In Virginia and beyond, May is Building Safety Month. In this month’s Code Compliance Corner, you can find out how the Department of Code Compliance and overall County Government promote building safety.
Building safety – Among other codes, the Department of Code Compliance (DCC) enforces the Virginia Property Maintenance Code (VPMC). It requires structures to continue meeting codes they were built to meet. Below are a few examples of how DCC promotes safety through the VPMC.
- Certain VPMC provisions, like those against chipped paint may seem non-critical; however, especially when chipped or missing paint is prevalent, it can eventually lead to structural hazards, for example: exposed and rotting wood.
- In addition to health risks, hoarding poses significant issues to structures and often violates many VPMC provisions. The DCC Hoarding webpage has more information.
- Annually, DCC may identify a few structures as having numerous, severe, and unresolved VPMC violations. In these cases, DCC has a Spot Blight Abatement Program to compel demolition or repair if the property owner doesn’t address violations voluntarily.
One of DCC’s partner agencies, Land Development Services (LDS) will host their First Annual Building Safety Month Resource Fair May 13, 2026. LDS promotes building safety through their permit, plan review, and inspection processes for new buildings, additions, and other structural alterations. Speaking of these LDS processes, please always obtain required LDS permits and inspections. In addition to VPMC cases, many other DCC cases are for unpermitted construction, i.e. when people build without going through LDS, in violation of the Virginia Construction Code.
DCC is here to help – if you have questions, want to make a report, or if you are the subject of enforcement and need to contact us. You can report problems online, learn about what happens during an investigation, reach us via email, phone (703-324-1300 / TTY 711), or visit us in person at 12055 Government Center Parkway, Suite 1016, Fairfax, VA 22035.