The Escambia County Board of County Commissioners welcomes Tim Tolbert as the new Building Official – Director of Building Services, replacing Donald Mayo, who retired from the position on Nov. 10 after 38 years with the county. Tolbert’s first day with Escambia County is Monday, Dec. 5.
Tolbert most recently served as the Building Official with Lafayette Consolidated Government in Lafayette, Louisiana, a position he held since April 2015. His responsibilities included enforcing state-mandated construction codes, local ordinances and related state statutes through permitting, plan review and inspection. Tolbert’s previous positions include the Building Official for the Santa Rosa County School District and Building Official for the Santa Rosa County Board of County Commissioners.
Growing up in Holley, Florida, Tolbert has worked in the construction industry all his life beginning with the family construction business then transitioning into construction regulation. He graduated from Milton High School and also attended Florida State Fire College and Pensacola State College.
Tolbert has 22 years of experience as a building official and fire marshal and holds more than a dozen certifications and licenses in his field. His certifications through the International Code Council include Building Official, Building Inspector, Building Code Official, Plans Examiner, Coastal Construction Inspector, Residential Combination Inspector, Property Maintenance & Housing Inspector and Housing Code Official. Tolbert also holds eight certifications through the Southern Building Code Congress International.
Additionally, Tolbert was appointed to the Florida Building Commission in July 2008 by Gov. Charlie Crist and reappointed in July 2013, serving until April 2014. He is a state of Florida approved construction education instructor with more than 10 years of experience and has developed numerous construction courses approved by the state of Florida.
Tolbert said he’s excited for the opportunity to return to the Escambia County area and be closer to Holley, where his family has a history dating back to 1865. Tolbert has three children and a fiancée, Cassie Swain, who plans to relocate to the area and continue working as a realtor.
Along with advancing in his career, Tolbert said he’s looking forward to continuing to help contractors and residents with their design and building needs.
“I enjoy solving problems that arise when a building method or design butts heads with the building code," Tolbert said when asked what he loves about his field of work. "Code compliance is always required, but a Building Official can accept alternate methods of compliance as long as the method meets or exceeds the intent of the code. It’s always rewarding when I’m able to help a customer with a difficult code issue.”
As Escambia County's Building Official – Director of Building Services, Tolbert's responsibilities will include supervising the Building Services Department, providing support to county administration and the board of county commissioners and ensuring compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and codes.
