Palm Desert, CA Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Inspections in the City of Palm Desert are run by the Building and Safety Division under the Chief Building Official, created by amended Section 103.1. The Municipal Code adopts Section 110 of the California Building Code and adds Section 110.3.13, Reinspections, in Section 15.02.020. A reinspection fee can be assessed for each inspection or reinspection when an inspection is scheduled and the required work is not ready, when corrections identified in a written correction notice have not been made, when the approved plans are not readily available to the inspector, when access to the job site is not available, or when there is a deviation from the approved plans that the building division did not previously review and approve. Once a reinspection fee has been assessed, no additional inspection of the work will be performed until it is paid.

The same section deletes the exception to Section 110.3.6, Lath and Gypsum Panel Product Inspection, so that inspection has no exception in Palm Desert. Inspections also drive permit life: under Section 105.5, progress is defined as obtaining approval of one or more inspections required by Section 110, and a permit with no progress for 12 months becomes invalid.

The plumbing and mechanical chapters repeat the fee mechanism. Sections 15.08.020 and 15.12.020 amend Section 105.2.6 so that, to obtain reinspection, the applicant pays a reinspection fee set in a fee schedule established by the applicable governing authority. The dollar amount is not printed in these sections.

At the end of a job, Section 111.3 lets the building official issue a temporary certificate of occupancy before the entire work is complete, provided the portion is occupied safely. The temporary certificate is valid for a 30-day period, with no more than two 30-day extensions, at fee rates set by City Council resolution. Section 111.4 lets the building official suspend or revoke a certificate in writing when it was issued in error, the information supplied was incorrect, the building violates the code or another city ordinance, or a temporary certificate has expired or the renewal fee has not been paid.