FSEA SOFL November Meeting - Building Official Panel Discussion

This is a 1.0 Hour presentation and PDH certificates will be emailed from [email protected] to all attendees.

Building Offical Panel Discussion:

(Summary Needed)

Jaime D. Gascon

Jaime D. Gascon is the County’s Board and Code Administration Division Director and oversees the Board of Rules and Appeals, Unsafe Structures Board and the Construction Trades Qualifying Board. He is a Division Director of the Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) Department operating at the Permitting and Inspection Center (PIC), where he also manages the certification of all County and Municipal code officials, issuance of Miami-Dade County’s Notice of Acceptance (NOA), and issuance of local contractor licenses. His team of Sr. Code Officers for the trades of Building, Structural, Roofing, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Energy and Flood serve to maintain and uphold the uniform enforcement of the building code. Prior to this post, he served as the Building Official for the Unincorporated Miami-Dade County area, and previously headed the Product Control Section as Supervisor.

Mr. Gasoon has over 30 years of construction experience related to the building envelope components, product testing and the building codes. He joined the County in 1994 and worked as a product control inspector when the Miami-Dade County’s South Florida Building Code was being revamped. He is a State of Florida Professional Engineer, and he is currently a member of the Structural Technical Advisory Committee to the Florida Building Commission.

Vince Seijas

Vince Seijas is the Building Official for the City of Doral, Director At-Large for the Florida Floodplain Managers Association and President of the South Florida Building Officials Association. Enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1997 and becoming a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Specialist, he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in 1999.

Once his formal training was completed he was assigned to 4 th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, United States Marine Corps Reserve where he deployed twice overseas. First in support of the NATO Weapons Inspections in Iraq (1999) and finally in support of counter terrorist operations and Operation Iraqi Freedom (2004-2005).

Upon returning, Vince went back into the booming construction industry he had grown up in when he earned his General Contractors License and shortly thereafter, his Roofing Contractors License. His work included balcony and structural repairs, extensive residential site development and construction. When the market took a significant downturn, (2008) he was shifting into extensive work rehabilitating condominiums and ultimately transitioned in the Public Sector.

 Starting with Miami-Dade County in 2013 as a Building & Roofing Inspector, then promoted to Miami-Dade County’s Board and Code Administration Section (BORA) as a Senior Code Officer for Flood and Disaster in 2017.

 In 2021, Vince left Miami-Dade County to be the Building Official for the City of Doral and most recently he has accepted the Building Department Director & Building Official for the City of Miami Beach where leads a team of code enforcement experts and serves the industry as:

o President of the South Florida chapter of BOAF, South Florida Building Officials

Association.

o He actively participates in the BOAF Legislative Committee, Industry outreach,

o SFBOA Member of the Year 2020, 2022, 2023

o SFBOA Building Official of the Year 2021, 2022, 2023

o BOAF Building Official of the Year 2024

 FBCs Hurricane Research Advisory Committee,

 Director At-Large of the Florida Floodplain Manager’s Association,

o Cohost of the 2023 FFMA Conference in Miami,

o sponsoring Code Modifications, Declaratory Statements, and

o Petitioning the Building Code Administrators and Inspectors Board for a Voluntary Floodplain Manager License.

Fredy Tain

Fredy Tain is a Professional Engineer with over thirty years of experience; for the last four years he has served as the Structural Division Director of Miami-Dade County Building Department (RER). His professional registrations, licenses and certifications include:

 Professional Engineer, State of Florida, January 2004.

Discipline: Structure.

 Special Inspector of Threshold Type Buildings, March 2006.

 Miami-Dade County: Structural Plan Reviewer.

 FL Board Recognized Structural Engineer, July 2023

Mr. Tain obtained a Bachelor of Science of Civil Engineering degree with major in Structure from Jose Echevarria Higher Polytechnic University (CUJAE), in Havana Cuba in 1987.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Mr. Tain has over 25 years of experience working in Miami-Dade County in great companies like Puga and Associates, Inc., Donnell, DuQuesne & Albaisa, P.A. (DDA), The PBSJ Corporation (now Atkins), Tain-Ramirez, Inc., and the last 11 years in Miami-Dade County Building Department. He is knowledgeable and experienced in Structural Plan Review, Structural Design, Structural Inspections, Construction Administration, Peer Review and Quality Control Review of Projects.

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