Building Inspections

UNCP Environmental Health and Safety Office (EHS) Building Inspections Program is a vital component of employee safety.  It is a proactive approach to identifying hazards and conditions that might subject employees and students to injury or possible death.  To ensure that all university-owned, leased, and/or occupied facilities are compliant with local, state, and federal codes, and university policies. All university-owned leased, and/or occupied facilities will be randomly inspected at least annually. Some facilities will be inspected more often based on the size and utilization of the building following the guidelines of various regulatory agencies such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), and the North Carolina Fire Code, set forth by the Department of Insurance (DOI).

During EHS inspections we evaluate public areas including hallways and stairwells, conference rooms, classrooms, storage areas, and mechanical rooms. We look for unsafe practices and conditions related to fire codes and life safety that may contribute to a fire or deter from the effective evacuation of a building in case of an emergency.  

Common inspection findings are:

  • Unapproved storage in hallways and stairwells 
  • Blocked emergency exits
  • Permanent use of extension cords
  • Daisy-chaining of surge protectors
  • Storage to close to the ceiling
  • Unapproved space heaters 
  • Burned out exit signs
  • Propped open fire doors

After each building inspection, we send the department chair an inspection report which lists each finding. General findings should be corrected within 30 days.