| Previous slide | Next slide | Back to the first slide | View Graphic Version |
We utilized the information gathered from these communities that had no County Plumbing Section to draw up potential pros and cons of eliminating this regulatory agency.
With the elimination of the Plumbing Section, the County no longer incurs administrative or personnel costs and costs are divested. Decreased regulation might be an incentive for businesses to invest--this, of course, is dependent on whether or not the municipalities adopt and enforce their own Codes. And since inspectors are not required to be plumbers, there is no longer a need to negotiate salaries and benefits with plumbers unions.
There are tremendous potential health risks, however, associated with this option. Because municipalities are no longer required to adopt and abide by a plumbing code and because inspectors are not necessarily trained as plumbers, the health ramifications could prove costly. And even if a Code is adopted and inspectors have plumbing backgrounds, unless the municipalities establish their own Plumbing Section, there is the loss of an enforcement agent.