Pitt County, NC Rental Inspections: Inspection Programs (2026)

§ 153A-364, directs the Inspections Department to make periodic inspections of existing buildings, as directed by the Board of Commissioners, to determine compliance with the Code and minimum safety requirements, and to inspect whenever inspectors have reasonable cause to believe unsafe, unsanitary, hazardous, or unlawful conditions exist in a structure. The ordinance defines 'reasonable cause' to include four triggers: the landlord or owner has a history of more than two verified violations of housing ordinances or codes within a 12-month period; a complaint alleges substandard conditions or requests an inspection; the department has actual knowledge of an unsafe condition; or code violations are visible from outside the structure, an adjoining parcel, or a road.

Inspectors carrying proper credentials have the right to enter any premises within the county's territorial jurisdiction at any reasonable hour for inspection or enforcement under this section, a right that Section 18 also grants generally for work covered by an active permit. This periodic-inspection authority operates apart from, and in addition to, the inspections tied to an active building permit under Section 19.