City of Santa Rosa Inspection Services

The City of Santa Rosa has temporarily limited its operations to provide essential inspection services ONLY to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in our community. This means the City of Santa Rosa has reduced staffing during the pandemic and is focused on providing inspection services that support the most restrictive construction activities that are presented under both the State and County health orders. For more information on actions the City has taken to slow the spread of coronavirus in the community, visit srcity.org/PreventTheSpread. As of April 7, 2020, the following inspection services are available under Sonoma County Order No. C19-03 (Order): link

On April 1, 2020 the County extended the Shelter In Place Order No. C19-03 to May 3, 2020. The extension also brought with it additional restrictions associated with construction activities. We’ve received a significant number of requests from the construction and private development communities regarding the activities that are allowed under the County’s amended health order. The construction specific activities that have received an exemption from the Shelter In Place requirement and are currently allowed to commence are highlighted in Section 13 (F)(F) of the Order. I’ve included a list of the specific activities below:

Projects immediately necessary to the maintenance, operation or repair of Essential Infrastructure;
Projects associated with Healthcare Operations, including creating or expanding Healthcare Operations, provided that such construction is directly related to the COVID-19 response.
Affordable housing that is or will be income-restricted, including multi-unit or mixed-use developments containing at least 10% income-restricted units;
Public works projects if specifically designated as an Essential Governmental Function by the lead governmental agency;
Shelters and temporary housing, but not including hotels or motels;
Projects immediately necessary to provide critical non-commercial services to individuals experiencing homelessness, elderly persons, persons who are economically disadvantaged, and persons with special needs;
Construction necessary to ensure that existing construction sites that must be shut down under this Order are left in a safe and secure manner, but only to the extent necessary to do so; and
Construction or repair necessary to ensure that residences and buildings containing Essential Businesses are safe, sanitary, or habitable to the extent such construction or repair cannot reasonably be delayed;
Construction or debris removal activities undertaken pursuant to Chapters 40 and 40A of the County Code, or any other construction and debris removal activities on fire damaged or destroyed properties;

Not long after the execution of the amended order, the County produced a resource document that provides a summary of the changes that were made. The summary document and the amended order are available at the SoCo Emergency website.

https://socoemergency.org/order-of-the-health-officer-shelter-in-place-extended/

The City is currently providing any inspection services needed to support the construction activities allowed under the extension of Order No. C19-03. We recently published a resource document (COVID Inspection Guidelines 4.7.20 – Final_) specific to the delivery of inspection services. The document also explains the process a contractor can go through to have a project reviewed in order to determine eligibility for future inspections. Construction projects that are not exempted from the order are still permitted to perform certain actives needed to shut down the construction site in a fashion that leaves it in a safe and secure state. The vast majority of our current inquiries are associated with this provision. Our guidance document describes how a contractor can obtain formal approval regarding the specific inspections that will be provided under this scenario.

About

Find Us

Important Links

Follow us