County Extends Free Inspection Program

Two collapsed decks – one where 3 people received minor injuries, and another that sent nearly 100 people to the hospital to be evaluated – have prompted a Maryland county to extend a free deck-inspection program that was originally intended to run only during Building Safety Month, which is celebrated in May. Montgomery County’s Department of Permitting Services is extending free residential deck inspections into the summer for all county residents except for those living in the corporate limits of Rockville and Gaithersburg (those municipalities have their own permitting departments). Last month, county inspectors scheduled 90 deck inspections and have inspected 671 decks since the program began in 2009. Read more.