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BuildingBlocks

Overview

The City of Rochester has partnered with software provider Tolemi since 2017 to deliver the BuildingBlocks platform. BuildingBlocks provides the public with an interactive tool to search, view, and extract data on code enforcement, property ownership, and several other topics. The City’s goal is to provide self-service access to data to improve customer experience and ensure property ownership and code compliance data is transparent and accessible for everyone.

BuildingBlocks works best on Chrome or Firefox. It will NOT work on Internet Explorer. 

New features as of August 2023

  1. Detailed Property Code Violation Lists.  The public can now view a list of all open code violations for each property if any exist. This includes details such as the date cited, violation type, severity, and location of the violation.
  2. Code Compliance Scores: The City and Tolemi have developed a scoring system which assigns a 0 to 100 score to each residential rental property based on its code compliance status. Scoring is based on the following factors: Open Health and Safety Violations Per Unit, Days Since the Oldest Health and Safety Violation was Cited, Days Since the Certificate of Occupancy Expired, and days since the structure was cited as 'vacant and blighted'. Please visit this page for full details and documentation on the scoring system.
  3. Code Compliance Scores- Rental Property Owners: Each owner is assigned a score based on the scores of the properties they own. It is a weighted average which gives more weight to properties inspected more recently.
  4. Code Compliance Scores- Rental Property Managers: Each manager is assigned a score based on the scores of the properties they manage. It is a weighted average which gives more weight to properties inspected more recently.

Datasets published BuildingBlocks

Dataset Name 

Data Fields 

Tax Parcels (properties) 

  1. Address 
  2. Tax Parcel Dimensions 
  3. Structure Details (Square Footage, Floors, Year Built) 
  4. Number of Residential Units 
  5. Owner (name, address) 
  6. Owner Occupied Flag 
  7. Assessed Value 
  8. Property Type (use code) 
  9. Most Recent sale (date, price, type of sale) 
  10. Tax Foreclosure Status 
  11. Bank Foreclosure Status 
  12. Water Bill Payment History 

Code Enforcement 

  1. Open Code Enforcement Case (date opened, case type) 
  2. Individual Open Code Violations (violation type, Health and Safety flag, date cited, unit #) 
  3. Code Enforcement Fines and Charges 
  4. Vacant Structure (vacant date) 
  5. Certificate of Occupancy (expiration date) 
  6. Open Nuisance Points 

Permits 

  1. Building Permits (type, issued date) 
  2. Business Permits (type, issued date) 

Renter Tools – Code Compliance Score

  1. Property Code Compliance Score 
  2. Owner (Units Owned, Properties Owned) 
  3. Owner Portfolio Code Compliance Score 
  4. Manager (Units Managed, Properties Managed) 
  5. Manager Portfolio Code Compliance Score 

Click here to view detailed information on available Data Sets 

Instructions and guidance

View a city-led training video on BuildingBlocks  Building Blocks screenshot

Additional Information:

Training Videos on how to use the Software

Training Guide