John Goldsmith

City Launches Digital Roof Inspection Services Program

John Goldsmith, Deputy Building Official, 509.625.6727

Monday, October 2, 2023 at 11:50 a.m.

City Launches Digital Roof Inspection Services Program

The City of Spokane's Development Services Center is dedicated to finding services to our citizens and contractors to help address the housing crisis.

The Digital Roof Inspection Services Program, profiled in this CityCable 5 video, was elevated from a pilot project to a permanent program on Oct. 1. It is open initially to 20 roofing contractors that are interested and complete in-person trainings and a possible site walk-through.

It will be open later to all companies with a proven track record that complete the trainings.

The program applies to residential reroofs only, not new residential construction or any commercial.

Why will this program be advantageous to roofing contractors?

  1. The program will greatly reduce downtime and save contractors money since they won't have to wait for an inspection of the underlayment and ice and water shield before applying the final roofing material.
  2. It will reduce risk and liability with the threat of storms and water intrusion damage. Contractors' customers will love it since there is always a concern when the roof is without shingles or tile while waiting for the initial sheathing/underlayment inspection.
  3. Roofers can stay on the job without moving to another roofing job while waiting for the sheathing inspection on roof No. 1. This makes for better efficiency.

The goal is to keep downtime on roofing projects to a minimum and perform a seamless, professional, and timely inspection process.

Program features include:

  • Project managers will document key points in the roofing process with photos and/or video, including roof deck, underlayment, ice and water barrier, flashing, valley underlayment, valley cuts or weave, venting, shingle application, and ridge cap.
  • Photos and/or video will be sent to the City Building Inspector, who will review photos for code compliance and perform virtual roof deck and final inspections.

This service benefits roofing companies, homeowners and City staff as there will be no more scheduling conflicts. It eliminates two physical inspections for City field staff, assuming the project meets the code standards.

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