Wednesday, May. 07, 2008

Codes Department to host open house for Building Safety Week

By Miranda Wycoff

The Journal Staff

During last week’s City Council meeting, Mayor Karen Messerli recognized this week, May 4 to 10, as Building Safety Week.

Lee’s Summit joins building and fire departments across the country to recognize the week, which is sponsored by the International Code Council to raise public awareness of building safety and fire prevention codes to protect lives and property, according to city information.

“This week is designed to raise awareness and to provide information on why people should check with us before doing a project,” said Mark Dunning, director of codes administration for the city of Lee’s Summit. “A lot of times we find that people have done a project that doesn’t meet code and they have to rip it apart.” Dunning said many times people think of the codes administration as the “bad guy” out to catch people doing work without the proper permits. But he hopes that Building Safety Week allows people to use the Department of Codes Administration as a resource.

In an effort to let the public know what kind of resources Codes has to offer, Lee’s Summit residents are welcome to help the city celebrate Building Safety Week by visiting the Codes Administration Department’s open house on May 9 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The open house is being held so the public can learn more about the work the Codes Administration and Fire Prevention Departments perform within the city.

“Come in and ask questions,” Dunning said, “and learn how we can all work together to maintain a nice city and quality of life.”

The Codes Administration Department is located in City Hall, 220 S.E. Green Street. The theme of the 2008 Building Safety Week is “Building Safety where you live, work and play.” For more information on Building Safety Week, visit the International Codes Council Web site at www.iccsafe.org.