Job Description

Under general supervision, performs housing inspection work in the enforcement of a variety of housing codes and related safety regulations. This is the journey level in the housing inspection series.

Distinguishing Features: Class 6270 Housing Inspector is distinguished from Class 6272 Senior Housing Inspector in that the latter, is the first-level supervisor. The housing inspection series (6270 Housing Inspector, 6272 Senior Housing Inspector, and 6274 Chief Housing Inspector) differs from positions in other inspection classes (such as 6242 Plumbing Inspector, 6248 Electrical Inspector, 6318 Construction Inspector, and 6331 Building Inspector) by the former's primary responsibility for housing code enforcement.

IMPORTANT AND ESSENTIAL DUTIES

According to civil service commission rule 109, the duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job code/class and are not intended to be an inclusive list.

1. Enforces the provisions of the San Francisco housing code, applicable administrative code, and other codes as they relate to the condition, structure, occupancy, use and maintenance of the city’s housing inventory; inspects apartment houses, residential and tourist hotels, motels, housing projects, dormitories, mobile vehicle parks, residential care homes and condominiums; processes and issues notices, infractions and misdemeanor citations for housing code violations as necessary; maintains and updates inspection findings and records, and handles housing code enforcement and public record requests.
2. Inspects for housing code violations in a systematic housing code enforcement program for multiple unit dwellings; determines substandard conditions as defined by the housing code; if necessary, may coordinate building, plumbing and electrical inspections; prepares detailed reports, logs and correspondence regarding inspection results, descriptions of the building and conditions, violations and hazards; determines nature and severity of violations and makes necessary referrals to other inspection groups and agencies; causes abatement orders or other orders for correction to be issued; and makes recommendations as required.
3. Evaluates and checks building permit applications and related plans that result from housing code enforcement activities to ensure conformance with the housing code; educates residential building owners, property managers, building occupants, community groups, and others on compliance and/or corrections needed to meet housing and related code requirements; provides preliminary estimated cost of housing code mandated work for determination of permit fees, and makes progress inspections and reports on permit work.
4. Works with City Attorney in obtaining inspection warrants and warning letters, testifies in court litigation involving housing, fire-safety, and sanitation; schedules noncomplying code enforcement cases to administrative hearings; and determines if State Franchise Tax Board is to be notified in cases of noncompliance.
5. Performs periodic health and safety inspections of residential buildings or identified sections as required by the systematic housing code enforcement requirements and when appropriate from occupant/community complaints, as well as identifying and eliminating life hazards and various housing code violations; investigates complaints regarding housing conditions, illegal occupancy, safety and related sanitation conditions; determines proper department, division, or City agency for complaint referral; enforces security ordinance, smoke and heat detector ordinance, lead paint safe practices ordinance, residential energy and water conservation ordinances, and residential hotel conversion ordinance; mediates disputes between property owners and complainants when possible to facilitate timely compliance; issues reports and conducts follow-up inspections leading to the correction of violations or abatement proceedings.
6. Develops statistical surveys and provides data regarding housing code enforcement as required; attends meetings and hearings, and makes presentations at board or commission hearings and other related events; helps codify, define and enforce new laws and ordinances as required; makes inspections for the Human Services Agency (HSA) master lease program for residential hotels as assigned.
7. Conducts special emergency investigations on matters relating to the preservation of the city’s housing inventory.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Knowledge of: field inspection methods and procedures; city ordinances, departmental rules and regulations pertaining to housing code enforcement and related housing standards; safe working practices and procedures.
• Ability and Skill to: meet, coordinate and collaborate with the general public, building owners and managers, tenants, contractors, community groups, and others to obtain effective cooperation and understanding of requirements to improve the quality of the city housing inventory; prepare clear and concise written reports, notices and other correspondence; maintain detailed records; speak in a clear and effective manner; and use a computer.

Qualifications

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

These minimum qualifications establish the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license(s) which are required for employment in the classification.

• Education: High school diploma or equivalent (GED or High School Proficiency Examination).
• Experience: Two (2) years of inspection experience for a public or private agency charged with the authority to implement and enforce housing, building, fire, and/or health codes.
• License and Certification: Possession of a valid California driver license.

Substitution:

• Two (2) years of experience performing site inspections and/or providing case management for housing preservation and/or violation abatement may substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.
• Two (2) years of experience responsible for building construction/inspection as a licensed building contractor, licensed architect, or licensed civil, structural (or related) engineer, or any combination thereof, may substitute for the required experience on a year-for-year basis.
• Four (4) years of experience as a carpenter supervisor or superintendent, responsible for overseeing and inspecting building construction under the direction of a licensed contractor, architect, or engineer may substitute for up to two (2) years of the required experience.
• Possession of a certificate in one of the related areas: Property Maintenance and Housing Inspector, Building Plans Examiner, Commercial or Residential Building Inspector, Commercial or Residential Plumbing Inspector, or Commercial or Residential Electrical Inspector issued by the International Code Council (ICC), may substitute for six (6) months of required experience.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

Nature of work includes the ability to work in inclement weather, and in some cases to work evenings, weekends, holidays, and possible exposure to hazardous conditions found in and around damaged buildings, structures, and construction sites; and ability to move in and out of buildings and other related areas. These positions require the operation of a motor vehicle in order to visit inspection sites and to respond to emergencies and disasters. Housing Inspectors may be required to furnish their own car (mileage allowance will be given).

Verification of Education and Experience:

Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Please review our articles on Employment Application and Minimum Qualifications and Verification of Experience and/or Education for considerations taken when reviewing applications

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. More information can be found at: https://sfdhr.org/information-about-hiring-process#verification

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Selection Procedures

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A.

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (MQSQ) (Weight: Qualifying) : Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application at a later time. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Written Examination (Weight 100%): __ Candidates will be administered a written multiple-choice examination to determine their relative knowledge, skill and ability level in one or more of the following job related areas as appropriate. These areas may include, but not be limited to: knowledge of: field inspection methods and procedures; city ordinances, departmental rules and regulations pertaining to housing code enforcement and related housing standards; safe working practices and procedures.

This is a standardized written multiple-choice examination. In accordance with Civil Service Rule 111.11.4, inspection privileges do not apply to the questions and answers in this examination.

The score you achieve on this examination shall be valid and "banked" for three years, starting from the date of the examination. This means that, during this three-year time period, you will not be required to take this test again should you apply and be found eligible for a future announcement for which this particular test is used. If the test for this future announcement is held within 1 year of the date of this examination, your score will be automatically applied to that announcement. However, after one year, you have the option to either (a) apply your test score to the other announcement or (b) re-take the test. Re-testing is permitted no sooner than one year from the date of the examination and only in association with your eligibility for another announcement for which this test is used. Please note that, should you re-test, your re-test score would become your official score since it is the most recent (even if it turns out to be lower than your original score).

A minimum score must be achieved on the Written Examination to be placed on the eligible list.

Eligible List/Score Report : A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created, and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission. The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be twelve (12) months , and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2023-24.pdf

Certification Rule: The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of the List. Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Additional Information

Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/.

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘no rational basis’ for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule. Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director. Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY

All job applications for the City and County of San Francisco must be submitted through our online portal. Please visit https://careers.sf.gov/ to begin your application process. No other methods of application will be accepted.

Computers are available for the public (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday) to file online applications in the lobby of the Dept. of Human Resources at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor and at the City Career Center at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 110.

Ensure your application information is accurate, as changes may not be possible after submission. Your first and last name must match your legal ID for verification, and preferred names can be included in parentheses. Use your personal email address, not a shared or work email, to avoid unfixable issues.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Upon successful submission, applicants will receive a confirmation email from notification@careers.sf.gov. Keep this email for your records. If you do not receive it, your application was not submitted successfully.

Recruitment Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst **** Jason Hammack, via email at Jason.Hammack@sfgov.org

DBI Housing Inspector- Video

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.