Franklin County, NC Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Franklin County's building chapter does not lay out a numbered sequence of foundation, framing, and final inspections the way some codes do; instead it leans on the adopted North Carolina building code for those stage inspections and adds its own trigger for a certificate of occupancy. Sec. 8-22(f) requires a zoning permit and fire inspections whenever the occupancy of a building changes, cross-referencing Franklin County Code of Ordinance Chapter 11, section 29, to ensure code compliance. Sec. 11-29 in turn requires anyone maintaining, storing, or handling hazardous materials or hazardous processes to get a fire marshal permit first, and the fire marshal must inspect and approve the receptacles, vehicles, buildings, and storage areas involved before that permit issues.

Sec. 11-30 adds a parallel rule for tenants: when a new tenant moves into a building, space, or area, a fire inspection by the fire marshal or a designee should happen before a zoning permit for that occupancy is issued. Sec. 11-27 gives the fire marshal broad authority to inspect buildings, structures, and premises as often as necessary, announced or unannounced, and to take photographs and video during the inspection. Because Chapter 8 has no inspection-specific penalty of its own, a failed or skipped inspection falls back on the county's general Code penalty, Sec. 1-6(b): violating any Code provision, including a permit or inspection requirement, is a misdemeanor punishable under G.S. 14-4.