Building Official Chris Kearney

Position: Building official

Duties: State law requires each city that enforces codes to have a building official. Kearney is responsible for enforcing and administering the:

• State building code
• International building code,
• Heating and plumbing code,
• Energy code,
• Fire code,
• Local codes,
• Federal code.

This entails both looking at plans and visiting sites on “anything from a deck to a 1 million-square-foot office complex.” Hopkins inspectors visited the Cargill project 800 to 1,000 times while it was being built. Kearney supervises five full-time employees and a part-time health inspector.

Time with Hopkins: Three-and-a-half years

Other experience: Owned a private inspection company for 12 years before starting with Hopkins. The company enforced and administered building codes full time for five cities and part time for six cities.

Education: Graduated from the Building Inspection Technology program at Inver Hills Community College. Building official certification also requires a set amount of education and experience.

Hometown: Stillwater

Favorite part of his job: “Probably offering great customer service to people.” Kearney takes pride in being able to send inspectors to sites to help residents before they embark upon a project—something not every community can do.

Hardest part of his job: Enforcement. People start work without permits or move into a building without permits, making it harder to meet codes. Kearney likes when people come in beforehand to talk about the project they envision, so he can advise them on the process.

Biggest misperception about his job: “That we’re the big bad guy.” Building codes are about community safety, and many of the regulations arose out of disasters in which codes were found to be inadequate. Much of the code is also mandated by the state.

Favorite things to do when not working: Hanging out with his family. Kearney is a talented cook who comes from a long line of talented cooks. His father also loves to cook. His grandmother was a professional cook. And his great grandmother was a cook for the King of Prussia.

Family: Wife Carrie and four sons.