Building inspectors are like police officers: They're never around when you need them. With a nationwide building boom in progress, many municipal building departments have found themselves shorthanded, forcing builders to wait days or even weeks for required inspections. But at least two localities have recently launched programs meant to streamline the inspection process, without compromising building quality. So many red flags, so little time. In April of this year, Mecklenburg County, N.C. — which includes the city of Charlotte — adopted a new inspection fee schedule that it hopes will reduce overall inspection failures, enabling its 90 building inspectors to do their work more quickly and efficiently. "The problem was never a shortage of building inspectors," says Bobbie
