Putnam Director of Codes Stephen Parker stepping down after 17 years of managing the building standards and residential expansion of Putnam County.
Parker said the county experienced a significant shift from a period of stagnant growth when he first began his tenure to the current high-volume development. Parker said the primary driver of this expansion has been retirees moving into the area from other states to build new homes.
“There’s no way to explain exactly the feelings that you have, you know, and it’s hard to step down from this because you develop a friendship with these guys and girls and they’re just good people,” Parker said. “Again, I have to emphasize that we have some of the best builders there is in, I think, in Tennessee.”
Parker said the daily workload for the department increased from approximately six to eight inspections per day in his early years to as many as 20 daily inspections today. Parker said he often managed the department’s responsibilities alone, frequently starting his workdays as early as 5:30am to ensure contractors could stay on schedule.
“It was really, really busy, but we always tried to make sure that the contractors had their inspections,” Parker said. “I was kind of where if you had to put an inspection off when it was really busy, the contractor might have to reschedule an inspection and push his concrete or whatever he was ordering have to put that off for a few days. And if you did, it could put them a week, maybe two weeks behind. So we tried to always make sure the contractor was inspected so they could carry on with their jobs.”
Parker said he oversaw the department’s transition from Southern building codes to International Code Council standards around 2008. Parker said these newer regulations introduced stricter requirements for structural integrity and material quality, specifically regarding modern lumber spans.
“Just, I guess the housing industry, just making sure that life and safety and the customer that’s buying this house gets a quality house that the contractors build,” Parker said. “Subdivisions, we’ve had a number of subdivisions go in. And you just look around the county, you know, any subdivision that’s been developed, Putnam County codes has done the inspections on that from the footings all the way to the ridge caps.”
Parker said his successor, Daniel Favor, is a Marine veteran who has already demonstrated a unique aptitude for the technical requirements of the position. Parker said Favor has passed two residential certification tests in a short timeframe, which is a pace Parker had not seen from previous inspectors.
“He’s just really, really eager to get that done,” Parker said. “I think a lot of that has to do with his service in the military. He was in the Marines and I’ve never really met anybody as polite and, you know, just really eager to do the job the way it needs to be done. So I was really impressed with that.”
Parker said the department maintained a commitment to returning every phone call, which could range from 30 to 50 inquiries per day. Parker said he hopes his legacy is defined by his ability to work professionally with builders while maintaining strict safety standards.
“A lot of inspectors don’t have a real good name a lot of times,” Parker said. “You know, you have to, I guess, correct some of the builders. And when you do that, it’s kind of offensive and I think you’ve got to just be able to talk to these people and say, ‘Hey, here it is’ and you can show them in the book.”
Favor has officially taken over the leadership of the department as Parker enters retirement.
