Building Safety in Virginia (2026)

Chesapeake follows EPA RRP and Virginia DPOR lead rules for pre-1978 housing. Contractors disturbing painted surfaces…

Newport News bans using or applying paint or any substance testing at 1.0 mg/cm² or more of lead, or over 0.5% lead by…

Norfolk bans applying lead-containing paint, or any lead substance above 0.06 percent by weight, to surfaces of homes…

Richmond City Code makes owners of pre-1978 dwellings and child-occupied facilities responsible for keeping painted…

Virginia Beach bans lead-based paint on any surface of a dwelling used by children and requires existing lead paint be…

Lynchburg landlords must keep painted surfaces compliant with the Maintenance Code's lead-hazard-control standard under…

Once Portsmouth's building officials or health department notify a property owner that a residential building has…

Albemarle County charges a $285 building permit fee for elevators, escalators, and lifts, plus a $100 per-elevator…

Arlington County Code Chapter 29 puts the Building Official in charge of the county's mandatory annual inspection of…

Chesapeake's director of development and permits must ensure every elevator, dumbwaiter, escalator, moving walk and…

Building owners in Henrico pay the county an annual certificate-of-compliance fee for every elevator, escalator…

Norfolk regulates elevators as building equipment under the Uniform Statewide Building Code adopted by City Code §…

Portsmouth requires periodic safety inspections on every elevator, dumbwaiter, moving stairway, moving walk and manlift…

Prince William County requires routine, periodic third-party inspection of every elevator, escalator, dumbwaiter and…

Richmond charges building owners an annual elevator routine test fee of $150.00 to $200.00 depending on the number of…

Roanoke bills elevator reinspection fees separately from other building permit fees: invoices go out after the fact…

In Roanoke County, Virginia (outside the independent cities of Roanoke and Salem), elevator construction and…

Virginia Beach requires annual safety tests for elevators and escalators, plus a five-year full-load test for cable…

Anyone using scaffolding or suspended apparatus over a Norfolk street to clean buildings must register with the…

Before a contractor can erect scaffolding, cranes, hoists or similar equipment over a Roanoke street, alley or sidewalk…

Within Stafford County's Recreational Business Campus (RBC) zoning district, the Zoning Ordinance requires every…

Frederick County requires the valves and switches on automatic sprinkler systems to be electronically supervised by a…

Hanover County Code Section 9-22.1 requires anyone who tests or inspects a fire protection system in the county or the…

Norfolk requires a fire suppression system in every building fifty feet or taller, installed under the Virginia Uniform…

Portsmouth requires automatic fire suppression systems in any building 50 feet or taller if the building permit was…

No building in Fairfax County may be used, in whole or in part, as a private school, nursery school, or child care…

In Albemarle County outside Charlottesville and Scottsville, a child day center must hold a current license from the…

Arlington County Code Chapter 52 bars any child care center from opening until the premises pass every required…

Family child day care homes in Hampton, Virginia must get a certificate of occupancy, hold a state license, and fence…

Loudoun County requires any Child Day Center to hold a Zoning Permit, a County Business License, and a State Child Day…

Lynchburg requires child and adult care centers in residential districts to provide enclosed outdoor recreation space…

Outside Blacksburg and Christiansburg, a day care center is a licensed use under Sec 10-61: commercial or public care…

Newport News lets a home care fewer than five children with no permit, but five to twelve children requires a…

Norfolk sets numeric physical-safety standards for licensed family day homes under Code § 15.1-30: hot water between…

Prince William County's Child Care Service Providers ordinance requires every person providing paid child care in a…

Roanoke's zoning code requires unlicensed child day care centers to provide at least 35 square feet of common floor…

Arlington County Code § 29-6 requires exterior doors on multiple-dwelling units to carry a deadbolt with at least a…

Landlords renting five or more units in one multifamily building must fit code-compliant deadbolt locks and peepholes…

Roanoke limits how far forward or back a new home's front yard can sit compared to its neighbors under Section…

In Buckroe Bayfront, Hampton requires LEED-ND Silver for public projects and land sold by the city, and encourages it…

Portsmouth has no mandatory green building code; instead, Sec. 40.2-310 rewards voluntary LEED or Energy Star…

Licensed home child care facilities in Fairfax County must install an operable carbon monoxide alarm wherever…

Every floor of a Loudoun County short-term rental must have at least one working carbon monoxide detector, alongside an…

Every short-term rental in Newport News must have working carbon monoxide detectors, smoke detectors, and fire…

Every Richmond short-term rental must have carbon monoxide detectors installed in compliance with the Virginia Uniform…

Virginia Beach requires interconnected smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors in every short-term rental, verified…

Herndon enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC) through its Department of Community Development…

Albemarle County requires a permit before most construction, administered by the Building Inspection Office under…

Alexandria enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, and city code layers on local triggers such as a…

Chesapeake enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code for all construction, alteration, repair, removal…

Chesterfield County requires a building permit before any building or structure is 'constructed, altered, repaired or…

Fairfax County requires a building permit to construct, improve, or alter single-family dwellings, multi-family…

Frederick County requires a building permit before construction work covered by the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building…

Decks and patios added to a one- or two-family home in Hampton skip the city's separate site plan review under Chapter…

In Hanover County outside the Town of Ashland, no building may be erected, altered, moved, converted, extended or…

Henrico requires a paid-up permit before any new construction, alteration, removal or demolition begins. A new one- or…

Unincorporated Loudoun County requires a building permit for construction, alteration, repair, removal or demolition of…

No building or structure in Lynchburg may be erected, enlarged or altered until the owner has met site plan…

Montgomery County has adopted the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code by reference, controlling permits for…

Newport News bills decks and porches under its building permit fee schedule; an unenclosed deck, porch, or stoop built…

Norfolk adopts the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code as its building code under Sec. 11.1-1, and Sec. 11.1-1.1…

Portsmouth enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code as its own building code, and City Code § 7-102 makes…

Prince William County enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code by adoption under Sec. 5-16, and won't…

Richmond requires a permit before construction, reconstruction, alteration, conversion, repair, maintenance or…

Roanoke enforces building permits through the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, adopted wholesale into city law…

Roanoke County adopts the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code under Sec. 7-16, making a building permit mandatory…

Spotsylvania County adopts Volume I and specified Volume III sections of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code…

Stafford County's building code is the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, adopted in full for new construction…

Virginia Beach requires a building permit and Division of Permits and Inspections sign-off before any construction…

Electrical work in Albemarle County requires a permit under County Code § 5-202, with fees set by the countywide fee…

Electrical work in Alexandria is governed by the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, which the city adopts…

Arlington County requires a permit from the Inspection Services Division before any electrical work begins, except…

Electrical work in Chesterfield County needs a permit under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, administered…

Fairfax County Code § 66-2-1 bars starting any electrical work until the Building Official issues an electrical permit…

Electrical work in Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown needs a permit under the Virginia…

Electrical work in Hampton needs a permit under the state-adopted building code; Sec. 9-43 sets a $50 minimum fee, a…

Unincorporated Loudoun County requires an electrical permit for new service, sub-panels, wiring or fixtures before work…

Electrical work in Lynchburg falls under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, adopted wholesale by Sec. 11-2…

Montgomery County requires a permit and the electrical inspector's approval before any wiring, repair or addition to…

Newport News charges a $55 minimum fee for every electrical permit, scaled up by service-panel amperage under section…

Norfolk regulates electrical work through the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, adopted citywide by City Code §…

Electrical work in Portsmouth needs its own permit and inspection under City Code § 7-133, with fees scaled by…

Anyone doing electrical home-improvement work in Prince William County for pay must hold a current home improvement…

Roanoke County requires anyone doing paid electrical work for the public to hold a county certificate of qualification…

Spotsylvania County will not issue an electrical permit under the building code unless the person doing the work holds…

Virginia Beach requires an electrical permit for wiring work under the Uniform Statewide Building Code, with a minimum…

Plumbing work in Albemarle County needs a permit under County Code § 5-203, with fees drawn from the countywide fee…

Alexandria enforces the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code for plumbing work, and local code requires every…

Arlington County requires a permit from the Inspection Services Division before any plumbing or gas work begins, issued…

Chesapeake requires a plumbing permit before anyone taps, uncovers or connects to the city's water or sewer lines. The…

Chesterfield County requires a building permit for plumbing work under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code…

Fairfax County requires a Building Official permit before any plumbing or gas work begins, issued under the Virginia…

Plumbing work in Frederick County outside Winchester, Stephens City and Middletown falls under the Virginia Uniform…

Hampton requires a permit before any plumbing work begins under the city's adopted building code, with a basic fee of…

Unincorporated Loudoun County requires a plumbing permit before any installation, alteration or repair of a water…

Lynchburg requires a licensed master plumber to hold a permit and stay in control of any plumbing work performed in the…

Newport News requires a plumbing permit for covered work, charging a $55 minimum fee plus itemized per-fixture…

Plumbing work in Portsmouth requires its own permit under City Code § 7-134, with the department of permits and…

Roanoke County requires paid plumbing work to be done by a certified worker under Sec. 7-42, permitted as a trade…

Spotsylvania County will not issue a plumbing permit under the building code unless the person doing the work holds a…

Stafford County's plumbing code is the plumbing chapter of the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, adopted whole…

Plumbing work in Virginia Beach requires a permit under the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, with a $50 base…

Lynchburg's inspections division runs mandatory periodic inspections of every residential rental unit inside six…

Albemarle County's Building Inspection Office, housed in the Department of Community Development, administers and…

Alexandria's building code requires every permit holder to notify the building official at least 24 hours before any…

The County Manager or a designee inspects dwellings under Arlington County Code § 29-7 in response to a complaint, as…

In Fairfax County the permit holder, not the county, is responsible for calling for inspections. Section 61-1-5…

Frederick County's Department of Building Inspections, headed by the Chief Building Official, administers every…

Hampton scores dwellings on a risk-points system, then inspects every flagged property's exterior; inspectors can only…

Hanover County's building official and inspectors administer the Uniform Statewide Building Code under section 6-17…

Henrico's building official administers and enforces Virginia's Uniform Statewide Building Code countywide, deciding…

Loudoun County's Department of Building and Development, through its Building Official and Building Maintenance…

Montgomery County's Building Official runs the Inspections Department, enforcing the building code and state…

Newport News requires a building inspector to sign off at each of eight construction stages, from footing excavation…

Norfolk Code of Ordinances § 11.1-74 sets the inspection stages behind a dwelling occupancy permit: after an…

Every stage of permitted construction in Portsmouth has to pass inspection by the department of permits and…

Prince William County enforces building inspections through the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code, adopted by…

Richmond requires a valid Bureau of Permits and Inspections permit before starting covered work; starting early still…

Roanoke's building maintenance code lets the city manager inspect residential rental units inside a designated rental…

Roanoke County's building official inspects a building or structure once it's reported unsafe and files a report on its…

The county's department of building inspection, created under Sec. 5-3 and run by the building official, inspects…

Virginia Beach's Division of Permits and Inspections can bill $75 for each extra inspection visit caused by uncorrected…