McCracken County, KY Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

McCracken County Code Chapter 70 sets up the county's building inspection program. Section 70.01 adopts the State Building Code and State Residential Code, promulgated by Kentucky's Board of Housing, Buildings and Construction, in full as county ordinance, with a copy kept on file with the County Clerk. Section 70.02 designates the Building Official as the local enforcement agent for both codes and requires that all building code inspections be performed by inspectors certified by the State Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, while electrical inspections must be performed by a certified electrical inspector specifically approved by the county.

Section 70.03 then establishes the inspection program itself under KRS 198B.060(8), applying it to all buildings in the county, including single-family dwellings, with one carve-out: residential accessory storage buildings need only a permit, not a full inspection. Fees for the permits and inspections that drive the program are set in the Chapter 71 fee schedule under § 70.04. Anyone who disagrees with an inspection decision by the Building Official can appeal under § 70.08, following the procedure in KRS 198B.070. Because Chapter 70 excludes the corporate limits of the City of Paducah under § 70.06, this inspection program applies only to unincorporated McCracken County; Paducah runs its own separate building inspection process under the city's own code.