Sumter County, SC Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Sec. 8-25 establishes "a building inspection team" within the Sumter City-County Building Department under the supervision of the Building Director, who serves at the pleasure of the City Manager and County Administrator and is supervised per the City of Sumter personnel manual. Sec. 8-26 lets the Building Director appoint as many inspectors as the County Council authorizes, but bars anyone with a thorough lack of trade knowledge or any financial interest in a local construction business from serving. Sec. 8-27 gives the Building Director, "and his duly authorized representatives," the right to "enter any building, structure or premises in the county to perform any duty imposed upon him by this article," which is the legal basis inspectors rely on to conduct field inspections.

When an inspector or the Building Director finds work proceeding contrary to the adopted codes, or in a dangerous or unsafe manner, Sec. 8-28 requires that "such work shall be immediately stopped," with written notice to the owner, the owner's agent, or the person doing the work stating the conditions under which work may resume; where an emergency threatens life safety, no written notice is required first. Sec. 8-30 additionally lets the Building Director demand test reports from an approved testing laboratory as proof of compliance, and Sec. 8-31 lets him accept inspection reports from other recognized inspection services if he is satisfied of their qualifications and reliability.