Your inspection schedule is packed. You're spending hours each day just driving between sites. And contractors keep calling asking when you'll arrive.
Building departments nationwide are facing the same challenge. Some are experimenting with Remote Video Inspections (RVI) to see if eliminating travel time can help their teams keep up.
If you've dismissed remote inspections before, you're not alone. William H. (Bill) Hudson, CBO, MCP, SAFEbuilt's Director of Remote Inspections * with 30 years of experience, was deeply skeptical.
Hudson had seen the problems with early virtual inspection methods — FaceTime calls with no accountability, photos that could've been taken anywhere, and no way to verify location or create timestamped records.
What changed his mind? Modern RVI includes three features that older methods lacked:
The result is a geolocated PDF report that includes far more detail than a traditional inspection signature and a few photos.
— Bill Hudson, Master Code Professional, 30 years of inspection experience
Instead, they work from the office with live video feeds and approved plans on screen. They complete one inspection, then start the next — without driving across town.
Cities report that hours previously spent in traffic now go toward completing more inspections.
Traditional inspections happen when the inspector arrives. With RVI, cities can schedule exact times.
A parent who can only be home from 4:15-5:00? Cities using RVI can accommodate that.
"If you've got a working parent that can only be home between 4:15 and 5:00, we can schedule the RVI for that exact time," Hudson explains. "No one's losing half a day waiting."
The trade-off: this requires more administrative coordination upfront to manage the schedule.
This is where RVI gets interesting: one person on-site with a camera while multiple certified inspectors review different systems remotely.
For example:
Each inspector directs the camera, takes their own photos, and signs off independently.
After a storm triggers hundreds of permits, this approach helps cities process inspections faster. But it requires good communication between inspectors and careful coordination of who's reviewing what. Please note that multiple inspections are available only in certain jurisdictions, depending on city ordinances and state legislation.
Most building officials ask: How do I know it's thorough if I'm not physically there?
Anyone can choose not to use RVI. If an elected official, director, property owner, contractor, or inspector prefers a traditional inspection for any reason, it will be done in person.
Cities using RVI typically start with:
Complex structural inspections, first-time builds where tactile assessment matters, or situations where the inspector needs to physically test components.
Match inspection complexity to camera operator expertise and inspection type.
Cities considering RVI typically want to understand: How do you train staff? Which inspections qualify? What does the actual process look like?
Video Inspections: 3 Ways To Speed Inspections walks through real implementation examples and shows actual RVI reports from cities using the approach.
* Disclaimer: Remote Video Inspection (RVI) services are available only in certain jurisdictions and may be limited or restricted based on applicable municipal, county, and state ordinances, codes, and legislation, which vary by location. RVI may also be limited to specific inspection types as permitted by law. Availability is not guaranteed. Please consult a SAFEbuilt representative to confirm whether RVI services are authorized in your jurisdiction and for the applicable inspection types.