DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ANNOUNCES OFFICE
CONSOLIDATION
Commerce to relocate
Batavia and Athens’ offices to Chillicothe
The Ohio
Department of Commerce division of Industrial Compliance is consolidating
its Athens and Batavia offices into a new office located in
Chillicothe. The offices
primarily examine and approve construction plans for commercial projects
that fall under state jurisdiction.
The division will continue operations at its main office in
Reynoldsburg and field offices in Akron and Toledo.
The
offices in Athens and Batavia will close on April 3rd and be
combined as one office at 20 S. Paint Street, Chillicothe. The Chillicothe office will open
for business on April 16th. It's hours of operation will be
Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Its phone will be 740/ 702-1400. Click
here for a map to the new
location.
Businesses
needing service between April 4th and 15th may mail
or deliver their plans directly to The Department of Industrial Compliance
main office, located at 6606 Tussing Road, Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068.
Over the
last four years, the department has witnessed a continued trend of
increased plan submission from contractors, engineers and architect firms
across the state. With
minimal staffing at the regional offices, the workload increased beyond
capacity, which also increased the number of days required for a project
to receive complete plan review at each of these
locations.
To
determine the best way to offset the increase in plan review time and the
cost of doing business, DIC examined alternative solutions to the plan
review process that would provide improved customer service and make the
entire process more consumer-friendly. After the review, Director
Commerce Gary C. Suhadolnik arrived at a two-fold
solution.
- Increase the number of plans
examiners within the division main office from 10 to 12, providing
shorter turnaround time on plan review, especially on large or complex
projects.
- Reduce the regional office from
four remote locations to three more centralized locations, and establish
a standard, office configuration of two plans examiners, one secretary
and one plumbing inspector assigned to each regional office.
The
consolidation accomplishes these objectives. “These changes will improve
overall customer service and individualized service at each of the three
regional locations, reduce the project turnaround time across the state
and reduce the long-term costs of each office while improving efficiency
and productivity,“ said Superintendent of Industrial Compliance David M.
Williamson.
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