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Matt Rozzell has been selected to serve as the city of Portland’s new building official, beginning Dec. 22.

The building official is responsible for administration and enforcement of the city’s building permitting, plan review and inspection programs. This person acts as the city’s building code expert and serves the final authority for all building code interpretations and rulings in the city. At the Bureau of Development Services, the building official delegates authority to bureau employees for the intake, review, issuance and inspection of permits and other functions required to administer and enforce state and national building codes.

Rozzell has more than 15 years of local government experience overseeing the review of development plans and implementation of building codes. For the past four years, he served as the building codes administrator for Clackamas County, where he managed a team of 50 professionals in plan review, permitting and inspections.

Rozzell also previously served as the development services manager and building official for the city of Happy Valley, where he managed the building division and oversaw enforcement of building codes. In 2015 and 2016 with BDS, he managed a team of 26 life safety plan reviewers.

Rozzell holds numerous certifications from the International Code Council and the Oregon Building Codes Division. He is a journeyman plumber and an experienced inspector of building, fire, plumbing and mechanical plans. He is a past president of the Oregon Building Officials Association and was its Building Official of the Year in 2018. He has a bachelor’s degree in business management from Marylhurst University and an associate’s degree in industrial technology from Clackamas Community College.

In his new role, Rozzell will lead a team that manages the process through which permit applicants may appeal decisions of city plan reviewers and request alternative ways to meet the intent of a code provision. The building official is empowered to provide an official interpretation of applicable codes, and decisions may be appealed to one of the appeals boards that the building official’s team supports. The building official also works closely with the fire marshal and other city permitting bureaus to ensure consistent implementation of applicable building codes.

Rozzell replaces Terry Whitehill, who is preparing to retire after serving as the city’s building official since 2006. Whitehill has agreed to assist the transition over the next few months.