St. Martin hires outside company for building inspections

St. Martinville – St. Martin Parish took a step closer Tuesday to enforcing tougher new building codes which have been in the works since the devastating hurricanes of 2005.

The Parish Council OKed a contract with Building Code Inspection Services LLC, or BCIS, to do permit inspections of new residential and commercial construction for the parish, effective March 1.

According to Parish President Guy Cormier, the inspection fee on a 2,000-square-foot home will cost about $1,100.

“The parish is not looking to make money,” he said. “We are only looking to comply with state law and the cost will be passed on to the property owner.”

The permit process will go through the parish office as usual, he said.

BCIS will also handle inspections for Breaux Bridge, Parks and Henderson. St. Martinville, which has an electric distribution system, is training its own.

The Carencro-based company handles inspections under the state-mandated international building codes for a number of smaller municipalities in Acadiana.

The move to tougher new codes results from the huge losses suffered by the insurance industry across the South after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.