Frederick County, VA Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Section 52-3 makes the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, kept on file in the Department of Building Inspections, the controlling standard for how every building and structure is constructed and how permits and inspections are administered. 1 of the Virginia Construction Code, that any delinquent real estate taxes or other County liens on the property be cleared first, unless the Treasurer authorizes otherwise. Permit fees themselves, covering residential and commercial buildings, demolition, moving or relocating a building, manufactured buildings, signs, mechanical, plumbing, electrical work and callbacks, are set by the Board of Supervisors on recommendation of the Public Works Committee and kept on file under § 52-6.

2-906, and § 52-7 backs that up on the utility side: an electric company must refuse to connect service to a structure until the Board of Supervisors or its agent confirms all regulatory codes and ordinances have been met. Disputes over a Chief Building Official's decision go to the Board of Building Code Appeals created under § 52-8, whose members the Board of Supervisors appoints. When a violation is found, § 52-9 requires the Chief Building Official to serve a notice of violation directing that the violation stop; if the notice is not complied with, the Chief Building Official asks the County's legal counsel to bring a court proceeding to restrain, correct or abate the violation, and the violation may be prosecuted as a misdemeanor under Virginia Code § 36-106.