The Building Division is a unit within Land
Development Services, and is one of many steps in the
Land Development process.The mission of the
building division is to protect the health, safety,
and welfare of the public through application of the
building code and our plan reviews and inspections
that we perform in the field. The building
division is located at the Herrity building on the
Government Center Campus. We have four branches in
the Building Division. The first branch, residential
branch, does plan reviews and inspections for new
residential structures like new single family
dwellings, a new deck, finished basement. The
second branch is the commercial trade branch,
they do plan reviews and inspections for commercial
buildings or tenant spaces in commercial buildings for
mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Third
branch is our commercial building branch, they look
at life safety systems and egress and alarms in a
building that is a commercial building for new
tenant layouts and new buildings and they do the
inspections as well. The last branch is our
technical support branch, they assist us in all of
our other functions as well as taking our plans in at
our plan counter. We have about a hundred, a little
over a hundred employees in the building division, and
our range of positions start with administrative
assistants and they run the spectrum of technical
positions, to engineers, inspectors, and code
specialists. I am a building inspector and my
job is to inspect the work that contractors perform
and to make sure that the Virginia construction code
is followed to insure the health, safety, and welfare
of the residents. The Commonwealth of Virginia
has adopted the international building code
and refers to these documents as a uniform
state-wide building code, and the purpose of this
code is to provide minimal standards of construction
of buildings to insure that they have safety measures
to prevent against fires and natural disasters. All
building permits must comply with the Virginia
Uniform Statewide Building Code. A permit is a
document granting legal permission to begin
construction. Building permits are required for
most new residential and commercial construction.
The building code requires residential permits to be
pulled when you are adding square footage to you
existing home, finishing a basement, building a deck,
upgrading any electrical equipment or replacing any
gas appliance. Commercial properties will require
permits when you are altering the interior of
the tenant space, any future tenant building that
is to be constructed, any structural work that is to
be conducted, also any gas appliances or plumbing work
that is to be done within these buildings. The
Building division is here to help you through the
permit process. Our staff will provide you with the
resources necessary to make your project a success and
avoid potential problems. Building permits can be
obtained online or at the Permit Application Center.
During the review process, county staff will determine
if your plan design is up to code. If approved, you
will receive your permits and may begin work.
Remember to always use a licensed contractor for any
work you have done. Having inspections performed at
specific intervals during construction insures that
your project conforms to the scope of work, is built
according to approved plans, and complies with
the necessary code. Once your project is complete,
and passes the final inspection, it's ready for
use! Many people think that the work we do is an
impediment to their construction project, when
in fact we're here to help and we're here to help you
understand the building code and all of the
requirements and what they mean. If someone has a new
project and don't know where to go, the best place
to go is online at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/build
ingpermits. We offer a lot of information there,
brochures, and typical details on how to do
construction projects from a retaining wall, to a
deck, to a brand new commercial building.