Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-02-22
BX Miriom ottenbero


From the trees in your front
yard to the FISH on the wharf,
practically everything in Wash
ington gets inspected.
Six Of IL inspectors may visit
the same grocery, hotel. office
building or laundry but each
one is checking only on his par
ticular departments rules and
regulations.
This duplicating footwork with
its enormous waste Of man hours
was revealed by q Star survey
which turned up this paradox:
On the one hand. half q dozen
or more different inspectors are
covering the same ground that
might be covered by one we'll
trained man. On the other hand,
most Of the District agencies
with inspecting chores report
they lack the stan to carry out
the job.
In fact, the whole question of
duplicate inspections. it was
understood, is now being studied
by the management Office Of the
Department of General Admin
istration created under the reor-
ganization plan.
All these inspections are de-
signed to assure safety and good
health in the community. They.
range from detailed checking
on construction to seeing that a
framed license hangs on the
wall. The majority Of all these
inspections is visual-that Is.
what can be seen by the naked
eye by any one who knows a par
ticular set of regulations. 4,
Low Salaries Cited.
Although most of the inspect
ing agencies insist their men are
highly trained specialists, The
Stars survey shows the salaries
are too low in most cases to hire
men with much formal training.
An exception from the train
ing viewpoint is the fire mar
shal's Office. There, the inSpec-
tors must have been firemen for
six years and undergo a rigid
six-week training course before
they go out on the street.
Assigned to cover much the
same ground as the Fire Mar
shal's inspectors are the inspec-
tors in the fire safety section
of the Department of Inspec-
tionS. To qualify for the job. they
are only supposed to have
practical knowledge of building
construction" and know the reg
ulations. ~
For most of the inspectors. the
starting salary is less than $500
and the average age is over 40
years.
Here are som of the effects
Of the duplicating inspections:
/. Thousands of storees and
lodging places are operating
without a current license because
the departments which handle
the inspections haven't processed
them yet. Two thousand licenses
for 1852 haven't been issued yet
and 500 for 1851.
Aggressive Inspector Needed.
2. With several inspectors go
ing into the same establishment.
the owner is inclined to, make
the changes demanded by the
most insistent inspector and ig-
more what may be more serious
defects uncovered by a less ag-
gresSive inspector.
8. Every inspector has his own
set Of rules to follow. Sometimes
the rules of one department are
in conflict with another sections
rules. AS a result. one inspector
will approve a busineSsman'S
building while another tells him
he must change it. Sometimes
after he has made changes to-:
comply with one inspectors in
Structions, another Inspector
comes along and tells him he
must do it a different way.
4. Although the tenement
house regulations which go into
effect March l were written to
meet an immediate safety and
health need, even the officials
who pushed for the regulations
concede it will take the inspec-
tors at least three years to get
around to all of them the first
time. Each tenement must be
visited by at least five and, in
some cases. six to eight different
inspectors.
5. officials estimate that 20
per cent Of the average inSpec-
tors day is spent in transporta-
ton. When five inspectors are
visiting the same. place at Diff