Chicago Buildings Department allowed 42 potentially unsafe projects to move forward, audit finds

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A city watchdog found in 2022 that the Chicago Department of Buildings was not keeping up on inspections mandated to ensure construction is being done safely.

Now, two years later, the Office of the Inspector General says a follow-up audit shows the department has made no improvements to prevent potentially unsafe construction.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

The audit found 42 buildings were allowed to be constructed between 2017 and 2019, despite passing just 11 of the 398 combined safety inspections that were required of them.

The Buildings Department says its working on a fix could take two more years to complete.

Illinois Answers Project Government Finance & Accountability Reporter Alex Nitkin joined ABC7 to weigh in on the findings in the initial audit.