JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – On March 21, Joint Base Lewis-McChord housing residents will receive an email to schedule congressionally mandated, third-party housing inspections, to be held April 21 to May 23.
The approximately one-hour inspections, to be conducted by JLL RER Solutions, LLC, were mandated for all privatized housing by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020. The act mandates data collection on life, health and safety issues. The findings will go to Liberty Military Housing (LMH) and the Army.
“The 2020 NDAA was developed and became a requirement due to the 2019 housing crisis across DOD installations that found some of the privatized housing to have life/health/safety issues that were not being addressed promptly,” said Beth Wilson, Directorate of Public Works Housing Division chief. “This third-party, congress-mandated inspection will provide feedback on the current condition of privatized housing within the DOD.”
As part of the third-party contract, inspectors “are instructed to not engage with residents regarding what they find during the inspection,” she said. “Our office will receive daily calls from the inspectors if life/health/safety issues are found. Once we receive that call, we will contact Liberty Military Housing to respond.”
Residents are responsible for reporting routine work orders outside of life, health and safety findings.
Sixty to 90 days from the inspections’ completion, the final reports for each home will be sent to the DPW Housing Division and LMH.
The March 21 email will come from JLL RER Solutions, LLC. It will allow residents to use a web-based, self-scheduling tool to sign up for the dates and times of their choice between April 21 and May 23, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments must be scheduled no later than April 20.
An adult over age 18 must be at home during the inspection, ensure pets are secured and not running freely and allow full access to the inspector, to be accompanied by a uniformed service member. Inspectors will wear shoe covers and be clearly identified as Army Housing Inspection Team members. Inspections will include interior and exterior checks, including mechanical rooms.
Residents should “be prepared that they’re going into every single room,” Wilson said.
The inspectors will be “taking pictures of things that are a problem, but there’ll be no pictures of children, residents, anything like that,” she said.
Those who do not schedule appointments or miss their time slots will receive memos on their front doors, signed by the JBLM Garrison commander, giving 24 hours’ notice of when the third-party company and a military escort will inspect their homes. The memos will include specific times and dates for the rescheduled inspections, which cannot be changed.
“That's why we really are emphasizing and encouraging the residents: Please, when you get the e-mail on the 21st of March, please look at your calendar and schedule your date and time accordingly,” Wilson said. “The inspectors have to get into all 5,159 homes, so it's going to be very challenging strategically to do this.”
If a resident knows they will be away during the inspection process, they should notify their chain of command, “arrange for somebody in their unit or a friend or a neighbor to stand in for them” and schedule the appointment for that person in advance, Wilson said.
Scan the QR code below to schedule inspection appointments:
For additional assistance, email usarmy.jblm.id-readiness.mbx.rci@army.mil.
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