Grays Harbor County, WA Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Grays Harbor County amends the International Residential Code and International Building Code sections governing inspections in Chapter 15.04 of the county code, administered by the planning and building division under the building official. Section R110.1, Use and occupancy, bars anyone from using or occupying a building or structure in unincorporated Grays Harbor County, and bars any change in occupancy classification, until the building official has completed a final inspection. The code is explicit that a final inspection does not excuse or approve any violation already on the books: the completion of the final inspection shall not be construed as an approval of a violation of the provisions of this code, and a final inspection cannot be used to argue the county has waived any other ordinance. The only carve-out is for work that never needed a permit in the first place under Section R105.2, such as minor accessory structures and finish work; that work is not subject to the final-inspection requirement at all.

Separately, Section 110.3.9 requires an energy-efficiency inspection on every project reviewed for compliance with the Washington State Energy Code. Inspectors check envelope insulation R and U values, the fenestration U value, the duct system R value, and the efficiency rating of the HVAC and water-heating equipment before a project can close out. Both inspection steps sit inside the same permitting chain: an owner first obtains a building permit under Section 105.1, work proceeds under whatever intermediate inspections the building official schedules, and the file cannot close, and the building cannot be occupied, until the final inspection under R110.1 is complete. Appeals of an inspection-related determination go to the county's Building Codes Advisory Council under Chapter 2.14 and Chapter 15.16.