Asheville, NC Rental Inspections: Inspection Programs (2026)

Sec. 4-216(c) creates Asheville's rental housing certificate program. Every rental dwelling, occupied or vacant, must hold a valid housing certificate: single-family dwellings require inspection of the unit itself, buildings with up to five units require at least one unit inspected, and buildings with six or more units require inspection of 20 percent of the units, dropping to 10 percent if the complex has a verifiable maintenance program. Selection of which units to inspect is random and left to the code enforcement officer's discretion. If a required inspection finds an average of four or more Sec. 4-210 minimum-standards violations per unit, the officer must expand the inspection to cover an additional 20 percent of the building's units.

Certificates issued or deemed conforming remain valid until the dwelling falls out of compliance; a housing certificate can also be invalidated outright if inspectors again find an average of four or more violations, which forces the owner to obtain a new certificate. Owner-occupied dwellings undergoing a change of occupancy face a parallel requirement: they need a life-safety report addressing Sec. 4-209 conditions, and if that report finds a violation, the owner must get a life-safety letter of compliance before anyone may occupy the property again. The housing division charges inspection fees set in the city's fees and charges manual, and every inspection report must cite the specific Code sections violated and the deadline to fix them.