DC Buildings Department Wants to Photograph Every Property in the City

• August 13th

by UrbanTurf Staff

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DC's Department of Buildings (DOB) wants to trade some of its door-to-door inspection work for a citywide camera survey.

The agency is working with DDOT and the Office of the Chief Technology Officer to contract with a company that will drive panoramic cameras through every street in the District, aiming to photograph the exterior of every property once a year — essentially building a Google Street View for DC. AI would then scan the images to flag vacant homes and other exterior violations, according to DOB's new Strategic Enforcement Plan. The plan was first noticed by NOTUS' Martin Austermuhle.

The pitch is efficiency. DOB's plan notes that physically inspecting 100,000 addresses twice a year would take 90 dedicated inspectors — a level of staffing the agency doesn't have. One annual camera survey, reviewed by AI, could theoretically cover the same ground.

It's also a shift in strategy. DOB currently leans heavily on complaints to identify vacant and blighted properties, an approach its own plan calls inefficient and uneven, since enforcement ends up concentrated wherever residents happen to report problems. A comprehensive annual survey would apply the same standard citywide, regardless of who's calling in complaints and where.

DOB is careful to note the tool has limits: it wouldn't replace inspectors, who'd still need to confirm violations in person and handle enforcement afterward. The agency says it's already talking to multiple vendors and plans to keep at it throughout the life of the plan, while scouting other places the same approach might help.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc_buildings_department_wants_to_photograph_every_property_in_the_city/24890.