LANSING - A bill mandating inspections during construction or renovation of school buildings seems poised for passage.

Senate Bill 805 is the culmination of more than a decade of efforts - mostly by state Sen. Christopher Dingell - that would require school building inspections during the construction process, either by local building departments or by the state if no one is qualified locally. The legislation would also allow limited inspections of schools that have already been built. The bill passed the state Senate, 36-1, and passage is expected in the state House next fall.

Dingell was motivated to get the legislation adopted because of the near collapse of walls at Patrick Henry Middle School in Woodhaven, located in his district. The school was built in 1976, and closed in 1990 when it was found that the building's exterior walls were not properly connected to the steel frame. An architect reportedly said he was afraid to enter the building for fear it would collapse.

"Anyone would have been horrified by what was plainly visible at the school, and students and teachers had to put up with those conditions for eight years before they closed the school, " Dingell said. "This legislation is long overdue."

The school district spent $800,000 to fix the problems at the school, which did not reopen until 1998.

Four times over the last decade, the school inspection matter has come up for a vote in the state Senate, and each time it was defeated. School districts argued against the cost, and state Republicans have made it a policy not to increase government influence.

Dingell said passage was gained this time in good part because lawmakers had in mind the tragic collapse of a block wall at Flushing High School that killed four building trades workers nearly two years ago. Safety inspectors had not inspected the wall.

Beginning in the 1920s, the task of school inspections fell to the state school superintendent, because lawmakers believed many local building inspectors lacked the expertise to review such major work. Then in 1978, the school superintendent handed off the responsibility to the state fire marshal, whose office still conducts safety inspections.

The problem is, since then, there has been no state-mandated enforcement of other construction codes when it comes to school buildings, and local inspections can be spotty. As a result, rather incredibly, state construction rules have been more stringent for prisons and other state-funded buildings than they have been for schools.

In his first term, Gov. John Engler vetoed a bill that would have required structural inspections of public school construction sites. Two years ago there was some positive movement: Engler's spokesman said the governor was "open to discussing" the bill.