Every business within the city limits of the City of Gainesville is required to have a Certificate of Occupancy in accordance with the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Gainesville and the 2003 International Building Code as adopted and amended by the City Council of the City of Gainesville, Texas.

All new businesses are required to fill out an application for a Certificate of Occupancy and pay the required fee prior to occupying a business or a lease space.

Once the application  has been received and the appropriate fee paid, an inspection of the premises will be made by the Fire Marshal and the Building Official to look for safety or code violations.  Any such violations noted during the inspection will be required to be corrected prior to the opening of the business.  Food service or food handling establishments shall also require a Health inspection.

The Certificate of Occupancy inspection is conducted on Tuesday and Thursday mornings during the hours of 9 am to 11 am.  Someone will need to be there to let the inspectors in, or a key may be left at the inspection office.  If you leave a key with the inspectors, you may pick up the key and your copy of the inspection at a later time. 

Due to time restraints, specific inspection appointment times are no longer made.  If  no one is at the business when the inspectors come by, that inspection will be moved to the next available inspection date.  

Any concerns or violations noted during the inspection must be corrected prior to opening the business.  All violations will be actual violations of a City, State or Federal Code and will not be something made up by the inspectors.

For existing businesses, if the requirement for a Certificate of Occupancy arises as a result of a Fire Department Inspection, no new inspection will be required.  The results of the Fire Inspection will suffice for the Certificate of Occupancy Inspection.  The Certificate will not be issued until any non-conformances noted during the fire inspection have been corrected and approved by the Fire Marshal.

When you receive your  Certificate of Occupancy, you must display it on the wall in a location that is visible to all.  If you do not have it when the Fire Department makes its inspections, you will be told to get another one.  If you move your business to a different location, or if you change the name or ownership of your business, then a new certificate is required.