NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 43

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MOBILE EYES
Clockwise from
right: Tim Mikloiche participates
in a remote video
inspection; safety
officials in Singapore prepare
a drone for a
remote inspection of a building
exterior; and an
RVI participant
utilizes a smartphone to convey
information to
a local building
official.

inspectors conduct safety checks over a
phone, computer, or tablet screen from
their home or office, while a contractor
or homeowner onsite shows them what
they need to see.
Today, Clark County conducts about
50 remote inspections each day-about
a third of its overall total-a number
that has shot up since the pandemic.
Even when the lockdowns end, Muir
expects that between 15 percent and 20
percent of the department's inspections
to continue to be via remote video.
Both Muir and Mikloiche acknowledge, however, that remote inspection
isn't suited for every job-inspections
of complicated wiring arrangements
or large framing projects, for example,
are often best done in person. The most
common use for RVI so far seems to
be for simple reinspections, when an
inspector goes back to a job site after a

failed inspection to make sure the contractor has completed the missing or
incorrect work.
"Say you do a deck inspection and
they're missing a handrail," Mikloiche
said. "Instead of sending an inspector
all the way back there when the handrail is done, they can show us over the
phone-no need to take a vehicle out
again, or waste time driving to the site."
In larger counties, especially in the
Western United States, this can save
hours of driving per day for what is
ostensibly a 10-minute job.
West Hartford has also used RVI for
certain electrical inspections, which
will likely continue after the pandemic,
Mikloiche said. Not only is the camera
zoom useful for seeing small, hard-to-see
parts of an electrical box, but in some
instances it can also be safer. "Where
we're worried about arc flash hazards

and exposures to inspectors, with RVI
we can have the onsite electrical technicians take panel covers off and wear
their PPE and the inspector can look
at the service from the safety of their
office," he said. During these and other
RVI inspections, the building department can also easily snap screen shots,
or record the visuals of the conversation
and file them away for future reference.
Muir has uncovered other novel uses
for RVI. Clark County, for instance, has
implemented a DIY program, where
homeowners looking to do simple jobs
themselves can call an inspector and
ask them to take a quick look over the
phone at what's being done while the
job is still in progress. "They might
have a bunch of plumbing all laid out,
and they just want to check if it's going
to pass or if they might have an issue,"
Muir said. "The inspector is able to
N F PA . O R G / J O U R N A L * NFPA JOURNAL

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NFPA Journal - July/August 2020

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