Mountain View, CA Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Article IV, Division 2 of the Building Code amends the California Building Code's core inspection and occupancy sections for Mountain View. Sec. 1) requires the footing and foundation inspection to occur only after excavation is complete and any required reinforcing steel is in place; forms must be set for concrete foundations, and materials must be on the job site unless the concrete is ready-mixed under ASTM C94. Mountain View adds a local requirement not found in the base state code: a wet-stamped and signed survey must be produced for any new footing or foundation placed outside the original building footprint, and given to the city building inspector before the concrete pour can be released.

Sec. 3) governs the final step: once the building official completes a final inspection and finds no violations of the code, conditions of approval, or other building-division-enforced law, signing the permit job card itself serves as issuance of the certificate of occupancy, with no separate certificate document required. The building official may also issue a temporary certificate of occupancy before all work is finished, provided the occupied portion meets minimum life-safety requirements and the applicant posts a surety deposit, in the form of a contractor letter on company letterhead, covering the cost of the remaining incomplete work; the deposit sits in a non-interest-bearing city account and is refunded, minus any costs the city incurs enforcing the temporary occupancy, once the remaining work passes final inspection.