"This is a great achievement and demonstrates the city of Las Vegas' commitment to public safety," said IAS president Chuck Ramani. "To achieve accreditation, the Las Vegas Department of Building and Safety underwent rigorous assessments to verify that it operates under the highest ethical, legal, and technical standards while providing enhanced life safety and property protection."

Throughout the process, IAS evaluators assessed customer service, code interpretation and enforcement, and fiscal strength. The team of five IAS-trained evaluators assessed the building department's expertise and its compliance with the IAS Accreditation Criteria for Building Departments/Code Enforcement Agencies. The team also visited construction sites to appraise the performance of the city's inspection process. "All public service organizations should have a standard to work to, even building departments," said Doug Selby, Las Vegas city manager. "Accreditation is a sign of competence, of credibility, and a check on our ability to provide value to our customers. It's also a way to benchmark our performance against industry best practices."

For more information, visit www.iasonline.org.

Publication date: 06/19/2006