Inspectional Services Department

Called everyday for three weeks Good luck renewing your CSL they are hoping you loose it due to their incompetency

I discovered that my building permits opened in 2015 were never closed. I visited the office at 1010 Massachusetts avenue in Boston. I explained to one of the building Inspector that I needed the permits closed. The gentleman was friendly, took the information, called my electrician, spoke to a supervisor and said, “ I am going to all the channels to get this problem resolved” I am so thankful that the boston Inspectional service has been very helpful and solved the problem. Real gentleman’s

Does anyone answer the phone at ISD after 2pm? In a supposedly world class city a lot of city services are really bad. I think someone is writing a book with loads of hilarious and sad examples about how dysfunctional city services have become in Boston. No private company could afford to operate this way.

They try to showing power, when they work. They thinking they are king. End of the day we are paying them, they forgot that.

Send an email to all of the leadership when submitting an inquiry. These people do not answer their calls or respond to their voice messages. They'll respond to your emails when you copy the higher level personnels, City Hall and the Ward district. I question if these people are actually working from home on taxpayer's time. Work needs to be done and they're doing a very poor job in supporting homeowners.

Q: What's the opposite of above and beyond? A: Boston ISD. Don't bother calling after 3, they'll put you on hold for 30 min and pretend they can't hear you when they pick up. It's happened multiple times with different phones, always after 3. Lol, you're officially worse than the RMV, nice work. P.S. If you can get someone to acknowledge you on Friday after 11 am, you deserve a plaque.

If you are a new business owner, you better take two or three days to be down here. Make sure you write down exact directions of what one person told you, and their name and the date and time they told you something. Everyone there tells you one thing, and another department another. If you pay for a certificate of inspection, they do not just schedule with you. Apparently you have to schedule with them to have an inspection renewals as well. I would think that since you are paying for a service/fee, that they would be triggered to inspect your site. Very complicated and unorganized. I understand these people are used to dealing with this for years and years but the rest of humanity hasn't, it would be nice for them to speak to you in laymens terms English and not get frustrated when you ask what something is specifically or where to go for it. Some people are more helpful than others, there is a blond woman in the CI department who is wonderful, and a gentleman in the Health department who is also wonderful and helpful.. everyone else just acts like they are there on community service and not actually being paid to do a job or help anyone. I'm not happy about being there either.. I am not being paid to be there. There needs to be a pamphlet that is titled "how to navigate what you are trying to do at 1010 Mass Ave" because it would help the general public and sadly the workers there as well.

Inspector was very rude to my friend to the point where he literally made her cry. He took about 1 min looking for roaches in each room and seemed to be trying to leave as fast as possible. The whole process of setting the appt up and trying to figure out when the inspector would arrive was hellish. I called the dept 6+ times, and after being given a large time range during work hours in which I would need to stay in the apt and wait around for the inspector, he showed up very late. I called his listed contact number 2 times and he didn’t answer both times. I left messages as directed but he never called back. For the amount of taxes I pay, this is some truly bad service! It seems like Boston is punishing tenants for having the audacity to complain.

I actually had a pretty good experience. My voice messages have not been returned minus star for now but a very nice gentleman picked up my second call and answered all the questions I had. I person, I spoke to a lady in Documents, and two more people at the counters. The line was not long and every one was pretty helpful. Does it have AMZN-like efficiency? Probably not but much better than RMV :

I went personally to 1010 Mass Ave and asked them if I need a short form or long form permit. They were not very sure and after some discussion told me I need a long for permit. So I went and hired an architect to sign the plans I made. Turned out all I needed was a short form permit because there are no structural changes. They made me waste hundreds of dollars in architect fees. Here's some feedback for the IS department if anyone is reading this at all -- when a homeowner comes and asks a serious question, please please think through the project before chasing away the home owner and making them spend money on expensive processes that is totally unnecessary for their project. They spoke to me like I was wasting their time and sent me away with wrong information. I warn all of you going to this place -- do not take for granted what they tell you. Go there 3-4 times and talk to different people before spending money on anything they ask you to do. Speak with a few contractors before going to 1010 Mass Ave... this is not a homeowner-friendly place.