Detroit

Ordinance Administration

The The Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED) administers the facade ordinance for the City of Detroit. The department is located at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, 4th Floor, Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48226; telephone: 313.224.2733.

The facade ordinance provisions are provided in Section 8-15-34 Article (d)(8).

Buildings Requiring Inspection

All buildings 5-stories or greater in height; inspect all roof-mounted structures and every exterior wall of or part of the building's exterior, including connecting bridges, cornices, copings, saves, bays, or similar projections by competent person.

Detroit Facade Ordinance
(as Incorporated into Detroit’s Property Maintenance Code)

SECTION 8-15-34 ARTICLE (d)(8) - Under the Title of “ENFORCEMENT; INSPECTIONS; NOTICE OF PRE-INSPECTION RIGHTS; PROCEDURES”

(D.) The Building Official, or his or her authorized local officials or designees, shall conduct inspections to obtain compliance with this article based upon at least one of the following:

(8.) All owners of buildings five stories or more in height shall have all roof-mounted structures and every exterior wall of or part of the building's exterior, including connecting bridges, cornices, copings, saves, bays, or similar projections, thoroughly inspected and examined by competent persons at their own expense at intervals not to exceed five years and shall furnish the Building Official with a written report setting forth the true condition of the structure or wall inspected. The Building Official shall be notified in advance of such an inspection of an existing building and may have an authorized local official or designee present. Where the conditions of a structure or wall cannot be determined by inspection of the exterior of the structure or wall, the Building Official, or his or her authorized local official or designee, may require portions thereof to be removed for more thorough examination;