When the City of Las Cruces Community Development Department established its standard operating procedures for Interactive Video Inspection (IVI) in January 2020, the goal was to introduce an innovative alternative to on-site construction inspections. With the onset of COVID-19 restrictions, the IVI system has proven to be not only innovative but has become the go-to inspection method, allowing essential building projects to stay on track.
“We have completed approximately 75 percent of required inspections using IVI in the last four months,” said Larry Nichols, Director, Community Development Department. “The system has helped our inspectors meet the needs of increased construction while complying with social distancing and Covid-19 safe practices. It’s been a win-win for all of us.”
The inspection office, which has nine inspectors, averages 85-100 IVIs daily and hopes to expand the program to complete more by encouraging builders to schedule IVIs. “Most inspections can be done interactively,” Nichols said. “Those that require being on-site are handled within two days of being scheduled by our staff who use face coverings and practice social distancing. The safety of everyone is a priority.”
As an alternative to on-site inspections, IVIs are appropriate for inspections that require prompt service, a follow-up after an initial on-site inspection, or to schedule a more specific inspection time. IVI uses a video call on a 4G smartphone or tablet to interact with the City inspector. Customers requesting an IVI will need to install the free Google Duo app on the electronic device being used by the customer to be able to interface.
The process for Interactive Video Inspection is as follows: · Schedule your IVI using the Accela Portal on the City website.
· The City inspector will initiate the IVI call to you at the time scheduled on your chosen platform, or app, and the inspector will walk you through the video call.
· The day after the inspection, results will be available on Accela.
If a complete inspection is not possible using an IVI, the remote City inspector will partially approve the inspection and make every effort to route a field City inspector to complete the inspection the same day. If this is not possible, the City inspector will schedule a field inspection for the next business day.
For more information, please contact Community Development at 575/575-528-3059 or go to las-cruces.org/184/Community-Development The Accela portal can be found at https://aca-prod.accela.com/lascruces/Default.aspx.