In a recent webinar, Pasco County Fire and Rescue (PCFR) Fire Marshal, Justin Frum, discussed how his team overcame the challenges associated with a period of significant population growth and rapid construction expansion. Over the past ten years, inspection volume was a significant burden on their small division. New builds faced considerable delays while awaiting inspections, and existing occupancies risked compliance issues. As a result of the new builds, PCFR’s manual paper records system exceeded its storage capacity.
PCFR established and prioritized their top goals for accommodating the new builds, as well as the existing occupancies:
- Prioritize existing commercial occupancies.
- Establish an inspection rotation.
- Generate revenue to fund the full-time equivalents (FTE) required to complete the inspections.
To achieve these goals, they recognized they would need to revamp their processes. PCFR also determined that a reliable, single-platform RMS that was simple for their forward-facing personnel to use would be essential. Importantly, this platform could also enable them to elevate service delivery and integrate with other platforms.
Although there was no question that PCFR would need to increase inspection FTEs, the cost associated with bringing on more staff is high. Vehicles, computers, uniforms, and benefits all drive up operating expenses. They estimated they would need to offset $1 million in increased spending in order to implement their priority goals, and a recurring annual operating budget of $75,000 would be necessary to sustain the program. PCFR envisioned an automated, digital invoicing system for inspections and permitting that would build next-level efficiency into the process and create additional revenue streams.
Watch the webinar, “How Collecting Payment for Inspections is Changing the Fire Industry,” with Justin Frum to learn how PCFR rose to the challenges before them and satisfied commercial demands while increasing revenue for their agency.
