Not only does it vary state to state, but in our state county to county. Where we currently live the house has to be pretty much complete including flooring, paint/trim,even landscaping while in the area of our build surprisingly very little mostly concentrating on safety. Ask your local building dept. for a complete breakdown for your area.

I tried looking at our local building codes online today, but it was quite overwhelming searching. Do you know what I should look under? All I wanted was a list of some type. I agree my best bet is to call them. I wonder if because we already owned & lived in the house since Dec. 2000 some requirements may be different than those of someone starting from scratch. This ended up being a whole house remodel.

The building official essentially has authority over the elements of the building that are controlled by the building code. The major elements are: structural (foundation & superstructure), electrical (including fixture/device/smoke detector installation), plumbing (including fixture installation), insulation, watertight building envelope, unobstructed egress paths, emergency escape windows, guards & railings, protection of foam plastic, moisture vapor retarders, foundation waterproofing & backfill, and attic & crawl space ventilation where required.

It is up to the inspector to decide if the HVAC system must be complete and functioning and if all interior and exterior finishes must be complete (usually wall plates and fixture trim must be installed).

The building official's primary concern is your safety but he cannot accept code controlled work that has not been completed. However, it is sometimes possible to get a temporary Certificate of Occupancy if the ongoing work doesn't pose a threat to the safety of the occupants.

It's important to approach the building official in a respectful manner letting him know you'll do whatever he wants but a temporary C of O would be tremendously beneficial to your family. Enlist the help of a friendly GC or sub if you still know one.

macv - so glad you responded. You're a wealth of knowledge. We absolutely understand the safety issue.

My husband and I are teachers in the only elementary & middle schools in town, and we are very active in our community, so I don't know too many people that don't know about what happened to us. Hopefully one of those is the building official.;)When we were getting our plans approved by the township, one of the people was the father of one of my students. They requested me for their daughter for this year, so maybe he can help us too.

Our GC is wonderful! I can't say enough about him and his subs. I just wish we would've gone with him in the first place & our family wouldn't be in this situation. I'll talk to him about my thoughts.

I'm a building official and it is our policy not to issue temporary COs.

Not that temporary COs aren't permitted. They are perfectly legal and 'may' be issued. They are not required to be issued when requested, however, and we simply do not issue temp COs for residential buildings.

Why? It's just that when one issues a temporary CO, the occupants rarely finish all the work intended, the temporary CO expires, and then the house becomes illegally occupied.

It then becomes a legal nightmare trying to have someone evicted from their own house.

Banks will normally not go to closing without a permanent CO so if there is a construction loan outstanding, a temporary CO won't help.

So we do not issue temporary COs.

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Under the IRC, a 'dwelling unit' must have permanent provisions for cooking, sleeping, sanitation and the like.

With that definition in mind, and on rare occaisions, We will issue a permanent CO for a house that has the kitchen done, at least 1 functional bathroom, the electrical system installed and finished, plumbing and heating and smoke detectors working, the entire exterior finished, etc.

Some have not had interiors painted, trimmed (except for hand and guardrails), have no floor finishes and so on.

But even then that is rare that we issue a permanent CO in with those conditions.

We allowed some to do it this way to get their $9000 first time buyer credits last June because they were no where near finished but the deadline to lose the money loomed.

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In short, don't expect to get a temporary CO or even a permanent CO unless you truly have extraordinary circumstances.

In most cases the building officials will issue nothing but a permanent CO and only when the job is completely done.

Ask your local building dept. for a complete breakdown for your area.

"I wonder if because we already owned & lived in the house since Dec. 2000 some requirements may be different than those of someone starting from scratch".

Some codes change as ,at least in our area, they are udgraded or reviewed every three years,. However what they go by here is the date you permitted and the codes at that time apply to your project. If you have kept your permit active,( out here one inspection per year plus a one time extension), then the codes in 2000 should apply. If you have let it lapse, then you will have to repermit and the newest, existing codes will apply meaning that you might have to upgrade certain aspects of your project to meet the new if the code has changed for that particular area of the build. We permitted in '04 and have been staying on the property when we go up to work on the house. Now that the build is almost there for a C.O. we have been staying in the house as all the mecahnicals are functioning. All our inspections are based on the codes as they stood in '04. It would be best for you to contact your building dept. to see how it all works in your area and for your project instead of generalization and speculation you get here. That's what the building dept. is there for.

It doesn't matter what other building officials might do and it can't hurt to ask.