Audit Finds Houston's Life Safety Bureau Lacking

A city controller's audit finds lots of room for improvement at the Houston Fire Department's Life Safety Bureau.

1 minute read

June 16, 2017, 9:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Building Code

Oleg Anisimov / Shutterstock

Rebecca Elliott reports: "The branch of the Houston Fire Department responsible for ensuring building safety keeps inadequate records, does not examine buildings on a regular schedule and inflated its inspection numbers, all while blowing past its overtime budget, according to an audit released by the city controller's office Thursday."

The city controller's audit is only the most recent in "a series of blistering critiques of the Life Safety Bureau," adds Elliott. Fire Chief Samuel Peña has promised reforms in response to the audit, including "working with a consultant to develop a risk-based inspection program and establish a regular inspection cycle by this summer; improving the bureau's database; requiring inspectors to log daily activities; and conducting a staffing analysis."

Although fire safety and building codes are in the International news this week after a tragic fire in a London residential high-rise, Houston has its own concerning history. Last year, "a Spring Branch warehouse storing more than 40,000 pounds of hazardous chemicals burned down, eight years after the fire department last inspected it."

Thursday, June 15, 2017 in The Houston Chronicle

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Redlining map of Oakland and Berkeley.

Rethinking Redlining

For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

May 15, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Interior of Place Versailles mall in Montreal, Canada.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units

Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

May 22, 2025 - CBC

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

May 21, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Flat modern glass office tower with "County of Santa Clara" sign.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing

The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

May 23 - San Francisco Chronicle

Aerial view of dense urban center with lines indicating smart city concept.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant

A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

May 23 - Governing

Pale yellow Sears kit house with red tile roof in Sylva, North Carolina.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing

Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.

May 23 - The Daily Yonder