April 5, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BUILDING SAFETY AND BLUE DIAMOND:
MECK-SI.COM WINS PRESTIGIOUS AWARD FOR TECHNOLOGY

Charlotte, NC – Mecklenburg County's innovative process to help commercial builders and developers navigate the inspections process has been recognized by Charlotte's business and technology community. "Meck-si.com" won the prestigious Blue Diamond Award for "Best IT Business Value (small to medium) in the 2006 competition.

The Blue Diamond Award is awarded annually by Information Technology Charlotte in conjunction with the Charlotte Chamber.

Meck-SI.com was introduced in January to manage "special inspections," or additional supplemental building inspections required by the N.C. Building Code. Special inspections are performed on commercial construction projects by private-sector inspectors, employed by the project owner and not by the County. Special inspections are necessary for various stages of a construction project, such as deep foundations, retaining walls, structural steel, masonry and others.

Meck-SI.com automates the special inspection process. It begins when the builder or developer applies for a permit and continuing through the term of the project. The Web site allows the builder to complete these mandatory inspections, while reducing the possibility making a mistake. Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement issued about 7,500 commercial building permits last year - about 30-percent requiring special inspections.

Meck-SI.com is state-of-the-art and unique to code compliance authorities around the nation. In fact, Mecklenburg County has applied for a patent for this this special inspections management system in an effort to offer this labor-saving paperless system to other code compliance authorities.

For more information on Meck-SI.com, builders and developers can call the Commercial Technical Answer Center (CTAC) at 704-336-3829.