Jefferson City Building Official Matt Kreyling joined the city staff in mid-October and has been enjoying the transition of working in a larger community.
Kreyling had been serving as building official for the city of Mexico, Missouri, where he is from.
“It was an opportunity to move into a larger community and to grow into a little more responsibility,” Kreyling said.
Jefferson City also served as a good midway point between his hometown of Mexico and Rolla, where his wife is from.
He has degrees from the University of Missouri Rolla in architectural engineering and civil engineering and worked in construction for 10 years before he started working for Mexico.
“I like building things, and as I’ve matured in my career I like the administrative side and the building safety side of it,” he said.
As building official, Kreyling supervises the city’s property inspectors and manages the review process for building permits.
Kreyling said he enjoys working with people during the process to make sure projects are accomplished.
“You collaborate a lot with everyone from owners and developers and designers down to sub-contractors who are trying to get a specific thing done on a project,” he said.
Jefferson City’s unique historical elements also bring something different to the position.
“It’s fun to be part of either the growth process or the redevelopment process,” Kreyling said. “Some projects are new, but a lot of projects can be really neat re-use of something. Jefferson City especially offers that because there’s a lot of history here, especially in certain parts of town. It’s neat to see the ideas people come up with for re-using what’s already here.”
A challenging aspect of the position he would like to improve going forward is the public’s knowledge of building codes and the process.
“Any time you deal with the public at large, you’ve got a segment of your population that’s unaware of what regulations might be or unaware of what our role is in enforcing the building standards,” Kreyling said. “It’s a welcome challenge because I like working with people. But it can be a challenge to make sure you’re getting our role and what’s expected communicated to the public.”
The department has started implementing a new software system to increase the inspectors’ efficiency. Kreyling hopes to eventually use the same software to increase the public’s ability to interact with the staff and streamline the permitting process.