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A page from the book of my internal processes/SOPs: The Nashville (Davidson County) city approvals from A to Z of a new build.

Ever wondered what part of a build the city inspectors even look at or care about? It may surprise you.

Building footing - City inspects BEFORE the pour.

Building Slab - For slab foundations you’ll need this too. (Also before the pour)

Building foundation - Usually they sign off on it administratively if it’s even needed. After foundation block installed. Bit of a formality.

Termite Letter - Not usually required by city, more for the end buyer/user, but needs to be obtained at foundation.

Building Framing - Inspected just before drywall goes up. This is more what you might be thinking of when it comes to inspections of a house. They make sure stairs aren't too steep, fire stopping is installed, access to non-HLA areas is installed like attics, hallways are wide enough, and so on.

MEP Rough - "mechanical electrical plumbing" rough is all the stuff in the walls. It all has to be installed to code. These are separate from the building permit and the MEP subcontractors pull these permits.

MEP Final - After lights and faucets etc are all installed. Final MEP check by the city to make sure there's smoke detectors and so on.

Service Utilities - Another type of MEP approval, all for outside the house itself. These are fairly complicated and need approvals at a couple points throughout the build. Handled by a subcontractor who specializes in exterior utilities, and they also pull these permits.

Urban Forestry - Certain number of trees must be planted or maintained.

Stormwater - City will inspect to ensure you kept to the site plan for how rain runoff is retained.

FFE near Flood plain - a sub-category of the SW dept people if you're building near flood zone.

Building Final - The final big push. This is the city inspectors last chance to call out anything not up to code. Railings, window openings for egress, and so on.

CO Letter - An admin formality, just email them and request it and now you can legally use your house (or sell it)!

If you have any questions about this process or a new project, give me a shout. 615-455-5979