La Crosse Housing Inspection Program

The typical building or rental unit may not have been inspected lately. The La Crosse City Council has suspended the five year cycle inspection program, and, in turn, many units are in violation of one or more building codes, according to Chief Inspector Dave Reinhardt.  

There was only one inspection cycle done before the program was suspended. During that inspection, there were nearly 10,000 units inspected. Despite the nearly 10,000 inspections, there were still nearly 2,000 that went uninspected. According to Reinhardt, "75 to 80 percent of those units that were inspected were issued work orders." The work orders ranged from minor to major violations – extension cord violations to full condemnation. If no water, electric or gas running in the unit or if the cost of repair is over 50% value of the unit, it may be condemned.

Reinhardt said that the inspection department has been short staffed since 2008, another reason for the lack of inspections. Reinhardt said, "It would be a good idea to do another inspection, although we do random inspections if we deem necessary." Reinhardt's supervisor is currently in the process of finding an alderman to introduce restarting the five year cycle inspection program.

The sooner the inspection program starts-up again, the sooner units in La Crosse will be up to code, Reinhardt said.