Warwick, RI Rental Inspections: Inspection Programs (2026)

Section 26-74 of the Warwick Code of Ordinances, part of the city's minimum housing standards chapter, sits inside a broader inspection and enforcement scheme run by the division of minimum housing standards created in Article II. Whenever a rental housing unit ten years old or older becomes vacant, the owner must notify the director of the termination of occupancy and secure the director's written inspection approval before the unit can be reoccupied. The notice can be filed up to 15 days before the tenant moves out, giving the director advance warning to schedule the visit.

Once notified, the director has three working days to inspect the unit and either grant or deny approval; if that window passes without action, the code treats the owner as having complied and the unit may be re-let without further sign-off. Three categories fall outside this requirement: motel, hotel, or rooming accommodations used for temporary or seasonal guests; units built within the ten years before the vacancy, verified by the date of the initial building permit; and property owned by the Warwick Housing Authority. If the director's inspection turns up conditions that violate the housing code or the state housing maintenance and occupancy code, the director issues a violation notice to the owner or tenant, which starts the same notice-of-violation and compliance-order process that governs the rest of Chapter 26: a written notice specifying the defect and a correction deadline, escalating to a compliance order if uncorrected, with a right of appeal to the housing board of review under Chapter 6, Article VI. During the three-day inspection window the owner is responsible for making the unit available at the director's convenience.