Pender County, NC Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Section 8-42 explains that because G.S. 143-138(e) requires the state building code to apply throughout North Carolina, the county established its Inspection Department for the purpose of efficient enforcement of the state building code, using all current volumes of that code as approved by the state building code council and the department of insurance and adopted locally in § 8-19. Section 8-43 places the department under the instruction and supervision of the county director of inspections, making that office the point of contact for scheduling and questions about inspection stages.

Section 8-44 requires the Board of Commissioners to establish sufficient positions and provide the necessary funds for the employment of an adequate number of inspectors to handle the workload of the department, so staffing tracks the volume of active permits rather than a fixed roster. Section 8-45 separately funds a fire inspector/fire marshal position to perform all inspections as required by the fire prevention code portion of the state building code and to exercise the full authority state law gives a fire marshal. Together these sections describe a department that inspects building, electrical, plumbing and fire-code work under one director, coordinating with the county health department on septic and sewerage prerequisites addressed elsewhere in Chapter 8.

Because the state building code itself sets the inspection stages, footing, framing, rough-in and final, Pender County's role under this chapter is staffing and supervising the inspectors who apply that code, not writing separate local stage requirements. Schedule inspections through the Inspection Department in Planning and Community Development in Burgaw.