Lawrence, KS Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Lawrence City Code § 5-303 directs the building official to make the inspections set out in §§ 5-304 through 5-314 for any permitted work, and § 5-301 requires that work stay visible and accessible for each inspection until it is approved; the owner or authorized agent bears the duty of keeping it that way, and neither the building official nor the city is liable for the cost of exposing work that was covered too soon. The sequence runs roughly in construction order: the footing and foundation inspection under § 5-304, made after excavation and any reinforcing steel are in place; the concrete slab and under-floor inspection under § 5-305, made after in-slab reinforcing and building service equipment are in place but before concrete is poured or subfloor installed; the rough plumbing, mechanical, gas and electrical inspection under § 5-306, made before those systems are covered and before the framing inspection; the framing inspection under § 5-307, made once the roof deck, framing, fire blocking and bracing are up and the rough trades are approved; and, for projects involving lath or gypsum board, that inspection under § 5-309.

The final inspection under § 5-315 comes only after all work the permit covers is complete. 00 per hour in § 5-254(c), when a requested inspection finds the work incomplete or uncorrected, except that the very first rejected inspection on a job is free. Under § 5-318, no work may proceed past the point of a given inspection until the building official has approved it.