Roanoke, VA Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Under City Code § 7-36, the inspection program applies only to residential rental dwelling units located inside a rental inspection district established by city council, or units council has separately declared subject to the article under Va. Code § 36-105.1:1. Owners must first notify the building maintenance code official that a unit is a rental (§ 7-37), within 75 days of the article's adoption or 30 days after a new rental unit is created or a certificate of occupancy issues, or face a $50 civil penalty for willful noncompliance.

Once notice requirements are met, § 7-38 authorizes the city manager to conduct the initial inspection. For a multifamily development with more than ten units, the city manager may inspect not less than two and not more than ten percent of the units; if that sample turns up building code violations affecting safe, decent and sanitary conditions, the city manager may then inspect as many units in the development as necessary to enforce the code. A property that passes without violations receives a rental certificate of compliance under § 7-39, exempting it from further inspection for four years; a unit that already holds a certificate of occupancy within the prior four years gets the same four-year exemption. That exemption can be revoked if violations arise, after written notice by first-class mail.

Section 7-40 lets the city manager order follow-up inspections until a cited unit comes into compliance, and § 7-41 caps ordinary periodic inspections at no more than once per calendar year once the initial inspection is complete. Owners may appeal any determination to the building maintenance code official within 14 calendar days under § 7-45, with a meeting held within five business days and a decision issued within another five. Inspection fees are set in the city's fee compendium (§ 7-44).