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A couple of years ago I wrote about concerns for building and planning departments throughout the region.

As large-scale construction projects disappeared from the bidding market, so too did permit revenue for local governments to pay for field inspections and plan review. Then staffing levels dropped 鈥� as they should when the demand for services drops. The downturn鈥檚 impact was being realized and also was beginning to lead to extensive layoffs and delays in inspections.

For instance, the city of Portland in 2010 had an insufficient number of field inspectors (who also serve Multnomah County through an inter-governmental agreement).

The city鈥檚 Bureau of Development Services was so decimated by layoffs that the industry and our customers could not rely on formerly timely inspection schedules. With fewer large projects, inspectors were jumping all over the city conducting inspections on small projects that further stretched the department鈥檚 resources. Calls for inspection began to take days 鈥� becoming a serious customer service issue for remodelers as well as commercial and residential service contractors.

This led to a number of frantic contractors already frustrated by the market to feel caught in a crisis.

For an industry that relies on timely responses to keep construction schedules on track and maintain good relationships with customers, this was unsatisfactory.

So the industry sat down with city officials. They listened and they responded. They were frank about their financial situation but they also worked to make life easier on the industry by streamlining some processes and concentrating on meeting inspection expectations.

Today, more than 90 percent of the city鈥檚 residential inspections and 96 percent of its commercial inspections are turned around within 24 hours after request. Both are huge improvements and deserve recognition.

As the industry begins to come back, the city of Portland and other planning departments are going to continue to be stretched. Funded almost entirely out of fees paid by our industry, the Bureau of Development Services has to operate much like a business. As the economy begins to improve and the need for additional staffers to cover plan review and inspections increases, BDS officials must make sure they are prepared to address service demands.

Two weeks ago I met with city staffers to discuss their budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year, expected service levels and permit fees. Their proposal to City Council calls for 5 percent increases in most fees associated with construction permits.

No one wants to see costs rise, but the 5 percent increase is not a surprise.

We also discussed the industry鈥檚 economic forecasts and how we hoped the industry would become more predictable in the coming year, agreeing that construction would be up a 鈥渇ew percent鈥� over last year.

The Bureau of Development Services will put its permit rate proposal before the Portland City Council on May 23. It projects that adoption of the new fees will increase 24-hour turnaround of inspections to 98 percent on all projects. Likewise, commercial plan review turnaround will improve from an average of 24 days to 15 days.

In this day and age when speed is of the essence, these commitments are likely worth the 5 percent permit fee increase to you and your business.

John Killin is president of the Associated Builders and Contractors鈥� Pacific Northwest chapter and executive director of the Independent Electrical Contractors of Oregon.