Conducting Structural Inspections and Fire Inspections Simultaneously

Recently, the question was raised as to whether the Annual Fire Inspection and the
Annual Structural Inspection can be undertaken simultaneously.

A strong case can be made for conducting both inspections at the same time. In many schools the same people are involved in each of the inspections. Considerable resources could be saved in preparation, gathering and reporting data by performing both the fire inspection and the structural inspection at the same time.

Section 409d of the Education Law specifies;

(1) That each facility owned by such school district used for instructional purposes is inspected annually

(2) The annual structural inspection shall be made prior to the thirtieth day of June of every school year

The Fire Inspection must also be done annually in accordance with Section 807a of Education Law. Therefore, if the Structural Inspection is completed at the same time as the Fire Inspection, the requirements in law related to when each of the inspections is to take place would be satisfied.

The Education Department does not provide report forms for the Structural Inspection nor do we require the submission of any paperwork. The only requirement is that the Structural Inspection take place according to the time frame specified in law and furthermore, "reports of such inspections shall be made available to the public." In other words, paperwork is maintained at the local level. Therefore, to conduct both inspections simultaneously, no change in report forms or report procedures is required.

Choosing to conduct both the Structural Inspection and the Fire Inspection at the same time does make sense and is an option that should be considered.