Pittsburgh's controversial Bureau of Building Inspection will have a greater focus on public safety under Mayor Bill Peduto's proposal to remove it from the Public Safety Department, BBI's chief said on Monday.

BBI Chief Maura Kennedy outlined plans to make it an independent department, step up building inspections and streamline the overall operation during a sometimes heated meeting with City Council.

Peduto has proposed changing BBI's name to the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections and separating it from the Public Safety Department.

Several council members and BBI employees have voiced concerns that the move could lessen the department's focus on safety.

“At its core, the department foundation is always public safety,” Kennedy said. “The department is really looking to modernize.”

Councilwoman Darlene Harris, the chief opponent, and administration sources said the real reason for the move is a rift between Kennedy and Public Safety Director Stephen A. Bucar.

“I don't understand why you can't do what you want to do (with BBI) under public safety,” Harris said.

Kevin Acklin, Peduto's chief of staff, accused Harris of “playing politics.”

Kennedy did not address the rift during the three-hour meeting but said the new department, for the first time, would begin inspecting high-occupancy buildings for fire violations.

She said the department would train inspectors so one can do multiple inspections for fire, demolition and building codes.

Kennedy promised to upgrade technology. BBI has 11 electronic and five paper databases to store records that include property complaints and violations. She plans to combine those into one and make it available to the public.

“All we're doing is elevating this bureau to make it a department accountable to the mayor,” said Acklin.

Harris of Spring Garden, who has criticized the move as an “accident waiting to happen,” cited an independent commission's report on a fatal building collapse last year in Philadelphia that said the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections lost its focus on public safety as an independent entity. Kennedy was a spokeswoman for the department at the time.

Harris used council discretionary funds to fly two of the report's authors to Pittsburgh for the meeting. Peter F. Vaira and Edward M. Dunham Jr., both attorneys, said the commission recommended splitting licenses and inspections into two departments and moving inspections back under public safety. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter complied, they said.

“We thought the building safety function had to be split out to a Department of Buildings that had to be headed by a licensed engineer, and he had to report to the deputy mayor of police and fire,” Dunham said.

Dunham and Vaira said they could not offer an opinion of Pittsburgh's proposal. Acklin said Pittsburgh is different from Philadelphia.

“Building inspections was not a core function of L&I in Philadelphia,” he said. “It is a core function of BBI, and it will remain a core function under this reorganization.”

Bob Bauder is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at bbauder@tribweb.com.

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