Battle Creek, MI Rental Inspections: Inspection Programs (2026)

Section 842.08 of the Battle Creek Codified Ordinances builds the inspection into the permit itself. When a completed rental permit application is filed with the City Clerk, initial or renewal, a code official inspects the proposed rental dwelling for compliance with the Property Maintenance Code. The inspection happens by consent or under an administrative search warrant. The owner or legal agent is notified of the inspection, but a no-show does not stop it if access can otherwise be lawfully obtained.

Section 842.08(b) lets the code official schedule an all trades inspection covering electrical, plumbing, mechanical, building, fire, zoning and environmental issues when violations pose a hazard or a trade inspection is needed to size the repair. Section 842.08(c) allows additional inspections for recurrent violations (a combined three or more substantiated recurrent or uncorrected violations within a twelve-month period), whenever reasonable cause exists to believe the Property Maintenance Code is being violated, to audit compliance with permit conditions, to confirm earlier violations were corrected, and for the purposes listed in Section 1462.01.

Large buildings are sampled rather than fully inspected. For multiple rental dwellings with more than twenty rental units, a minimum of twenty percent of the units is inspected before renewal, with at least four units per structure, picked at random by the code official. The code official can raise the number if significant violations turn up.

An owner keeps the right to decline consent. Under Section 842.08(g), refusing an inspection cannot by itself be a basis to deny the permit, and the City can instead issue a conditional permit subject to inspection under an administrative subpoena, an administrative search warrant or a court order. That conditional permit becomes a regular permit after an inspection showing compliance, or within ninety days, whichever comes first, unless cited violations remain uncorrected. Entry inside a dwelling without consent requires an administrative or criminal search warrant or a court order, and inspections happen during reasonable hours. Section 842.08(h) requires written notice of results within ten business days when violations are noted.

Inspection results drive permit length. Under Section 842.11 a rental permit expires 72 months from its effective date, but no more than 36 months out if the last inspection cited violations of the building and Property Maintenance Code.