Lakeville, MN Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

City Code section 9-1-2 sets how Lakeville applies, administers, and enforces the Minnesota State Building Code adopted in section 9-1-1. The City must appoint a Minnesota-certified building official to administer the code, and that official's enforcement reaches the extraterritorial limits Minnesota Statutes section 16B.62, subdivision 1 permits when the City establishes them. Two inspection checkpoints run through the building official. First, before any building permit issues, site and construction plans must be submitted to and approved by the building official; for plumbing work beyond a single-family dwelling, complete plumbing plans and specifications must be submitted in triplicate and approved before installation, and any alteration or extension of an existing plumbing system faces the same review.

Second, before occupancy, section 9-1-2(C) bars occupying or using, in whole or part, any building or structure that has been erected or moved, or the erected or moved portion of an existing one, until the building official issues a certificate of occupancy, an inspection-driven sign-off that confirms the completed work matches the approved plans and code. The only carve-out from the certificate of occupancy requirement is for agricultural buildings and structures. Construction proceeding without the building official's approved plans is itself barred, so a Lakeville project runs through plan review, permit issuance, field inspections tied to the approved plans, and a final certificate of occupancy before anyone may use the space.