Brockton, MA Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Under City Code § 4-1, anyone erecting, constructing, altering or moving a building must file duplicate plans and specifications with the superintendent of buildings, including structural drawings and stress computations when the superintendent requires them. Plans bear the stamp of a registered architect or engineer, or are signed by the architect, engineer, contractor or applicant. Before the superintendent can act, the plans must carry endorsed approval from the heads of the building department, the utilities and operations divisions of public works, the health department, the department of wires and the fire department.

Permit applications of $200 or more trigger written notice to the ward councilor and all councilors-at-large; only applications for permits of $5,000 or less skip that step and need just the sewer superintendent's, water superintendent's and superintendent of buildings' signatures. The superintendent also will not endorse approval until he confirms, through the superintendent of utilities or engineering, that potable water is available to the site; for private wells, the health department must certify in writing that a potable source exists under its regulations. Once the file is complete, § 4-2 obligates the superintendent to approve or reject it within ten days of filing, and a permit issues forthwith upon approval.

He may issue a partial permit for a foundation or other portion of the work before full plans are filed, provided the filed material satisfies the state building code; the holder proceeds at its own risk without assurance the balance of the permit will be granted.