D.C.’s Third-Party Program: Meeting Demands While Providing Quality Management

In most jurisdictions, quality assurance in building construction is carried out through plan reviews during the design phase and inspections during the construction phase, and Washington, D.C. follows this same approach. The primary goal of quality management is to ensure compliance with building codes, helping to prevent errors that could lead to property damage or personal injury.

To meet regulatory requirements, property owners must hire a registered architect or engineer to design the building and a licensed contractor to carry out the construction. While professionals are responsible for executing the work, the ultimate responsibility lies with the property owner to ensure that the building complies with all applicable laws and supports the safety and functionality needs of its occupants.

To meet construction and development demands, Washington, D.C. launched its Third-Party Program in the early 2000s, authorizing private third-party entities to perform plan review and inspections on the city’s behalf. The program, administered by the D.C. Department of Buildings (DOB), serves to certify and oversee these entities, which in turn perform quality assurance of building construction in the city.

Oversight and Enforcement of Third-Party Agencies

DOB’s Third-Party Program employs several strategies to oversee the quality of inspections or plan review provided by the third-party agencies, including certification, audits, oversight inspections and investigations.

Certification

The Program certifies about 100 private agencies to perform plan review or inspection services on the city’s behalf. The intensive certification process evaluates a private agency’s qualifications, including the business license, insurance, certifications and years of experience. For renewing agencies, past performance is also considered. 

Audit

An audit of the property records for a project’s address is performed to identify ownership, review permit status and scope and confirm that required inspections were completed. This audit process provides the overall status of a construction project.

Oversight Inspection

DOB conducts an oversight inspection during or shortly after the third-party agency has performed their construction inspection, observing the third–party’s ability to identify regulatory or code deficiencies in the construction work in real-time. DOB then develops an oversight report and shares it with the third party for their review and process improvement through evaluation of lessons learned.

Investigation

Investigations are conducted to determine whether negligence has occurred. Audits and oversight inspection results, photographs, interviews and other evidence are reviewed and, if negligence is identified, an enforcement recommendation is made.

Enforcement

If it is determined that the third-party agency was found to be negligent, enforcement action is taken using a progressive discipline model. If the error is minor (e.g., an issue associated with an incorrect form), a warning is given. DOB uses its discretion to enforce through probation, suspension or removal if negligence is egregious and could result in endangering the life of building occupants.

Enhancing Oversight

In 2021, DOB implemented a new online platform, Tertius, to meet the need for effective inspection data capture and reporting. Tertius streamlined the Third-Party Program’s ability to perform oversight through using standard inspection forms, inspection scheduling, tracking and completion, while also capturing inspector location and allowing the third-party agency to perform internal quality control checks. As a result, third-party inspection report submittals increased exponentially from a few hundred per year before Tertius to almost 60,000 in Fiscal Year 2024.  

Under the leadership of DOB Director Brian J. Hanlon, the mantra of the DOB team is to keep the built environment safe, green and moving through process improvements. As a result, in 2025, additional technological and process opportunities are being explored to enhance the effectiveness and performance of the Third-Party Program’s oversight and enforcement.

Areas of focus include: 

• Enhancing stakeholder engagement to ensure expectations are aligned: tools used include forums, focus groups, and direct involvement in program improvement.
• Identifying third-party agency key performance metrics: the agency uses data analysis for processes such as inspection and plan review timeliness, accuracy and compliance to guide the selection and implementation of process improvements.
• Identifying key risks for the program: the agency seeks to implement further risk assessment to identify process gaps and improvement opportunities to reduce errors that may improve occupant life safety.  

Under the leadership of Mayor Muriel Bowser, Washington, D.C. is innovating to foster economic development in both residential and commercial sectors. By leveraging technology, stakeholder engagement and data-driven strategies, the Third-Party Program continues to enhance its effectiveness and adapt to evolving construction demands in support of the city’s goals. This multifaceted approach ensures that the program is agile, resilient and capable of advancing development and protecting the safety of District residents, businesses and visitors.