15.06.100 Inspections.
A. General. Construction or work for which a permit is required shall be subject to inspection by the Building Official and the construction or work shall remain accessible and exposed for inspection purposes until approved by the Building Official. In addition, certain types of construction shall have special inspection as specified in Chapter 17 of the Building Code.
Approval as a result of an inspection shall not be construed to be an approval of a violation of the provisions of this chapter, the technical codes, or of other City ordinances. Inspections presuming to give authority to violate or cancel the provisions of this chapter, the technical codes, or of other City ordinances shall not be valid.
The applicant shall cause the construction or work to remain accessible and exposed for inspection purposes until approved by the Building Official. Neither the Building Official nor the City shall be liable for expense entailed in the removal or replacement of any material required to allow inspection.
The Building Official may require a survey of the lot to verify that the structure is located in accordance with the approved plans.
B. Inspection Record Card. Work requiring a permit shall not be commenced until the permittee or the agent of the permittee has posted or otherwise made available an inspection record card to allow the Building Official conveniently to make the required entries thereon regarding inspection of the work. The permittee shall maintain this card available until final approval has been granted by the Building Official.
C. Inspection Requests. It shall be the duty of the person doing the work authorized by a permit to notify the Building Official that such work is ready for inspection. The Building Official may require that every request for inspection be filed at least one working day before such inspection is desired. Such request may be in writing, by telephone or other means at the option of the Building Official.
It shall be the duty of the person requesting any inspections required either by this chapter or the technical codes to provide access to and means for inspection of the work.
D. Approval Required. Work shall not be done beyond the point indicated in each successive inspection without first obtaining the approval of the Building Official. The Building Official, upon notification, shall make the requested inspections and shall either indicate that that portion of the construction is satisfactory as completed or shall notify the permittee or an agent of the permittee that that portion of the construction fails to comply with this chapter or the technical codes.
Any portions which do not comply shall be corrected and such portion shall not be covered or concealed until authorized by the Building Official.
There shall be a final inspection and approval of all buildings and structures when completed and ready for occupancy and use.
E. Required Inspections. All plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems for which a permit is required by this chapter or the technical codes shall be inspected by the Building Official. No portion of these systems shall be concealed until inspected and approved. All technical code-required testing of these systems shall be inspected and approved.
All reinforcing steel and the structural framework of a building or structure shall not be covered or concealed without first obtaining the inspection and approval of the Building Official.
Protection of joints and penetrations in fire-resistive assemblies shall not be concealed from view until inspected and approved by the Building Official.
The Building Official, upon notification, shall make the following inspections:
1. Underground Inspection. To be made after all underground plumbing systems, electrical conduits and mechanical systems are in place and prior to backfill and concrete. All systems are to be under the applicable test as required by code.
2. Foundation Inspection. To be made after excavations for footings are complete and required reinforcing steel and other required structural hardware is in place. For concrete foundations, required forms shall be in place prior to inspection. All materials for the foundation shall be on the job except when concrete is ready-mixed in accordance with approved nationally recognized standards, the concrete need not be on the job site. When the foundation is to be constructed of approved treated wood, additional inspections may be required by the Building Official.
3. Concrete Slab or Under-Floor Inspection. To be made after in-slab or under-floor building service equipment, conduit, piping accessories and other ancillary equipment items are in place but before any concrete is placed or floor sheathing installed, including the subfloor.
4. Roof and/or Floor. To be made after all framing and structural systems are complete for the floor and roof systems. No floor or roof covering is to be installed prior to this inspection and approval.
5. Frame Inspection. To be made after the roof covering, framing, all structural systems, fire blocking and bracing are in place and all pipes, chimneys and vents are complete and the rough electrical, plumbing, and mechanical cables, pipes, and ducts are installed and are under the code-required tests, as applicable.
6. Lath and/or Wallboard Inspection. To be made after lathing and wallboard, interior and exterior, is in place but before plaster is applied or before wallboard joints and fasteners are taped and finished. The testing of gas piping systems is to be inspected at this time.
7. Final Inspection. To be made after all work required by the building permit is complete.
F. Required Building Service Equipment Inspections.
1. General. Building service equipment for which a permit is required by this chapter and the technical code shall be inspected by the Building Official. Building service equipment intended to be concealed by a permanent portion of the building shall not be concealed until inspected and approved. When the installation of building service equipment is complete, an additional and final inspection shall be made. Building service equipment regulated by the technical codes shall not be connected to the water, fuel or power supply, or sewer system until authorized by the Building Official.
2. Operation of Building Service Equipment. The requirements of this section shall not be considered to prohibit the operation of building service equipment installed to replace existing building service equipment serving an occupied portion of the building in the event a request for inspection of such building service equipment has been filed with the Building Official not more than 48 hours after the replacement work is completed, and before any portion of such building service equipment is concealed by permanent portions of the building.
G. Other Inspections. In addition to the called inspections specified above, the Building Official may make or require other inspections of construction work to ascertain compliance with the provisions of this chapter or the technical codes and other laws which are enforced by the City.
H. Special Inspection and Structural Observation. For special inspection and structural observation see Chapter 17 of the building code.
I. Reinspections. A reinspection fee may be assessed in the following circumstances: (1) for each inspection or reinspection when such portion of work for which inspection is called is not complete or when corrections called for are not made; (2) when the inspection record card is not posted or otherwise available on the work site; (3) when the approved plans are not readily available to the inspector; (4) for failure to provide access on the date for which inspection is requested; or (5) for deviating from plans requiring the approval of the Building Official.
This section is not to be interpreted as requiring reinspection fees the first time a job is rejected for failure to comply with the requirements of the technical codes but as controlling the practice of calling for inspections before the job is ready for such inspection or reinspection.
The applicant shall pay the reinspection fee as set forth in the Master Fee Schedule of the City of Chula Vista before requesting a reinspection. The Building Official shall not conduct a reinspection of the work will until the required fees have been paid. (Ord. 3087 § 1, 2007).