Waco, TX Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)
Key Facts
- Final inspection
- Contractor must call building official on completion
- Pre-inspection condition
- Fuses/breaker must be installed at final inspection
- Approval method
- Tag or label on service entrance switch
- Certificate
- Required before satisfactory completion is certified
- Standing authority
- Building official may inspect wiring any time
Summary
Once electrical work is finished, the contractor must call the building official for a final inspection under Sec. 6-136, with the fuses or breaker installed and no wiring concealed until it is approved. The official tags the work as approved or rejected, and Sec. 6-140 requires a certificate of inspection before the electric company may energize the installation.
Sec. 6-136. - Final inspection required. A final inspection by the building official shall be called by the person performing electrical work for which a permit has been issued on completion of such work. ... Sec. 6-138. - Approval tag. After inspecting any electrical wiring, the building official shall leave notice in the form of a tag or label attached to the service entrance switch, which notice shall clearly state whether the wiring is approved or is to be kept open for correction. ... Sec. 6-142. - Refusal of certificate of inspection. The building official is hereby given the authority to refuse to issue a certificate of inspection for any addition, or extension to any electric wiring in or on any building wherein the building official determines that the wiring is in an unsafe condition. ... Sec. 6-143. - Regular inspections. It shall be the right of the building official to inspect all electrical wiring and apparatus in the city at any time in order to ascertain whether such electrical wiring or apparatus is in any respect dangerous to life or property.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 88).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 6, Article III, Division 4 sets out Waco's electrical inspection sequence. Sec. 6-135 makes it unlawful to seal or conceal any electrical wiring until it has been approved. Once the permitted work is complete, Sec. 6-136 requires the person who performed the work to call the building official for a final inspection, and Sec. 6-137 requires the fuses in the main disconnect switch, or the breaker, to be in place at that final inspection. After inspecting, Sec. 6-138 requires the building official to leave a tag or label on the service entrance switch stating whether the wiring is approved or must be kept open for correction.
Sec. 6-140 then requires the building official to issue a certificate of inspection on satisfactory completion of the permitted work, certifying that it complies with the applicable rules. Sec. 6-141 addresses partial compliance: if new work is done correctly but connects to old, nonconforming work, the official issues a written statement that the new work complies while withholding the certificate for the system as a whole, itemizing the violations that block it. Sec. 6-142 lets the building official refuse a certificate of inspection outright if the wiring is unsafe or doesn't comply with the article, and bars any electric company from energizing that work.
Sec. 6-143 separately gives the building official standing authority to inspect any electrical wiring in the city at any time to check for danger to life or property, and to order defects corrected within a reasonable, specified time.
Violations & Fines
Concealing wiring before it is approved violates Sec. 6-135. If the building official refuses a certificate of inspection under Sec. 6-142 because the wiring is unsafe or noncompliant, no electric company may connect current to it. An owner who refuses or fails to correct a defect the building official identifies under Sec. 6-143's regular-inspection authority, within the time specified, is held in direct violation of the article.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who calls for the final electrical inspection in Waco?
How do I know if my electrical work passed inspection?
Can the city inspect my wiring even without a new permit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Waco
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