Except as provided in Section 4-8-042 of the Municipal Code, the building official or fire code official must periodically inspect the existing buildings, existing structures, equipment, sites, and portions thereof described in this chapter.
The owner of a structure, piece of equipment, or premises subject to periodic inspection under this chapter is liable to the City for the applicable inspection fee as set forth in Section 14A-12-1206. The inspection fee may be billed to the owner before or after the actual inspection conducted by the building official or fire code official and must be paid to the Department of Finance within 30 days of the date on the bill. Inspection fees, once billed, are a debt due and owing to the City.
Where the building official conducts more than one inspection of the same premises for the same purpose within 365 days, because the previous inspection resulted in a finding of non-compliance with a provision of the Chicago Construction Codes or because the previous inspection could not be completed because the inspector was not provided full access to the premises, the building official is directed to charge a reinspection fee as set forth in Section 14A-12-1206.
Exception: The building official may not charge a reinspection fee where the subsequent inspection is due to an error made by the City.
A penalty as set forth in Section 14A-12-1206 will be assessed for unpaid inspection fees and reinspection fees.
Where an inspection by the building official is required by the Municipal Code and the building official determines that documents submitted by the owner will be sufficient to evaluate compliance with applicable requirements of the Municipal Code, the building official is authorized to require or accept the submission of documents, including but not limited to reports, photographs, maintenance agreements, contracts, schedules and sworn affidavits regarding the item which is subject to inspection, instead of conducting an inspection. Where the building official accepts documents instead of conducting a required inspection, the owner must be charged a document review fee equal to the applicable inspection fee. Nothing in this section requires the building official to accept documents instead of conducting a required inspection or precludes the building official from conducting a required inspection and assessing the applicable inspection fee.
(Amend Coun. J. 10-7-20, p. 21791, Art. I, § 19)
Where the building official conducts an emergency inspection because of concerns regarding the health and safety of the public or conducts a non-required inspection at the request of an owner, or conducts an inspection outside of normal business hours, as set by rule, or is required to review documents on an expedited basis, the building official is authorized to assess, in addition to the regular inspection fee, an additional charge to recover the actual or approximate costs to the City for such inspection or expedited review, including direct and indirect costs.
Notwithstanding Section 2-8-065 of the Municipal Code and Section 14A-4-412.5, a person having a fee waiver under either provision must pay the additional cost recovery charge for a specially-requested inspection, expedited document review, or an inspection outside of normal business hours.
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