Fall 2006 - City of Coral Springs

features
A Day
in the Life
In the Building Division,
any day can be a hectic one
It’s 7:25AM and there is a long line of applicants already waiting for the doors to open
at 7:30AM. It’s a typical day in the Coral Springs Building Division and as the Building
Services Supervisor, Maryellen Serra has a full load of responsibilities.
A plastic toy firefighter’s hat sits on her desk
and I ask her what’s the story behind it. “I gave
everyone in the department one because in
addition to our regular tasks sometimes we
have to put out some fires along the way,” said
Serra, laughing.
There is more to building than sweat and
sawdust. Whether you are
planning on building a custom
home, putting up an addition
over the garage or remodeling
the kitchen, the Coral Springs
Building Department must be
taken into account.
“A great rule of thumb is if
the job costs more than $1,500,
a permit is required,” said Serra.
For homeowner’s protection,
Building Department staff
enforces the Florida Building Code by providing
plan review, field inspections and administrative
functions for every permit that is processed.
Since Hurricane Wilma hit last year, the
Building Department has been flooded with
permit applications, with a large amount of them
for roofs and shutters. City staff also worked with
the City Commission on creating a temporary
emergency ordinance for metal roofs, and
residents have until December 1, 2006 to get
their applications in.
Almost a year has passed since Hurricane
Wilma slammed South Florida, and the Building
Department is still not caught up with permit
requests. More than 15,000 permits have been
processed since January alone.
Staff is working diligently to reduce wait times to a
maximum of 5 working days for roof permits and 15 working
“We want homeowners to know
what’s going on with their
permits, when a contractor brings
it in and when it’s ready for
pick-up,” said Building Services
Supervisor Maryellen Serra.
days for all other permits.
“By the time the department catches up
with the after effects of last hurricane season,
another one gears up again,” said Serra.
“It’s a never ending cycle.”
Serra has been with the city for almost
six years. She spent three years in the
Community Development
Department and was later
promoted to Building Services
Supervisor in 2004. Prior to
working for the City, Serra
worked in the hotel industry
for 10 years. Her experience in
working with people is a great
benefit for the City.
Serra recalls when she
first started working in the
building division. “The first
thing I did was check if my home had any open
permits,” she said. She didn’t have one, but two.
“I was devastated to find out the pool contractor
and the screen enclosure contractor did not
complete the inspections required for the permits
to close,” said Serra, “Therefore, as a Coral Springs
resident and because of my personal experience,
I feel it’s important to educate homeowners with
the information they need to arm themselves
against such problems.”
At 9AM, she heads over to the conference room
to have their weekly staff meeting. An hour later,
she heads back to her office and checks her
voicemails and e-mails.
A knowledgeable resident left a message asking
if all of his inspections passed before paying his
contractor for the job. “I love calls like this…this is exactly
what residents should do,” she said. According to Serra, a
4 • Coral Springs • Fall 2006 Visit coralsprings.org