Chesapeake, VA Rental Inspections: Inspection Programs (2026)

Inside a designated rental inspection district, City Code Sec. 14-115 requires the director of development and permits to periodically inspect every dwelling or dwelling unit that is rented, leased or otherwise occupied for valuable consideration. A unit that passes with no violations affecting safe, decent and sanitary living conditions earns a four-year certificate of exemption. Multi-family rental complexes start smaller: the director inspects an initial sample of 10 percent of the units, capped at ten units, covering exterior and public areas; no more than that share gets inspected per complex per year unless the sample turns up safety violations, in which case the director inspects as many units as necessary to enforce the building code.

Selling a residential rental unit triggers a fresh periodic inspection within 30 days of the sale unless it was already inspected within the prior year. If an inspection under Sec. 14-115 or a follow-up under Sec. 14-116 finds a violation, the director keeps ordering follow-up inspections until the owner corrects it, then issues a one-year certificate of approval, after which the unit drops back into the annual cycle. Hotels, motels and other transient lodging are fully exempt under Sec. 14-117, and newly built units are exempt for four years from their original certificate of occupancy, though a violation during that exemption period ends it early. Appeals of the director's determinations go to the local board of building code appeals within 21 days in writing under Sec. 14-118.