Electrical AHJ Study 2016

Where Do They Work?

In what local jurisdictional departments do these inspections take place? Electrical AHJs can most frequently be found in Building Departments (29%) or those with Inspection Services or Building Inspection (22%) in the title. The titles of the departments were broken down into categories and regions and the results are as follows.Department by Category

New England Region

Building Departments are most common in Connecticut (68%), Massachusetts (47%), New Hampshire (28%), and Rhode Island (56%). In Maine, Code Enforcement Departments (85%) are where inspectors are likely to be found. Within the state of Vermont, state electrical inspectors with the Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire Safety make up the majority of inspectors.

Middle Atlantic Region

Construction Services departments dominate the state of New Jersey at 50%. Code Enforcement (33%) and Building (27%) are most common in New York, with Inspection Services (21%) and Building departments (14%) are being found throughout Pennsylvania. Note: most jurisdictions within New York and Pennsylvania use third-party inspectors.

South Atlantic Region

Inspection Services departments are the most common in Delaware (38%), Georgia (36%), North Carolina (47%), Virginia (38%), and West Virginia (33%). Building departments are the most common in Florida (57%) and South Carolina (20%). Permits and Inspection departments are the most common in Maryland (31%).

South —

South East Region

Inspection Services make up 35% of the departments in Alabama, while Planning and Development (23%) are most commonly found in Kentucky. Code Enforcement departments make up the majority of departments in Tennessee at 30%, followed by Building Departments at 23%.

Central Division Region

Inspection Services departments are the majority in Texas (39%) and Oklahoma (30%) with smaller numbers in Louisiana (18%) and Arkansas (15%). Building departments (23%) are the most common in Arkansas, with Permit and Inspection Offices (27%) common in Louisiana.

Mid-West

East North Central Region

Ohio (70%), Michigan (61%), Indiana (43%), and Illinois (38%) all have Building departments as their primary department for electrical AHJs. Wisconsin leads with Inspection Services departments at 65%, followed by Illinois (11%), Indiana (7%), Michigan (15%), and Ohio (11%).

West North Central Region

The majority of states within this region use state electrical inspectors for their inspections (with the exception of a handful of local jurisdictions). These states include Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Building departments make up the majority of departments within Kansas (26%) and Missouri (35%). Inspection Services (19%) and Community Development (16%) departments are also often found in Kansas. Community Development (15%) and Planning and Development (14%) are also found often in Missouri.

Mountain Region

The states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming primarily use state electrical inspectors, with a few isolated jurisdictions. Within these jurisdictions, the Building department is one the most common departments in Arizona (46%), Colorado (62%), Idaho (84%), Montana (79%), Nevada (71%), New Mexico (17%), Utah (52%), and Wyoming (29%). The few local jurisdictions in the state of New Mexico also use Community Development (33%).

Pacific Region

Department Title by Region
Department Title by Region

Building departments are where you will find the most electrical AHJs in Alaska (60%), California (69%), Oregon (43%), and Washington (42%). Hawaii had a small return in the survey; but for the four jurisdictions that responded, 75% worked within the Public Works department and 25% were within a Planning and Development department.

Laura Hildreth
Laura L. Hildreth is the managing editor for IAEI Magazine and has worked in editorial and technical publications within the electrical industry for eighteen years, the technology industry for over twenty years, and the news industry for even longer. Her passion is encouraging communication and learning no matter what the tool. Connect with her on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/lauralhildreth.