Dearborn Heights, MI Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Sec. 7-622 of the Dearborn Heights City Code lays out how the city carries out the systematic inspections required for a rental dwelling certificate of compliance. The city may give the owner or responsible local agent written notice that an inspection appointment needs to be scheduled, and under subsection (b) the owner or agent then has fourteen days from that notice to contact the city and schedule the inspection; if the city never sends that notice before a certificate is set to expire, the owner or agent must reach out on their own to schedule it.

Once a date is set, subsection (c) requires the owner or agent to tell each affected tenant when the inspection will occur, ask permission to let the owner's representative provide access if the tenant is not home, and explain that the owner or a representative must accompany the inspector and unlock the unit if needed. If a tenant consents but the scheduled time does not work, the city must make a reasonable effort to accommodate the tenant's presence, and if no mutually convenient time can be found, the city can seek a search warrant.

Where a tenant instead demands that the city obtain a warrant, subsection (g) requires that once a court issues a search warrant under MCL 125.527, the owner or responsible local agent must accompany the inspector during its execution and provide access to every dwelling unit named in the warrant. Subsection (h) also lets the city require an owner to provide access to common areas or areas open to public view, and neither the city nor the owner may discriminate against a tenant based on whether the tenant permits or refuses entry.