Property Maintenance Code Compliance and Enforcement

Learn how to comply with maintenance codes through lecture, discussion, and group problem solving. Learn the technical aspects and key inspection points to support safe and healthy housing in your community, including basic residential construction, deterioration, maintenance and other building systems. You will also learn the basic health requirements and inspection points and enforcement for health violations.

• Managers of property maintenance code programs
• Housing and redevelopment authority inspectors
• Municipalities implementing a rental property program
• Local building inspectors and code officials
• Municipal health department representatives

Day One

Welcome and Student Introductions    

Fundamentals of Healthy Housing                                                

• Basic human needs
• Thermal needs
• Physiologic needs
• Psychologic needs
• Plumbing and electrical utilities
• Health requirements for compliance
• Space, volume, and floor area
• Safety and accident conditions
• Toxic substances in materials
• Indoor air quality, CO_2, and CO
• Violations of the housing ordinance

The Art of Code Enforcement

• Overview of code enforcement
• Types of inspection programs
• Understanding why owners don’t comply
• What motivates people to comply with the code?
• The 5 E’s of program evaluation
• Personnel management practices
• Implementing change
• Budget management

Day 2

 Violation and Compliance Powers and Processes                            

• Appropriate levels of enforcement
• State and local code authority
• Violations and adjudication
• Data collection and reporting
• Court processes

Building Public Support for Code Compliance                                          

• Education programs
• Marketing code enforcement programs
• Salesmanship and selling compliance
• Effective techniques
• Customer service skills

 Health Inspection, Identification, and Enforcement                      

• Pest identification and control
• Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
• Termites, ants, and roaches
• Mosquitoes and house flies
• Bed bugs
• Rodents and other vectors
• House mouse and rats
• Animal hoarding and case studies
• Hoarders and clutterers
• Housing code infractions
• Atypical animal hoarding
• Mold inspection and mitigation
• The state of the science
• Owner / Occupant clean-up
• Contractors and inspections
• Advice for rental tenants

Day Three

 Developing an Effective Inspection Program                                

• Time for inspections
• Healthy Housing Reference Manual
• Inspector’s conduct
• Equipment and methods
• Procedures and interpretations
• Developing and using inspection checklists
• Common code violations
• Structural aspects of housing code enforcement

 Residential Building Construction Issues                               

• Administration
• Site issues
• Unsafe buildings
• Building elements
• Building envelope
• Building security
• Interior rooms
• Sanitation
• Building utilities
• Means of egress
• Fire-resistance ratings

"Great value. Covered everything I deal with every day, and then some...did not feel intimidated since content was geared towards property maintenance."
Rhonda, Neighborhood Services Inspector, City of North Kansas City, MO (May 2018)

"I have at least six specific ideas/programs/concepts I am going to propose...especially code enforcement—I can go back with very specific and effective recommendations."
Edward, Residential Zoning Official, City of Highwood, IL (May 2018)

"I thought this course was excellent. I learned a lot of great information and skills to better perform my job."
Tristin, Environmental Health Specialist, Eau Claire City-County Health Department, WI (May 2018)

"I learned about how other agencies handle different situations. I learned valuable information on health issues (something i was not looking for). Very informative. Good networking—great networking."
Dan, Code Enforcement Supervisor, Hanover Park Police Department, Hanover Park, IL (April 2019)

"Course content was well organized, very well presented, interesting and the subject matter was in line with my daily job activities. Very useful, especially the "real-life" experiences that were share by the instructors and class as a whole."
Christine, Property Maintenance Inspector, City of Kettering, Kettering, OH (April 2019) 

Gregory McKnight

Gregory B. McKnight II is a Health Services Consultant for the Washington State Department of Health in Olympia, Washington. He received his bachelor’s degree in Biology from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin in 1991, and was hired as a Public Health Sanitarian by the Denver Health Department in 1992. McKnight served as an Environmental Program Supervisor for Denver Environmental Health and Community Planning & Development in the city and county of Denver from 1998 until 2005, and served as the Director of Code Enforcement for the City of Burlington, Vermont from 2005 until 2007. He is a licensed Pest Control Supervisor with the Colorado Department of Agriculture, worked as a Public Health Supervisor of Centennial Park for the 1996 Olympics, and has presented at numerous conferences, including the Colorado Environmental Health Conference and the Association of Code Enforcement Officials Conference in Colorado.

Daniel Peterson

Daniel A. Peterson has over 28 years of experience in the code enforcement profession which includes serving as Code Enforcement Officer with the Village of Arlington Heights, IL, Manager of Training for the Building and Fire Code Academy, Hoffman Estates, IL, and Manager of Building and Zoning for the Village of Lake Zurich. He is currently the Director of Building and Development for the City of Prospect Heights, IL. Peterson is an active member of both the Illinois Association of Code Enforcement and American Association of Code Enforcement and has held numerous board positions, including President of both the IACE and AACE.

Roger Axel

Roger Axel is a retired building official with 12 years of construction experience as a self-employed contractor, 30 years of code administration experience (10 years building inspector, 5 years plans examiner, 15 years building official) including single and multi-family residential, educational, industrial, business and mercantile occupancies, including the Mall of America. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Education from the University of Minnesota and an Associate in Applied Science Degree in Building Inspection Technology from Inver Hills Community College. He was a State of Minnesota Certified Building Official and holds multiple International Code Council Certifications. His roles have included: ICC instructor; instructor for Housing and Building Inspection Institute at UW-Madison College of Engineering; instructor for MN Licensed Residential Contractor continuing education seminars; past Chairman, and Executive Officer of the Association of MN Building Officials.

Mark Malkin

Mark P. Malkin, PE, is a program director in the Office of Interdisciplinary Professional Programs in the College of Engineering at UW-Madison. He is a registered Professional Engineer with over 25 years of experience in university facilities project management and HVAC systems design. His course offerings include HVAC, plumbing and fire protection fundamentals, building code reviews, and design and operation of science labs, data centers, museums and libraries. Mark received his bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, and his MS in Mechanical Engineering from UW–Madison.