The Montgomery County Department of Permitting Services (DPS) will provide free residential deck maintenance inspections during the month of May as part of its annual Building Safety Month campaign. The program is limited to 300 appointments.
“Building Safety Starts with You,” is the theme for the 2023 campaign, which is designed to raise awareness about building safety and the importance of adopting modern and regularly updated building codes to ensure safe and sustainable structures where people live, work, play and learn. The campaign also emphasizes the impact of building safety on personal, local and global levels. The theme for the first week of the campaign is “Building Safety Starts at Home.”
“It is important to keep up with preventative maintenance at home to ensure you are in a safe environment,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “As part of the County’s commitment to safety, DPS is offering free residential deck maintenance inspections to the first 300 homeowners who sign up during the month of May. We encourage you to take advantage of this free service to learn firsthand from an inspector about how to assess the condition and safety of your deck for you and your visitors.”
To request a deck maintenance inspection by telephone, homeowners should contact the County’s central call system at MC311 or 240-777-0311 beginning Monday, May 1. Homeowners may also schedule an inspection online by visiting the DPS website at montgomerycountymd.gov/dps and submitting a service request. The form is in the online services queue on the front page of the website. On the description section of the online form, residents should note they are requesting a deck maintenance inspection and include the property address and contact information at the top of the form. These requests cannot be anonymous, and must be requested by the homeowner.
“Building safety is important 365 days a year,” said DPS Director Rabbiah Sabbakhan. “Our code officials are working every day to keep the public safe. These free deck maintenance inspections take less than 15 minutes. Once on site, an inspector will check the support structure of the deck, fastener conditions, ledger attachment, and overall condition of the deck. Because of our inspectors’ workload at this busy time of year, the program is limited to 300 appointments. Customers will find additional resources about decks and the permitting process on the DPS website.”
One resource titled Guidelines for Residential Decks will interest homeowners building a new deck or checking the condition of their current deck. It contains information about the permitting and inspection process.
DPS’ free deck inspection program does not extend to the city limits of Gaithersburg and Rockville because these municipalities have their own permitting departments and protocols.
The weekly themes for this year’s Building Safety Month campaign include: (May 1-7) “Building Safety Starts at Home;” (May 8-14) “Building Safety Professionals and You;” (May 15-21) “Prepare Your Community;” (May 22-28) “Advocate for Your Community;” and (May 29-31) “Solving Challenges Together.”
County Executive Elrich and the County Council are scheduled to issue a joint Building Safety Month proclamation on Tuesday, May 2.
Learn more about Building Safety Month at buildingsafetymonth.org and join the conversation on social media using #MoCoDPS, #BuildingSafetyMonth2023 and #BuildingSafety365.
The Department of Permitting Services is located at 2425 Reedie Drive, 7th Floor in Wheaton. The customer service lobby is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday-Friday, and customers do not need an appointment to get assistance.
