Novi, MI Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Section 7-17 names the enforcing agency for every inspection performed under Novi's adopted state construction code: the building official, together with whichever building inspectors, plumbing inspectors, and heating and refrigeration inspectors that official designates. Every trade permit, from foundation to final, gets its inspection stages signed off by that same office rather than a separate trade board. For single-family homes specifically, Section 7-21 creates a formal punch-list stage between substantial completion and the final certificate of occupancy: when the building official grants a temporary certificate of occupancy under Section 13 of the state Act (MCL 125.1513), that temporary certificate must list, on its face or by attachment, exactly which items remain and set a deadline for finishing them.

The builder cannot simply walk away from that list. Section 7-21 requires the builder to deposit a performance guarantee under Chapter 26.5 as security for the listed items, and if the deadline passes without the work being done, the ordinance treats that security as forfeited under Chapter 26.5's forfeiture procedure. In practice, that means a Novi home can be occupied on a temporary certificate while a handful of finishing items are still open, but the builder's deposited money is on the line until the building official signs off on the final inspection and closes out the permit.