot of people who decided to become contractors really weren't qualified, and it showed up in their work."

Cape Girardeau will address problems involving builders and City Hall after a Chamber of Commerce building task force is assembled at the end of the week. The task force was deemed necessary by the Chamber after a chamber membership survey revealed there were problems with builders dealing with Cape Girardeau City Hall. The issue ranked sixth on the survey's list of concerns.

Spradling, who has not been invited to participate in the discussions, said he is in favor of the task force. "If specific examples are brought forward and discussed, we can all benefit from the examination," he said. "If we've got a problem, we've got to fix it; but, if there are some myths, we need to dispel them."

Cape Girardeau Supervisor of Building Inspectors Rick Murray welcomes the chance to address specific complaints. "I'm looking forward to the chance to talk about this," Murray said. "It will be good to get all of this out in the open and refer to specific cases instead of generalities."

Murray said not many people realize how much work the inspectors in Cape Girardeau do during a 12-month period. "In 1994 we made 5,200 inspections," he said. "With just three inspectors, that's a lot of work."