Wichita, KS Building Safety: Building Inspections (2026)

Wichita Municipal Code Sec. 18.16.010 establishes the "central inspection division" under the superintendent of central inspection, who is designated the building official and who inspects and identifies structures that are structurally unsafe, lack adequate egress, present a fire hazard, or are otherwise dangerous under Sec. 18.16.020. Sec. 18.16.040 lists the specific defects that make a building "dangerous": load-bearing members that lean, list or buckle; thirty-three percent or more damage or deterioration of supporting members, or fifty percent or more of exterior walls; overloaded floors or roofs; fire, wind or neglect damage that threatens life or health; inadequate light, air or sanitation; insufficient means of fire egress; loose parts that could fall and injure people or property; and buildings that attract loiterers, vagrants or children.

Once the superintendent files a written statement identifying an unsafe structure, the governing body fixes a hearing date by resolution, published once a week for two consecutive weeks, with at least thirty days between the last publication and the hearing (Sec. 18.16.020). A copy is mailed by certified mail, marked "deliver to addressee only," to the owner, agent, lienholders and occupants, and a notice is posted on the building itself stating it has been found unsafe or dangerous until repaired or demolished (Sec. 18.16.030). At the hearing the governing body takes evidence from the owner, agents, lienholders, occupants and the superintendent, then issues a resolution by findings directing repair or removal within a set, reasonable time (Sec. 18.16.050). The owner who demolishes must pay a wrecking permit fee, seal the sanitary sewer connection per Sec. 10.24.130, and fill any basement or excavation left on site (Sec. 18.16.060).