The city of Bakersfield has 10 full-time field inspectors who process an average of 120 home inspections every day. Four other city staffers inspect homes on a part-time basis. The number of city inspectors hasn't shrunk in recent years like county staff has, but it hasn't grown either. What has changed is the number of homes built in Bakersfield each year. That number, as indicated by the number of single-family home permits issued by city officials, has fluctuated greatly this decade from a low of 1,054 in 1991 to a high of 1,696 in 1993.
Inspectors have to move fast to cover that much territory each year.
On one sunny day a few months ago, Johnson knelt in the dust on a new home site in northwest Bakersfield, inspecting the sewer system. He waved the contractor over and pointed out the problem. Both agreed the sewer system would fail this inspection. Most problems, Johnson said, are simple mistakes, not the result of poor planning, cheap materials or contractor cost cutting. Someone just missed something.