Effingham County, GA Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Sec. 14-57 lays out the inspection sequence the building official follows under the technical codes adopted in Sec. 14-36. Before a permit issues, the official may examine any building or system named in the application, and inspects it again from time to time during construction and at completion, keeping a record of every inspection and violation found (Sec. 14-57(a)). The official may also inspect materials or assemblies at the point of manufacture or fabrication when needed, and may rely on written, certified reports from recognized inspection services (Sec.

14-57(b), (c)). Work requiring a permit cannot start until the permit card is posted in a conspicuous, weather-protected spot on the site, and it stays posted until the certificate of occupancy issues (Sec. 14-57(e)). For buildings, the required inspections are foundation (after trenches are excavated and forms erected), subfloor, slab, frame (after roofing, framing, fireblocking and concealed wiring, piping and ducts are in place) and final, made once the building is complete and ready for occupancy (Sec. 14-57(f)(1)). Electrical, plumbing, mechanical and gas systems each carry their own underground, rough-in and final inspection stages.

Work cannot proceed past the point covered by each successive inspection without a written release from the building official, and reinforcing steel or structural framework cannot be covered until the official releases it (Sec. 14-57(g), (h)). A certificate of occupancy under Sec. 14-58 is required before any new building is occupied or its use changed, and issues only after every required system has been inspected and released.