DSPS licensing times down, number of approvals up, Evers says
Gov. Tony Evers requested the Legislature to allow DSPS keep its improved staffing levels.
Wisconsin updates plumbing code to national standards
The update wasn't an overhaul of the current code, but brought nationally held standards up to date.
Committee will review proposal to start commercial construction before local and state approval of plans
The legislative study committee for the commercial building process will review a proposal next week to let commercial developers start building before plan approval, as contractors and regulators search for a way to relieve project backlogs.
GOP questions delays at Evers’ licensing agency
Republican lawmakers are raising questions about why the state Department of Safety and Professional Services is taking weeks to issue licenses.
Crim stepping down as DSPS secretary, Hereth taking over
The head of the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, an agency charged with reviewing commercial-building plans and issuing various trades licenses, is stepping down.
DSPS offers new system for plans for elevators, commercial buildings on April 12
The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services is switching to a new online submission system for commercial building plans and elevator plans starting in April.
Lawmakers introduce bill aimed at preventing DSPS plan review backlog
State lawmakers formally introduced a bill on Wednesday to change Wisconsin's commercial plan review process in the hopes of preventing a backlog of plan reviews from resurfacing.
State revives stricter multi-family sprinkler standard under AG Kaul opinion
The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services will again require sprinkler systems in small apartment buildings after Attorney General Josh Kaul reversed a legal opinion from his Republican predecessor last fall.
Lawmakers weigh further changes to state’s plan reviews
A bill circulating in the state Legislature aims to keep a months-long backlog in commercial plan reviews from reemerging by reviving changes to the review process that lawmakers had proposed last year.
AG opinion raises questions about state’s multi-family sprinkler rule
State officials are weighing how a legal opinion requiring fire sprinklers in apartment buildings could affect how state agencies enforce and adopt new administrative rules.
As plan-review changes move toward permanency, some worry of uncertainty
To speed up commercial-plan approvals, state regulators are planning to make permanent a policy change that would no longer allow contractors and architects to schedule specific dates for plan reviews.
Committee to consider continuing waivers for UI work-search requirements
Lawmakers this week will consider extending a series of pandemic-related rules intended to freeze employers' unemployment-insurance payments, waive job-search requirements for people receiving unemployment benefits and curtail the need for in-person fire and electrical inspections.
Today’s News
- Milwaukee Mayor’s $1.9B budget proposal has infrastructure boost
- As employers face labor shortages, Biden administration rolls out playbook for training workers
- Wisconsin Senate committee votes against confirmation for four DNR policy board appointees
- October proclaimed Architecture Awareness Month in Wisconsin
- Pre-Bid Meetings – Week of October 2, 2023
- Corn mill owners plead to federal charges in fatal explosion, will pay $11.25 million
- BUILDING BLOCKS: Second phase of Lower Yahara River Trail construction
- Sky-high mortgage rates leave homes unaffordable for more buyers, sending new home sales tumbling
- Forecast: Economic challenges ahead as rates rise and labor shortages remain
- CBRE opens office on 18th floor of Milwaukee BMO Tower
- Former inmate able to rebuild life through work in construction trades
- Zignego to lead $60M I-894 improvement project
Project Profiles
- First prefabricated bridge in US installed in Eau Claire County
- Illinois developer worked with Wisconsin contractor to build 258-unit Wauwatosa apartment complex
- VJS Construction raises the roof for Bruce Guadalupe Community School expansion project
- Microgrid pilot project will store energy for village affected by outages
- Dane County sees uptick in highway work zone crashes, on track to exceed last year
- The Hop streetcar will debut newest service route in fall with limited service
- FPC Live slims venue proposal to 1 downtown building
- Children’s Hospital urgent care center in Milwaukee gets first round of city approval
- With Sonag Construction shut down, feds move to block indicted owner from collecting leftover assets
- Four contractors selected to build border wall prototypes
- UW-Milwaukee’s Greenstreet shaping minds (and the city)
- Turning the Corner(s) (PHOTO SLIDESHOW)