Local Building Inspection Program Requirements

The Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS198B) created a uniform, statewide building code within the boundaries of the commonwealth and assigned specific enforcement responsibilities to the Office of Housing, Buildings and Construction (OHBC) and to each local government.

Each governmental entity engaged in a building inspection program shall have at least one Kentucky certified building inspector with the level of credentials required for the buildings covered by the program  responsible for all construction document approvals, inspections and issuance of certificates of occupancy for those buildings under their jurisdiction .  Visit the Kentucky Certified Building Inspector Program page to learn more about the program.

The OHBC must be assured that local governments have sufficient equipment and qualified personnel to provide the level of inspection and/or plan review functions as outlined within the statute. Click here (MS Word - 278KB) to view the information and guidelines to be utilized by the OHBC to help local governments establish first-time building inspection programs and to monitor existing programs. Each local government should complete the "Notice of Local Building Inspection Program" form and enter into a formal agreement with the department as described herein. Each local building inspection program should be re-examined and new documents (PDF 64KB) filed if there are alterations to the program or changes in the inspection personnel.

Any local government may petition the executive director requesting that additional plan review functions, expanded jurisdiction, be allocated to that local government. Local expanded jurisdiction building programs are typically responsible for the review and inspection of construction projects that would normally be reviewed and inspected by the Division of Building Codes Enforcement. The granting of additional plan review and inspection does not include buildings having institutional, high hazard, state-licensed day care and in some cases educational occupancies. Construction projects such as these remain under the jurisdiction of the Division of Building Codes Enforcement. If a local building department is interested in applying for expanded jurisdiction, then they must complete the expanded jurisdiction application form (MS Word - 332KB) and mail to our office.

For a list of the local governments currently having expanded jurisdiction, click here.