§ 8-21.1. Powers, duties and appointment of building official.

(a)

APPOINTMENT: The appointing authority shall appoint a Building Official, and such person shall have met the following minimum experience criteria and have been certified by the Board of Rules and Appeals, as specified in Subsection 8-21.5 herein, before serving in that capacity;

(1)

These individuals shall be qualified as one of the following:

(aa)

A Registered Professional Engineer licensed in the State of Florida with not less than five years experience under that registration.

(bb)

A Registered Architect licensed in the State of Florida with not less than five years experience under that registration.

(cc)

A licensed General Contractor holding a current Certificate of Competency issued by the Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board with not less than five years experience under that license.

(dd)

A licensed General Contractor holding a current Certificate of Competency issued by the Miami-Dade County Construction Trades Qualifying Board with not less than five years experience under that license.

(b)

POWERS AND DUTIES:

(1)

The Building Official is hereby authorized and directed to interpret and enforce all of the provisions of this Chapter subject to the powers vested in the Board of Rules and Appeals as set forth in Section 8-4 herein. The Building Official may delegate to certified chief inspectors such powers, duties and assignments as he/she may deem advisable to carry out the provisions of this Chapter.

(2)

Provisions and requirements of Chapter 10 of this Code shall be enforced by the Building Official, subject to the powers vested in the Construction Trades Qualifying Board. Section 10-2.X shall apply to the Electrical, Plumbing and Mechanical trades and violations enforced by the Building Official shall be within the jurisdiction of the Board of Rules and Appeals. In the event of a violation, the Building Official may exercise his or her authority set forth in Section 8-21.1(d) of this Code and shall also give written notice to the offending contractor, specifying the violation and the right to a hearing before the Board of Rules and Appeals as set forth in Section 8-4. Upon a finding of fraud or a willful violation of the Building Code, the Board of Rules and Appeals may deny the issuance of building permits to a certified contractor for a period of up to six months. The decision of the Board of Rules and Appeals shall be final, subject to appellate review in the manner set forth under state and local law.

(c)

RIGHT OF ENTRY: Upon presentation of proper credentials, the Building Official or his duly authorized representatives may enter, at any reasonable time, any building, structure or premise for the purpose of inspection or to prevent violation of this Chapter.

(d)

STOP WORK ORDERS: Whenever any building work is being done contrary to the provisions of this Chapter or is being done in an unsafe or dangerous manner, the Building Official may order such work stopped, or may order the violation corrected within a reasonable period of time, by notice in writing served on the person or persons engaged in the doing or causing of work to be done, and such persons shall immediately stop such work until arrangements in compliance with the provisions of this Chapter satisfactory to the Building Official, have been made, at which time he/she may authorize the work to proceed.

(e)

CONCEALED WORK: The Building Official may order portions of the structural frame of a building and/or structure to be exposed for inspection when, in his opinion, there are good reasons to believe that a building or portion thereof is in an unsafe or dangerous condition or that there is willful or negligent concealment of a violation of this Chapter.

(f)

OCCUPANCY: Whenever any building or portion thereof is being used or occupied contrary to the provisions of this Chapter, the Building Official shall order such use or occupancy discontinued and the building or portion thereof vacated. Such order shall be by notice in writing, served on the person or persons using, or causing to be used, such building or portions thereof. Within a reasonable period of time after receipt of such notice or order, such building or portion thereof shall be made to comply with the requirements of this Chapter; however, in the event of an emergency, Subsection 8-5(e) shall apply.

(Ord. No. 04-191, § 1, 10-19-04; Ord. No. 06-69, § 1, 5-9-06)