What actually happenson inspection day
An inspection is a short, specific comparison: does the work match the drawings that were approved. Almost everything that decides whether it goes well happens before anyone pulls up to the curb.
What the visit actually is
Start hereSomeone from the building department walks the work and compares what is built against the approved drawings and the codes the jurisdiction has adopted. That is the job. It is not an audit of your company, and it is not a hunt for reasons to write you up. Inspectors are working a route with other stops on it, and a visit that goes cleanly is worth as much to them as it is to you.
What varies enormously is everything around that comparison. Which inspections exist, what order they come in, how far ahead you have to schedule, whether you are given a two-hour window or a whole day, what has to be physically posted on site, and what an inspector is permitted to accept on a phone screen are all decided locally. Two counties an hour apart commonly run different sequences under different names. So treat everything below as a way to think about the day rather than as a rule — and confirm the specifics with the building department that issued your permit. They will tell you. Asking is not a sign of inexperience; showing up unprepared is.
How to be ready for an inspection
Seven stepsNone of this is exotic. It is the same short list every time, and running it is the difference between an inspection that takes twenty minutes and one that takes two visits.
- 01
Confirm what you scheduled, and when
A day or two out, confirm the inspection type, the date, and whatever arrival window your department gives — many publish this in an online portal, some only over the phone. Confirm you booked the inspection you meant to book. Requesting the wrong type is one of the quietest ways to lose a day.
- 02
Re-read the last report on this job
If a previous visit left corrections, that list is the agenda for this one. Read it again the day before rather than from memory, and be able to point at each item and say what was done about it.
- 03
Get the approved set on site, at the right revision
The inspector is comparing built work against approved drawings. If the set on site is superseded, the comparison is against something that was never approved. Make sure the current stamped revision is the one available on site, and that older revisions are not sitting next to it waiting to be picked up by mistake.
- 04
Make the work visible and reachable
Whatever is being inspected has to be seen. Leave it uncovered, get insulation and drywall off the schedule until after the visit, clear stored material away from the work, and make sure ladders, lights, and keys for locked areas are on site rather than in somebody's truck across town.
- 05
Put the paperwork where it can be found in seconds
Permits, the approved set, prior inspection reports, and any supporting documents the work depends on — truss and engineered-lumber letters, product listings, third-party or special-inspection reports, energy documentation. Keep posting whatever your department requires to be physically posted, and have the rest reachable without a phone call to the office.
- 06
Have someone on site who can answer for the work
Not necessarily you, but somebody who knows what was built, can open what needs opening, and can say why something was done the way it was. An inspector standing next to a locked house with nobody to ask has no choice but to leave.
- 07
Walk it yourself first
Walk the same route the inspector will, the day before, with the approved set in hand. Almost everything that gets written up is visible to anyone actually looking for it. Finding it yourself costs an hour; having it found for you commonly costs a re-inspection and the trades stacked up behind it.
What they want to see, and why
And the reasonAn inspector arrives with a limited amount of time and a specific question to answer. Everything below exists to help them answer it without having to go looking. Which of these apply to your job depends on the job and the jurisdiction — this is a way to think about it, not a checklist to hand anyone.
- The posted permit
- Most jurisdictions require the permit card itself to be physically posted and visible on site. That requirement is not satisfied by a copy on a phone unless your department says it is. Post the card; keep posting it.
- The approved drawings
- The stamped set, at the revision that was approved. This is the reference the whole visit is measured against, which is why a missing or outdated set turns an inspection into a conversation about paperwork instead of about the building.
- Access to the work
- Crawlspaces, attics, panels, trenches, roofs. If it cannot be reached safely it usually cannot be signed off, and an inspector is not going to improvise a way in.
- Prior sign-offs
- Inspections commonly build on each other — something has to be looked at before it is covered, and later approvals often depend on earlier ones being recorded. Knowing what has already been signed off saves the inspector from having to go find out.
- Supporting documents
- Truss letters, engineered-lumber specifications, fire-rated assembly listings, product approvals, special-inspection or third-party reports, energy compliance paperwork. Which of these apply depends entirely on the job and the jurisdiction.
- A person who can answer
- Most write-ups start as a question. Someone who can answer it on the spot is often the difference between a note and a correction.
Why visits get deferred
And what prevents itA deferred or failed inspection is rarely about the quality of the work. Far more often the inspector could not see it, could not reach it, could not confirm it against anything, or could not get in at all. Those are the cheapest problems in construction to solve, because solving them costs an afternoon of attention rather than any material.
The work was not actually finished
Trades run late and it is tempting to book optimistically. Booking a day later costs a day; a failed visit commonly costs a re-inspection, a new slot, and whatever schedule sat behind it.
Nobody could get in
Locked gate, locked house, no ladder, a dog in the yard. Confirm access the afternoon before, and make sure whoever holds the key knows the window.
The wrong drawings were on site — or none were
Keep the current approved revision available on site and get superseded sets out of circulation.
Work was covered before it was inspected
Insulation and drywall are the classic offenders. Tell the trades the date, in writing, and confirm the day before that nothing is scheduled to cover the work.
A supporting document was missing
The truss letter, the special-inspection report, the manufacturer listing. Collect these as they arrive rather than the morning of.
Corrections from the last visit were not addressed
Work the list in order and be ready to show each item. If one item genuinely cannot be resolved yet, say so at the start rather than letting it be discovered.
The wrong inspection was requested
Names and sequences vary between departments. If you are working in a jurisdiction you do not know well, ask them to walk you through their sequence once — it is a five-minute call that pays for itself.
How to make the visit short
On the dayMeet them when they arrive, then follow rather than lead. Most inspectors have a route through a building they have used for years, and it is faster than yours. Walk it with them, stay close enough to answer, and leave the running commentary alone — a question will come if one is needed.
Volunteer anything that changed. If a beam moved, a fixture relocated, or a detail was built differently than drawn, say so at the start and show the drawing. A change raised by the builder is a conversation about how to document it. The same change found by the inspector, after the builder walked past it, is a conversation about what else has not been mentioned. Trust on a job site is cumulative — you are almost certainly going to see this person again on your next permit.
If there were corrections last time, walk the list in order and show each one done. It is the fastest possible way to close out a re-inspection, and it makes clear that the previous visit was taken seriously.
When you disagree, ask rather than argue. Nobody wins a code argument from memory on a driveway. Asking which section applies turns a standoff into something you can go read, and if you still disagree afterwards, every department has a path for that — a supervisor, a plan reviewer, a formal request for interpretation. Use it. It works far more often than pushing back on the person in front of you.
Finally, make the site quiet and walkable near the work. Cut the saw for ten minutes. Sweep the path. Move the pallets. It sounds trivial, and it consistently takes minutes off the visit.
Worth remembering
Inspectors talk to each other, and they remember which builders are ready. Being the contractor whose sites are always accessible, whose drawings are always current, and whose corrections are always done is a real and durable advantage — and it costs nothing but attention.
After the report
Same dayRead the report the day you get it, while the visit is still fresh and you can still remember which wall was being discussed. If anything in it is ambiguous, that is the day to ask — a question asked the same afternoon is a clarification, and the same question asked three weeks later is a dispute.
Then get the result to the people it affects. The next trade needs to know whether they are cleared to cover; the trade that was written up needs the specific language, not a paraphrase. Every report also belongs with the job for the rest of its life: closeout packages, warranty claims, and the appraisal or refinance three years from now all tend to want the inspection history, and reconstructing it later is far more work than keeping it as you go.
If the visit was deferred, reschedule before you fix — in many jurisdictions the next available slot is the real constraint, not the correction itself.
General notes
This is general guidance, not your jurisdiction’s rules
Inspection types, names, sequences, scheduling windows, and documentation requirements vary enormously between building departments. Nothing on this page describes what your department requires, and none of it is legal advice. Confirm the specifics with the department that issued your permit before you rely on any of it.
DryPlans does not replace a permit you are required to physically post. Most departments require the permit card itself to be posted and visible on site — keep posting it. What DryPlans replaces is the box of plans, revisions, and reports underneath it.
Half of this list is just“can they find the documents”
Current approved set, prior reports, truss letters, product listings — reachable on site, without a phone call to the office. That is the part of the day DryPlans is for. A QR placard on the post, and whoever scans it gets the current set on their phone. No app, no login, nothing for an inspector to install.
One job site is free, and stays free — enough to try it on the job you have going right now.