The Third-Party Inspections Program provides building owners and developers an option to hire private inspectors to conduct code-compliance inspections for residential and commercial construction on behalf of the city's building department. In doing so, construction can be expedited by having a dedicated team of inspectors readily available whenever stages of construction are reached that require inspections.

Project Qualifications & Scope

The Third-Party Inspections Program applies to all inspection types up to an including final inspection for building, energy conservation, structural, accessibility, mechanical, electrical and plumbing per the Commerce City Building Code. The program does not apply to inspections by Commerce City Planning, South Adams County Fire Department, Brighton Fire District, South Adams County Water and Sanitation District, Tri-County Health Department and Commerce City Public Works.

Residential: The residential option for the program applies to new homes only that are designed and constructed in accordance with the International Residential Code. This includes detached single family dwellings, townhouses and duplexes up to three stories. Residential construction that does not meet this criteria shall be inspected as commercial construction, see below.

Commercial: The commercial option applies to new buildings, additions and alteration to existing buildings (e.g., tenant improvements) for all occupancy classifications except Group H.

Definitions

• Building Official: the individual appointed by the Director of Community Development, charged with the administration and enforcement of the Commerce City Building Code as well as related laws, ordinances and policies.
• Building plans/construction documents: drawings and other documentation developed to graphically show or describe in writing the proposed construction in sufficient detail and with sufficient information to enable the Building Official or designee to determine compliance with the building code.
• City-approved plans: building plans/construction documents that have been reviewed and approved by Commerce City with "approved" and/or "reviewed" stamps affixed.
• Design discipline: a design component that supports the occupancy, habitability and functionality of a building or structure. Disciplines include building, mechanical, electrical and plumbing.
• International Code Council (ICC): the independent organization responsible for the development of the codes adopted by Commerce City and for the examination and certification of code professionals.
• Occupancy classification: the formal designation of the primary purpose of the building, structure or tenant space broken into occupancy groups based on the nature of the hazards and risks to the occupants.
• Registered design professional (RDP): a registered architect or professional engineer licensed in the state of Colorado.
• Supervising Professional: the RDP in responsible charge of the third-party inspections team.
• Third-party inspections team: a building code professional or group thereof led by a Supervising Professional qualified as required below to inspect one or more building disciplines.
• Type of construction: a code-defined designation classified by the building designer regarding the level of fire protection and combustibility of a building's components such as walls, partitions and structural members.

Minimum Qualifications of the Third-Party Inspections Team

• The third-party inspection team must be hired by and independent of the building owner or developer and shall have no financial interest in the contractor, subcontractors and project being inspected.
• The third-party inspection team shall be under the direction of a Supervising Professional.
• The Supervising Professional shall have at least five years of construction-related experience and is permitted to also be an inspector.
• Individual members of the inspections team shall have at least five years of design, construction, inspection or plan review experience in their related discipline(s).
• Individual members of the inspections team shall be ICC certified in the discipline(s) in which they are inspecting as listed below.

ICC Certifications Required

*Electrical inspectors are also required to be a licensed by the state of Colorado as a master electrician or journeyman.

Notice of Intent

Prior to the onset of any third-party inspections, the developer, tenant or building owner must notify the Commerce City Building Official of their intent to utilize the Third-Party Inspections Program. In order to be considered for the program, the applicant must submit the following to the Building Official for review.

• A brief description of the proposed project that must include the following at a minimum:
  • City-issued building permit number
  • Project name
  • Description and scope of work
  • Occupancy classification
  • Type(s) of construction
  • Sprinkler information
  • Number of floors
  • Total square footage
  • Code(s) used for design
• The name, resume and copies of the ICC certifications of the Supervising Professional.
• The names, resumes and copies of the ICC certifications and Colorado license of each member of the inspections team.

The Building Official or designee shall respond to the applicant within two working days with either an approval or reasons for denial of the proposed inspections team.

Third-Party Inspection Requirements

Inspections shall not be conducted until the third-party inspection team has been approved by the building official or designee, construction permits have been issued and city-approved paper documents are available on the job site. The process for conducting and reporting inspection results shall be as follows:

• The inspections required by the Commerce City Building Code shall be performed at appropriate times prior to concealment of work.
• The contractor shall provide notice to the inspections team when the construction is ready for inspection.
• If a conflict exists between city-approved documents and the provisions of the Commerce City Building Code, the code shall govern and the inspection shall be rejected until revised construction documents are approved by the city.
• Third-party inspectors shall annotate and sign the city-approved construction documents on the job site to identify the areas/locations/floors inspected, inspection date, type of inspection and the results of inspection.
• Inspection reports shall include the following:
  • Date and time of inspection.
  • Discipline(s) and related code(s) (i.e., IRC, IBC, IMC, IPC, NEC, etc.).
  • Type of inspection.
  • Name of inspector.
  • Street address including floor and/or suite number when applicable.
  • The building permit number.
  • A description of the area inspected.
  • Inspection result (pass or fail).
  • A list of deficiencies and the corresponding code sections violated when an inspection fails.
  • Where appropriate, photographs should be attached.
  • A statement, digitally signed and sealed by the Supervising Professional, which indicates the inspected item(s), in their opinion and to the best of their knowledge, complies with the city-approved documents and the requirements of the Commerce City Building Code.
• Construction elements rejected or any code violations discovered by a third-party inspector shall be corrected by the contractor and reinspected prior to proceeding with work.
• Inspection reports shall be processed as follows:
  • The inspector shall provide a copy of the inspection report on the job site at the time of inspection.
  • The Supervising Professional shall certify the inspection report as described above.
  • A copy of the inspection report shall be emailed to cdpermits@c3gov.com by 9 a.m. of the next business day.
• At the end of construction, the Supervising Professional shall submit a certified completion statement for review and approval by the Building Official or designee. Approval of the completion statement is required in order to close the permit and process a certificate of occupancy, if applicable.

Quality of Third-Party Inspections

City inspectors, at any time, will conduct quality assurance inspections of projects utilizing the Third-Party Inspections Program. If, during the city-led quality assurance inspection, construction contains a high degree of egregious code violations that should have been identified during the third-party inspection or if anomalies are found in the inspection team's reporting or record keeping, the responsible inspection team member(s) and/or Supervising Professional may be ordered to be replaced by the Building Official or designee. If consistent inspection quality cannot be assured, the project may be removed from the Third-Party Inspections Program without notice.