City Manager's Annual Report 2017 | A Year In Review | Page 38

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E C O N O M I C
D E V E L O P M E N T
3.
When businesses and developers come to Port St. Lucie,
they work with one of the best Building Departments in
the world, according to the International Accreditation THE BUILDING
Service. After an intense 18- month process, the City DEPARTMENT
of Port St. Lucie’s Building Department earned the ACCREDITATION
distinguished honor of being among only 25 similar
departments in the world to be fully accredited by IAS,
which is a subsidiary of the International Code Council.
Accreditation sets the standard of excellence for the
profession. This accomplishment, announced in late
December 2016, puts the City’s Building Department
among the best across the globe for timeliness, quality
assurance and customer service.
The advantages to contractors and residents who utilize
a fully accredited building department, such as Port
St. Lucie’s, are: All activities are subject to established
and posted timelines, accuracy is validated by a quality
assurance process and they receive the highest level
of customer service.
IAS also notifies the Insurance Services Office for possible
reduction in property insurance premiums for property
owners in the City of Port St. Lucie. The ISO evaluates
every building department in the United States every five
years. The results of the last evaluation ranked the City
of Port St. Lucie among the highest in St. Lucie County,
the State of Florida and the nation.
Because of the City’s best practices, benchmarking and
high-ranking accreditation, the Building Department
has started working with Fairfax County, Virginia to
assist them with achieving their Building Department
Accreditation.
ONE
OF THE
BEST IN THE
WORLD.
UNEMPLOYMENT IN PSL IS DECLINING
Unemployment was down to 3.6 percent in 2017, which was
further reduced from 4.5 percent in 2016 and lower than
St. Lucie County, which was 4.2 percent.
1,501
Single Family
Residence Permits
Issued in 2017.
This is a 38 percent
increase from 2016.