Commercial Inspections, Certificate of Occupancy and Elevators

Construction Requirements for Occupied Buildings

Building Inspection, in conjunction with Fire Life Safety, will coordinate with contractors to verify that measures are taken to safely segregate construction work from occupied areas.

  1. Pre-Construction Meeting

Pre-Construction Meeting

If you would like to schedule a pre-construction meeting for a project, contact Building Inspection at 804-748-1057 and your request will be given to the Chief of Commercial Inspections. If the inspection team determines that a pre-construction meeting is needed, an inspector will contact the contractor. The meeting assists to bridge gaps between the design and construction teams. The meeting takes place after approval of the construction documents and around the time construction commences. The following are suggested topics for discussion:

  • Construction project requirements for inspection and construction methods associated to the project
  • Exchange of contact information with appropriate parties involved in the construction
  • Procedures for special inspections associated to the project
  • Requirements for phasing or for occupancy (Important dates involved with the project, e.g. expected occupancy date, furniture installation, employee training etc.)
  • Project specific conditions associated with unusual, unique or special conditions, including any code modifications
  1. Inspections
  1. Certificate of Occupancy and Letter of Completion

Elevators

Building Inspection does not perform elevator equipment inspections. The required inspections must be performed by a qualified third party elevator inspector. Since Building Inspection Department staff does not perform elevator inspections, permit fees charged for elevator permit installations only cover administrative costs.

  1. Elevator Equipment Inspection Process

Elevator Equipment Inspection Process

A third party inspector must perform all equipment installation inspections:

Submit third party elevator inspection reports to the Building Inspection office for review.

Once the inspection report is approved and there are no outstanding violations, Building Inspection issues a Certificate of Inspection for operation of the equipment. The Certificate of Inspection provides the date of issuance and expiration.

Once a Certificate of Inspection is issued for any commercial equipment installation, the equipment is transferred into the annual inspection program.

  1. Elevator Annual Inspection Process