PORT ORCHARD — To help raise awareness of building safety, the Kitsap County Department of Community Development celebrates “Building Safety Month” in May. DCD will kickoff the month with a safety fair 1-4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 4, at the Kitsap County Administration Building, 619 Division St, MS-36, Port Orchard. Join DCD and other partners in the building community for deck building clinics, live demonstrations, children’s activities and a chance to ask questions of DCD staff.

Building Safety Month is a public safety awareness campaign to help individuals, families and businesses understand what it takes to create safe, resilient, affordable and energy-efficient homes and buildings.

“All year round our building safety and fire prevention team experts, including, architects, engineers, builders, tradespeople, laborers and others in the construction industry, work to ensure the safe construction of buildings,” said Jeff Rowe, Chief Building Official for Kitsap County. “Building safety month provides us the opportunity to engage the community on what we do and thank the team and construction community for making it their mission to keep Kitsap safe.”

This year’s themes are: May 2–8 “Building solutions for all ages”; May 9–15 “The science behind the codes”; May 16–22 “Learn from the past, build for tomorrow”; May 23–29 “Building codes: a smart investment.”

To support Kitsap residents in building a safer community, DCD will again launch the permit forgiveness program. During the period of May 2 through May 31, DCD will suspend the investigation fee for anyone who submits a building permit application for a previously unpermitted structure. Permit fees still apply. Bring a completed permit application to DCD. If you have questions, please call 360-337-5777.