Safety is the foundation of Dave Englund’s work.
Englund is the City of Roseville’s Building Official. He oversees the city’s Code Enforcement Division in the Community Development Department.
Englund’s Code Enforcement Team has three primary functions: - Reviews plans and issues permits for new construction and renovations and performs inspections of ongoing and completed work
- Educates the public about city code requirements and takes enforcement action when necessary
- Issues licenses and registrations for short-term rentals and rental properties with one to four units
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His staff of six ensures buildings adhere to the Minnesota State Building Code, which establishes minimum standards for the design, construction, and maintenance of residential and commercial buildings. His staff also enforces city code pertaining to property maintenance and nuisances.
Englund said his team’s work centers around protecting people.
“Compliance to building code ensures the health, safety, and welfare of the public in the built environment,” Englund said.
Building Permits
The City of Roseville typically issues between 4,000 to 5,000 permits a year for new construction and remodels of existing homes and businesses.
Permits are required for most improvement projects including any interior remodeling that involves electrical, plumbing, or structural changes. Permits are also required for exterior work including roofs, siding, windows, decks, air conditioners, and furnaces.
Plans must be submitted to the city before work begins. Englund’s staff reviews plans for code compliance and then issues permits. City staff inspects during construction and upon completion of the project to ensure work is completed safely and in compliance with applicable codes.
For commercial buildings open to the public, the work is particularly important. Inspectors check for proper emergency exits, sprinklers and other fire suppression systems, ventilation systems, and the overall structural integrity required to support the building’s use. They make sure buildings accessed by the public comply with the Minnesota Accessibility Code.
“A majority of people understand what we do and the overall benefit it provides our community,” Englund said.
Rental Registration
Englund’s team oversees registration for single-family rental, duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes. They also oversee the city’s short-term rental program. Property owners who rent out space for short durations on websites including Airbnb are required to register with the city. And while inspections are not included with these programs, Englund said registration ensures that city officials have owners’ contact information if there is an emergency, complaints, or other issues.
“The program runs smoothly. We have very few complaints and concerns,” Englund said. Rental Registration
Code Enforcement and Neighborhood Enhancement Program (NEP)
Maintaining neighborhoods has been identified as a top priority by residents. The City Code is an agreed upon set of guidelines and standards for appearance and upkeep of homes, yards, and property.
Englund’s team enforces city code in two primary ways. The first is through complaints. The city receives and verifies about 500 complaints each year.
Typically, neighbors will contact the city to report issues. Common code issues include:
- unmowed lawns
- outside storage of items including appliances,
- old furniture, and tires
- inoperable vehicles and unregistered vehicles
City staff follow up with the property owner to resolve the issue.
“For the most part, Roseville residents are very diligent about keeping up their properties. Consider that we have 10,000 properties in the city, and properties with violations are a very small percentage,” Englund said. “In most instances, property owners address the problems once they’re notified.”
In rare instances, when issues are not addressed adequately, enforcement action is taken with the approval of the City Council.
The second way is through the Neighborhood Enhancement Program, a proactive program which alerts property owners to issues before they get out of hand. The program inspects half of the city, or about 5,000 properties, each year identifying property code violations. |
A city staff member, wearing city identification and a reflective safety vest, will complete the inspections on foot, looking for obvious violations that are clearly visible from the street. Staff spends about 30 seconds reviewing each property and will photograph violations. If violations are observed, a yellow door hanger is left at the property. Residents and business owners are asked to correct issues or contact the city if they have questions.
“This proactive work greatly reduces the number of complaints we receive and, ultimately, reduces enforcement actions,” Englund said. “We catch issues early, and property owners can typically fix problems quickly and at less expense than if they let it sit.”