The Department of Building Inspection confirmed last week that it will launch an internal investigation after Mission Local found that several veteran inspectors had overseen work performed by family members. In multiple instances, the family members also had a financial interest in the buildings.
Two of these DBI officials have risen through the ranks to attain the role of chief inspector, the top position beneath deputy directors.
The inspectors in question are Acting Chief Building Inspector Kevin T. Birmingham, inspector Sean Birmingham, and Mark Walls, the chief building inspector in plan-review services. Walls is related to the Birminghams through his stepfather.
Mission Local has found 20 instances in which one of these three DBI employees oversaw a job performed by a member of their extended family. Five of these jobs took place in a building in which a Birmingham had a financial stake.
The Birminghams are a large San Francisco family whose name has long been synonymous with city construction. That was true even before Birminghams began working in city departments (There are presently four members of the extended Birmingham family working at the Department of Building Inspection; John Birmingham is an electrical inspector).
Acting Chief Building Inspector Kevin T. Birmingham’s brothers, Bryan and Robert, are both builders, and Robert is a successful developer and building owner. His cousin, also named Kevin Birmingham, is a realtor, former builder and building owner. His uncle, George Birmingham, is a veteran builder.
In the building industry
In the Department of Building Inspection
Deceased
George
Birmingham
Michael
Birmingham
Peter
Birmingham
builder
builder
extended
family
stepson
John
Birmingham
Sean
Birmingham
Bryan
Birmingham
Robert
Birmingham
Kevin
Birmingham
Kevin T.
Birmingham
Mark Walls
electrical
inspector
building
inspector
realtor,
former builder,
building owner
building
inspector,
plan checker
acting chief
building
inspector
builder
builder
In the Department of Building Inspection
In the building industry
Deceased
George
Birmingham
Michael
Birmingham
Peter
Birmingham
builder
builder
Kevin T.
Birmingham
Bryan
Birmingham
Robert
Birmingham
builder
acting chief
building
inspector
builder
Mark Walls
building
inspector,
plan checker
Sean
Birmingham
Kevin
Birmingham
John
Birmingham
building
inspector
realtor,
former builder,
building owner
electrical
inspector
Family tree by Will Jarrett. Permit data from the Department of Building Inspection.
- DBI records reveal Kevin T. Birmingham inspecting or doing other work on jobs performed by all four of these relatives: George, Kevin and his brothers Robert and Bryan. In at least two instances, he oversaw a job performed by a Birmingham in a building in which a Birmingham has a financial stake.
- DBI records show Sean Birmingham inspecting jobs undertaken by Bryan and Kevin, his brother. Kevin Birmingham is Sean Birmingham’s brother, and the job was in a building owned by an LLC managed by Kevin Birmingham. That LLC is named after the Birmingham family’s city of origin in Ireland, Milltown.
- Finally, Walls inspected jobs done by George and Robert — the latter in a building where Robert also manages the LLCs that own the structure. Walls also plan-checked four jobs undertaken by George, his late stepfather’s brother. He checked the plans on two jobs by Robert; one of those jobs happened at a time when Robert also managed the LLC that owns the building. In 2022, Walls plan-checked one of Bryan’s projects.
Mission Local’s queries about this to the Department of Building Inspection resulted in the initiation of an HR probe. Our questions raise “important issues that we will incorporate into our investigation of these occurrences,” writes the department.
Over the past four years, the Department of Building Inspection has seen its former director, Tom Hui, forced out at legal bayonet-point, with many of his top lieutenants hurriedly retiring. Former senior inspector Bernie Curran has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for a bribery scheme, and is also on the hook for a two-year term for perjury. Former plan-checkers Cyril Yu and Rudy Pada also face federal bribery charges.
The Department of Building Inspection declined to make the Birminghams or Walls available to speak.
Kevin Birmingham declined to be interviewed. Bryan Birmingham said both Kevin T. Birmingham and Sean Birmingham were the district inspectors on his jobs, and were assigned to them internally. “I’ve had Sean a number of times, and Kevin a couple of times,” he says. Bryan Birmingham says the work was honestly done and honestly inspected.
Robert Birmingham said he has no idea how his relatives ended up doing work on his jobs and within buildings where he has a financial stake — a situation he says he’s worked to avoid. He describes his brother, Kevin T. Birmingham, as a man who is “probably too honest,” and says “we try to keep our business on the up and up.” He said he hasn’t spoken to Walls in a decade, and described the work Kevin T. Birmingham performed on his sites as “insignificant.”
George Birmingham said, “I wouldn’t know,” regarding how his family members ended up signing off on his work. “I’ve been in the building department almost five fucking years, waiting to get a permit,” he continued. “You say someone’s helping me? Bullshit. I’m gonna sue the fucking city. You write that in your fucking paper.”
In November, the San Francisco Standard’s Michael Barba revealed that DBI inspector Van Zeng inspected his own home and also inspected work done by his father’s construction company. Also in November, Mission Local reported that ex-DBI plan-checker Cyril Yu approved work on his own family’s home.
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins filed charges this month against Zeng. Yu, who is facing federal bribery charges, has not yet been hit with any local counts regarding the work he approved on family property.
Zeng’s attorney disputed any wrongdoing, claiming that Zeng was improperly terminated by DBI, and that the criminal charges are unwarranted. Zeng claims to have been randomly assigned to inspect his own home. He also argues that he did not immediately realize he was inspecting the work of his own father’s construction company.
Before facing criminal charges, Zeng underwent an HR investigation of the sort the Birminghams and Walls ostensibly stand to face. Clearly, the department found his excuses wanting, and he was sacked; the DA also didn’t buy them.
The department, again, did not deign to allow Mission Local to speak to the Birminghams or Walls. But if they were to offer explanations similar to Zeng’s, it’s not clear how well that would go. A superior assigning a subordinate inspector a property in which the subordinate’s family member or close associate did the construction work — and/or has a financial stake in the building — does not absolve an inspector who then oversees the job.
“DBI employees are required to follow DBI’s Code of Professional Conduct, which requires them to recuse themselves from any issue in which they, a family member or a close personal acquaintance, has an interest,” writes the department. “When hired, all DBI employees receive a copy of the Code of Professional Conduct and sign an acknowledgement that they have received the document.”
Neither the DBI nor the DA evidently gave much credence to Zeng’s claim that he didn’t know whose job site he was inspecting. It remains to be seen whether the Birminghams or Walls make a similar claim.
It would be an interesting claim: Over three months in 2019, Kevin T. Birmingham did five inspections — including a final inspection — on a job performed by his own brother, Bryan. Over three months in 2018, Sean Birmingham did four inspections, including issuing a Certificate of Final Completion at his cousin Bryan Birmingham’s jobsite. Both Kevin T. Birmingham and Sean Birmingham inspected their own brothers’ jobs — and properties.
Jobs were inspected at sites like 1301 Sansome St. and 921 Front St. — gorgeous, historical buildings that are prominently listed in the “Our Properties” section of the Birmingham Development, LLC website.
Inspectors unrelated to the Birminghams, meanwhile, say they know whose sites they’re inspecting. And they certainly know when it’s a relative of high-ranking members of the department.
“It’s a matter of survival to know which job you’re going to see, and who is running that job,” says one, “lest you be told you did the wrong thing to the wrong person.”
Map by Will Jarrett. Data from the Department of Building Inspection.
At present, nobody is alleging any wrongdoing by any of the building owners or contractors involved here. And nobody is currently claiming shoddy work by either the contractors or DBI personnel.
Rather, a system in which relatives are inspecting relatives’ work and properties is inherently problematic — and belies the underlying rationale for having an inspection system in the first place.
“The general rule of transparency is that any branch of government wants to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Whether there is a real conflict of interest or not isn’t even as important as avoiding the appearance of one,” says Douglas Hansen, Santa Clara’s former supervising mechanical, electrical and plumbing plans examiner and inspection supervisor.
“An appearance of a conflict leads to greater mistrust and disrespect of the building department by the public.” On the Birmingham jobs and sites, “We don’t know how good a job they did, and whether they should’ve passed. But we shouldn’t have to ask.”
Hansen adds one final suggestion: The Department of Building Inspection should alter its system so “the inspector and inspectee don’t have the same last name.”
How is it that DBI Chef O’Riordan still has his job when lacks the legally mandated credentials and oversaw rampant corruption when he was Chief Building Inspector. either he turned his head the other way or he was oblivious to what was going, either way this assures the same corrupt practices will occur as he remains silent. Classic San Francisco case of mismanagement and denial while the crooks protect their pensions. IT IS DISGUSTING THAT THIS CONTINUES!
So DBI “will launch an internal investigation after Mission Local found several veteran inspectors had overseen work performed by family members.” The sad fact is that DBI, like many other City departments, have inadequate check/ balance systems and managers don’t care. Why isn’t the Mayor or City Attorney ordering these department to get their acts together? Unless people like you, Joe, shine the spotlight on this type of behavior (aren’t public records requests great?) it will continue to get swept under the rug. And boy that has to be a gigantic rug! Keep up the good work Joe!
Anyone surprised? Lol…
After all that has been happening at DBI you have to ask yourself “ Is DBI designed to be used for one’s personal or families personal benefit?” The answer is no, DBI has been intentionally left with so few safeguards and the ones that have been put into place are not followed.
So those who know how to manipulate DBI do.
The issues brought up in this article are a good Case in point that shows the history of DBI is repeated over and over.
It’s up to you Mayor Breed to fix these problems. Because as you can see DBI never will.
You can no longer put lipstick on this pig.
She was the one who appointed Riordan saying they couldn’t find anyone outside the Department who was qualified.
Not true. Please get your facts straight before making a comment.
O’Riordan was chosen in a 4-3 vote by the Building Inspection Commission at a closed-door meeting on 1/21/2022. The private executive recruitment agency hired by S.F.’s Human Resource Dept. had recruited 4 qualified candidates, who were never publicly identified. (One of the others was likely Sharon Goei, former Director of Building and Housing for Milpitas. She has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from UCLA and has worked for 20 years for the cities of Stockton, Walnut Creek, Santa Clara, and Milpitas. She was subsequently hired by Gilroy as their Community Development Director in June of 2022.) Those Commissioners voting for O’Riordan were McCarthy (President), Tam (Vice-President), Bito, and Summers. Those against were Alexander-Tut, Eppler, and Moss.
(See: https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/player/clip/40576?view_id=14&redirect=true&h=966fe1c6634ac8709b67bf7edda15f70
Hear vote results at 26:45 of video.)
McCarthy’s vote was a given, because of his close relationship with O’Riordan. He would abruptly resign at the next BIC meeting (2/16/22), having presided over 10 years of corruption, nepotism, and favoritism at DBI. Bito, Summers, and Eppler had only been on the Commission for a few months. For the record, too, none of the BIC Commissioners are paid, and none of them have any previous experience or knowledge about how a good Building Department should be run. When it comes to corruption, they appear to be clueless. It has never been addressed at a BIC meeting, and every public statement of theirs follows the company line.
O’Riordan, a high school graduate, had been allowed to stay on as Interim Director since 3/18/20 (nearly two years) by the McCarthy led BIC. That inevitably gave him a big advantage over his competition, in spite of his lack of the minimum education requirements. That said, everyone knows that S.F., with its many high-rises, rising sea levels, major earthquake fault, old housing stock, and heavy building density has no need for a qualified Building Department Director or Building Inspection Commission!! ☹
Thanks for this. It’s important work.
I cannot comment on the Birminghams but I have had Mark Walls as a plan checker on several large projects in SF. My experience was that he was fair and diligent to the point that grey areas in the code weighed heavy on him. He has a reputation of ” well if you get Mark, at least it will be done right” . He is regarded as a “keeper on the code” and someone who design professionals turn to for verdicts on difficult situations.
Having his name in here delegitimizes the article down to sensationalism.
Dismissing this article as sensational because you had a good experience with one of the inspectors in question is absurd. Regardless of whether your experience with Mark Walls was good this is still a serious issue. Having your family member inspect your work is called conflict of interest. Most employers have rules surrounding conflict of interest and nepotism but it seems that is not the case with DBI, which has been corrupt for decades.
It is not just “a good experience” it is an overarching knowledge of his reputation among design professionals. Dbi has a serious corruption problem but everyone deserves due process before they are smeared, and in this case smeared based on what? No issue with an investigation and then a smear job. It’s easy to look up properties, compare approval time lines. The tar and feathers are a lot easier to put on than take off.
For someone who has ZERO credential under his belt, where do you get reference of “knowledge of reputation” among design professional?s?
With an average building inspector doing anywhere from 2500-3000 inspections a year, this article is siting an insignificant # over the span of a decade? Like someone else said, having a large family born and raised in San Francisco working in trades that cross-paths isn’t a crime. Where is the evidence that anyone named financially benefitted from these inspections? Where is the evidence that work was performed with ill intent or incorrectly?
This article makes this family seem like a wealthy political family and it’s a shame to see. Why not report on the actually corruption of this city? Follow the millions of dollars exchanging hands by politicians in this city?
In addition, the photos included are wildly misleading and have nothing to do with the job sites referred to.
In a city with 83 billionaires and 61,000 empty housing units, a mayor who endorse f**ing bloomberg of all people, a tech industry that gutted a whole city, there’s got to be more productive muckraking to do than expose a family name by name that’s playing by what you are calling “illegal” rules when they would have been outbid and outspent on every contract, and waited for signatures while all the contracts go to cronies of benioff and tech billionaires and foreign money. Oh…Wait. that’s what happened. As a local, you gotta get real dude, everyone who grew up here and didn’t have big money or sell out to tech is just trying to figure out a way to stay. That’s the story you are missing here, journalist.
Thanks, dude! I’ll work on that one next.
JE
It’s reasonable that this is a story. It may not be a big one. Perhaps all the inspections were fair and no inspector’s family member benefited improperly. But, it seems, inspecting a family member’s project is against the rules whether the inspector is fair or not. So this warrants a few inches and some follow up questions. I appreciate it and personally suspect there is more to it.
The only thing about ML’s work here that seems outrageous to me is running the “it’s a matter of survival” quote without any attribution at all. Really? A source making such unflattering remarks about the department with such smug confidence should be identified by job title at least.
Thanks for the reporting, Joe. A follow-up topic for you –
The city of San Francisco is fining homeowners who unknowingly purchased properties that have scope of work violations due to the corrupt building inspectors at DBI. In addition to the fines, the city is requiring homeowners to to PAY FOR PERMITS, have plans drawn, and submit what is built (if up to code) or is requiring homeowners to do construction work to address problems.
Corrupt DBI inspectors signed off on the permits, approvals are in the records, and yet, San Francisco homeowners and citizens who had nothing to do with this are being forced to pay. Absolutely absurd and no wonder people want to get the hell out of here.
Analinda. Where can I find data on CCSF civil service employees who are immediate family members of each others. I’m interested in the Lee family. http://www.fantasyland.com perhaps?
An interesting note: did you know that SF City / County has a higher percentage of employees who are related (immediate family) than any other major U.S. city? Hmmm….And they say it takes how many months for the average applicant to be processed and placed in a city job? I wonder how many months it takes for relatives of other city employees to go through the application process. My bet is a lot less time. No wonder city services, except the SFPD and the SFPL, are so abysmal and city employees generally so unmotivated and unhelpful. #Nepotism
Joe, instead of drawing family trees and succumbing to slander. Perhaps you should fact check and look at DBI’s Code of Professional Conduct with purpose. It is easily found with a quick google search. It is actually written that the “Building Inspection Commission,” not inspector employees, that are in fact “required to recuse themselves from any issue in which they, a family member or a close personal acquaintance, has an interest” (page 8). At present, this specific language is not included under the “Building Inspection Employees Code of Professional Conduct” which you clearly allude to in your article.
The “Department of Building Inspection Employees Code of Professional Conduct” reads, “Employees will enforce compliance with building codes equally and neutrally for all customers, without consideration of any relationship, special interest, political association, other affiliation or lack thereof” (page 5).
Your reporting is incomplete and prejudicial.
Hi Greg —
This is the exact passage quoted to us by the Department of Building Inspection itself, in writing — even if, as you note, it is listed under the BIC section instead of the DBI general section. It was also quoted in reference to ex-inspector Van Zeng, who was fired and is now being prosecuted for inspecting family-tied work and sites.
Your claim that it is somehow okay and within the rules to inspect family sites is curious. Perhaps Zeng’s defense attorney should call you as a witness.
JE
All I can do is laugh at this comment.
Are you serious in saying the ethics rules of BIC commissioners is somehow different than that of staff? Sounds like someone who also believes Bernie Curran was just doing an honest job for his friends too.
For many years if you web searched on my home address you’d get articles on a DBI scandal from the mid 2000’s. We had no part in that, but found it darkly funny.
Which is to say what is has always been and how the heck do we fix this?
Appreciate the reporting.
It’s simple. Change your address. All done at DBI, one stop service:)
This is much ado about nothing. These guys perform thousands of inspections a year and your sources in the department can find a dozen or more instances of supposed rules violations. I’m sure we all have signed documents when starting jobs that we didn’t read thoroughly. Was there training that specifically warned of these rules? It shouldn’t take a small army to figure out wether violations were overlooked or the inspectors did their job and unknowingly broke the rules. These men have their lives and their careers in the balance. One man seems to have already been thrown under the bus already by this moron O’Riordan.
“I’ve been in the building department almost five fucking years, waiting to get a permit,” he continued. “You say someone’s helping me? Bullshit. I’m gonna sue the fucking city. You write that in your fucking paper.” Hang it in the fucking Louvre!!!
Sounds like a big working class family with roots in San Francisco – all in the building trade in some capacity whose paths inevitably crossed. Anyone who was born and raised in SF knows and understands that it’s a small town in that regard. There’s no discussion of malice or shoddy work on behalf of anyone involved and being that the journalist needed to post their family tree, I’m sure if there was any inkling of that, it surely would have been mentioned. These don’t sound like billionaire politicians here – inspectors and contractors?! Leave them alone SF, and deal with the real issues. PLEASE!
Where did you go to School ? To the blind and deaf school in Florida.