Occupancy Permits

Occupancy Permits

No building or structure shall be used or occupied, and no change in the existing occupancy classification of a building or structure or portion thereof shall be made until the building official has issued a Certificate of Occupancy as provided in the applicable code. All work must be completed and inspected to qualify for an Occupancy Permit, including 70% groundcover established on all areas disturbed during construction. Anyone violating this portion of the building code is subject to a fine of up to $1,000 per day. It is the general contractor’s responsibility to schedule and receive a final inspection and/or occupancy permit. 

Change in Occupancy

A change of occupancy classification or change of occupancy of any building requires the approval of the Building Official according to section 1001.2, International Existing Building Code. In order to secure that approval, several areas of the building may need structural changes, additional fire protection, or zoning code upgrades as required by the code for the proposed occupancy. This occurs most frequently when a residence is converted to a commercial use or any other commercial use is converted to a different occupancy or the character of an existing occupancy needs to be changed by a new tenant. Subject to the approval of the Building Official, the use or occupancy of existing buildings shall be permitted to be changed and the building is allowed to be occupied for purposes in other groups without conforming to all the requirements of this code for those groups, provided the new or proposed use is less hazardous, based on life and fire risk, than the existing use. A code analysis shall be provided to the Building Official by an Illinois Licensed Architect.