703-324-1780
TTY 711
Bill Hicks,
Director
The Third-Party Inspections Program, authorized through the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, provides for private-sector inspections firms to perform inspections of residential or commercial projects that would otherwise be conducted by the county.
Step 1: A project owner and developer hires a county-approved third-party inspections firm. Learn about the qualifications to become an approved firm.
Step 2: The project owner applies to the county to have their entire project, or portions thereof, be inspected by a third-party inspections firm. Learn more about qualifying inspections.
Step 3: The third-party inspections firm conducts inspections and submits their results to the county. Learn more about the inspections process.
Step 4: Assigned for the duration of a project, a county inspector is assigned quality assurance measures and will review and accept inspection reports from third-party inspections firms.
Step 5: At the end of construction, the third-party inspections firm submits a certified completion statement. County-approval of the completion statement is required prior to occupancy.
The terms below have specific meanings for the purposes of this program.
Qualifying projects may be residential or commercial conventional building construction. This program does not apply to:
The complete project or only portions thereof may be third-party inspected. The proposed scope of inspections must be approved by the building official on a project-by-project basis prior to conducting inspections.
Request approval from the building official for third-party inspection services. The building official’s approval will include the appropriate county contact person for the life of the project.
Listed below are the qualifications of the inspections firms RDP of responsible charge and their associated field staff.
Staff from third-party inspections firms shall not suggest, direct or authorize the fabricator, erector or contractor to deviate from county-approved documents or the building code without written approval by the responsible architect, structural engineer or geotechnical engineer, and the building official, as appropriate.
Exception: The RDP and their field personnel shall be permitted to obtain the required DHCD certifications within one-year of entering the Third-Party Inspections Program provided evidence of passing the corresponding exams listed below from either the International Code Council (ICC) or National Certification Program for Construction Code Inspectors (NCPCCI) is provided to the building official prior to conducting inspections.
|
Inspection Disciplines |
DHCD Certifications Required |
NCPCCI |
ICC |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Residential combination inspections |
Residential Building Inspector |
1A |
B1 |
|
Residential Energy Inspector |
NA1 |
B3 |
|
|
Residential Electrical Inspector |
2A |
M1 |
|
|
Residential Mechanical Inspector |
4A |
E1 |
|
|
Residential Plumbing Inspector |
5A |
P1 |
|
|
Commercial building inspections |
Commercial Building Inspector |
1B |
B2 |
|
Commercial Energy Inspector |
NA1 |
B3 |
|
|
Fire Prevention Inspector |
3B2 |
|
|
|
Electrical inspections |
Commercial Electrical Inspector |
2B |
E2 |
|
Mechanical inspections |
Commercial Mechanical Inspector |
4B |
M2 |
|
Plumbing inspections |
Commercial Plumbing Inspector |
5B |
P2 |
| Fire Protection System | Fire Protection Inspector | 3B2 |
1Energy conservation certifications are offered solely by ICC
2Fire Prevention Inspector certifications are offered solely by NCPCCI
Listed below are the construction types eligible to be inspected in the program up to and including final inspection. Other inspections may be requested but are subject to authorization by the building official.
Inspections for New Construction
Inspections for Tenant Spaces
Inspections for the Following Construction
Inspections shall not be conducted until third-party personnel have been approved by the building official or designee, construction permits have been issued and county-approved documents are available on the job site.
Inspections, as required by the Virginia Construction Code, shall be performed at appropriate times prior to concealment of work. The contractor shall provide notice to the inspectors when the construction is ready for inspection.
If a conflict exists between county-approved documents and the provisions of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, the Virginia code shall govern, and the inspection shall be rejected until revised construction documents are approved by Fairfax County.
Third-party inspectors shall annotate and sign the county-approved construction documents on the job site to identify the areas/locations/floors inspected, inspection date, type of inspection and the results of inspection.
Inspection reports shall include the following:
Construction elements rejected or any code violations discovered by a third-party inspector shall be corrected by the contractor and reinspected prior to proceeding with work.
Inspection reports shall be processed as follows:
At the end of construction, the RDP shall submit a certified completion statement for review and approval by the Building Division or Office of the Fire Marshal. Approval of the completion statement is required prior to occupancy.
