It is wonderful to see State College is considering withdrawal from the COG code agency.

Such a move should be followed by other municipalities in the Centre Region. The Centre Region code office has made the region one of the most difficult and costly places to do construction work in central Pennsylvania. Many contractors will no longer do work in Centre County as a result of this organization. The problem relates not to having a greater adherence to code, but to the way in which this organization operates.

The Centre Region Code office creates costly delays in most local construction projects and fails to schedule specific appointment times. This causes foremen and crews to stand around doing nothing for up to several days while waiting for an inspection.

They cannot agree on code policy. The senior building inspector and the commercial plans examiner often do not agree on their interpretations of the code, therefore many projects move forward based on the opinions and directives given by the plans examiner.

Once under construction, the senior building inspector often has an entirely different opinion that requires significantly costly changes that were created by the inability of multiple code officers to agree.

It is not difficult for a municipality to contract with a private state-approved inspection agency. Most central Pennsylvania municipalities have found this arrangement quite successful.

It is time to end the reign of terror our community members must face when dealing with Centre Region Code.

Drew Patterson

State College