A few Maryland counties already offer virtual inspections, which have \u200b\u201csaved a\u00a0ton of time, a\u00a0lot of headaches,\u201d Kelly said. That\u2019s particularly useful for follow-up inspections, which installers can respond to by fixing identified problems and sending in video evidence on the same day. Other counties, by contrast, can take from a\u00a0day to more than a\u00a0month to schedule on-site inspections and follow-ups, she\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
Not all Maryland counties are happy about adopting virtual inspections or online solar permitting, however. The Maryland Association of Counties warned state lawmakers in a\u00a0March letter<\/a> that \u200b\u201ca highly prescriptive state mandate could undermine local flexibility, strain budgets, and compromise safety safeguards.\u201d<\/p>\n Carla Blackwell, who led Pima County\u2019s adoption of virtual inspections and instant solar permitting as director of its development services department before retiring last year, understands those concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cWe always hated when the state legislature got involved and passed some sort of mandate,\u201d she said. \u200b\u201cIf you want to get people on board, you have to get them involved and part of the process \u2014 both so that they understand and support it and so they don\u2019t sabotage it in some aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n Pima County started using these technologies out of necessity, she added. The 2008 real-estate market crash forced her department to lay off about two-thirds of its staff, forcing it to find ways to do more with fewer employees.<\/p>\n It took some work. The county had to upgrade its permit management software to handle the new digital inputs, for example. That might not be a\u00a0welcome prospect for smaller permitting agencies, she said. \u200b\u201cThe minute you mention IT to a\u00a0government department, they\u2019re like, \u200b\u2018Uh-oh, I\u00a0don\u2019t want to deal with those\u00a0guys.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n But once the software is in place and employees are trained in using it, virtual inspections can improve the quality of work being done, she said. \u200b\u201cI actually spend more time with you on these remote field inspections than if I\u00a0had to drive out, spend five minutes, and then drive to the next\u00a0one.\u201d<\/p>\n Creating digital records of the projects can also help inspectors catch errors that brief on-site inspections can miss, she noted. That\u2019s backed up by IREC\u2019s report, which cited multiple building department officials affirming the benefits of being able to review photos and videos to do quality checks.<\/p>\n That\u2019s true for more than solar and battery installations, said Colleen Corrigan, sustainability and resilience policy manager at the nonprofit San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR). Her group and Permit Power are co-sponsoring<\/a> a\u00a0state bill <\/a>that would give California homeowners the option of requesting remote inspections for water heaters, heat pumps, and rooftop solar installations. SPUR is also supporting another bill that would streamline permitting for heat pumps and plug-in solar systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPermitting and inspection delays are these quiet but significant barriers to climate progress,\u201d Corrigan said. The bills SPUR supports<\/a> are aimed at \u200b\u201cremoving the friction at these key choke points in electrification,\u201d she\u00a0said.<\/p>\n But they\u2019re also \u200b\u201crooted in best practices in jurisdictions already doing automated permitting or virtual inspections,\u201d she added, as is happening in at least 19 places statewide, ranging from cities like Los Angeles<\/a> and San Diego<\/a> to rural areas such as Placer County<\/a> in the Sierra Nevada.<\/p>\n Gabe Armstrong, acting chief building official at Placer County\u2019s Community Development Resource Agency, estimated that the agency is eliminating about 3,900 driving miles per year by using remote video inspections. It also offers them on the same day that projects are completed, which is convenient for contractors who don\u2019t want to have to come back the next day just to meet an inspector.<\/p>\n Armstrong\u2019s agency also retains the right to show up in person to check the work, which it does from time to time as part of a\u00a0quality-control audit, he said. To ensure contractors aren\u2019t misrepresenting their work, \u200b\u201cwe only do live video inspections,\u201d he said. \u200b\u201cWe need to know we are at the right jobsite, not looking at some random photo.\u201d If contractors aren\u2019t being honest, \u200b\u201cwe\u2019ll turn them into the state contractor licensing board \u2014 and we\u2019ll ban them from the RVI program.\u201d<\/p>\n Some projects, like new home builds, require on-site visits, he said. And inspectors will still come out in person if the contractor or property owner requests it. But for approved projects like solar panel systems and heating, cooling, and air-conditioning installations, \u200b\u201cwe have these really large monitors, and we\u2019ll pull up the plans on one side, and we can zoom in and read all the notes \u2014 and we can also zoom in on the work being inspected.\u201d<\/p>\n Using video taken from solar installers on rooftops also avoids having to send inspectors up there to check their work, which eliminates safety hazards, Armstrong added. As for contractors, \u200b\u201cusually once we get someone doing it, they become a\u00a0repeat customer,\u201d he said. \u200b\u201cBeing able to pick the exact inspection time \u2014 think about how much money you\u2019re saving.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n {
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