How to Complete the City of San Jose Special Inspection Form

San Jose’s Special Inspection and Testing Form is a plan-check document that locks in a written agreement between the property owner, the design professional of record, and a city-recognized inspection agency before any structural work that requires third-party monitoring begins. The Building Division posts the form on its Building Bulletins and Forms page, and a completed, fully signed copy has to be in your plan check submittal before the city will issue the permit.¹

Pick the Right Version Before You Download

San Jose publishes more than one version of the form, and they are not interchangeable. Use the new building version for ground-up construction where the full structural system needs monitoring from foundation through framing. Use the existing building version for renovations, seismic retrofits, tenant improvements, and additions that touch structural elements in a standing building.² A third form covers grease duct enclosure inspections and applies to commercial kitchen work. Confirm which project type you have before pulling the PDF; the wrong form sent through plan check will come back for correction.

Line Up a Recognized Inspection Agency First

The city only accepts inspection work from agencies on its official recognized list, which is posted online with each agency’s services and the expiration date of their recognition.² Agencies marked “Pending Review” still count as recognized. Check the expiration date against your anticipated construction timeline, because a lapse mid-project can create problems at final sign-off.

The property owner, or the owner’s authorized agent, hires the agency. The contractor does not. The California Building Code deliberately separates inspection from construction to avoid conflicts of interest.³ When you compare agencies, match their certifications to the work your structural plans actually call for. A firm that handles concrete and soils may not cover structural steel welding. The International Code Council issues special inspector certifications across multiple disciplines, but ICC certification alone does not make someone qualified in any given jurisdiction; the local building official has the final say.⁴

What Goes on the Form

Both the new building and existing building versions follow the same general layout. Gather every piece of information and every signature before you submit, because a partial form will not clear review.

Project and Owner Information

Fill in the project address, the building permit number (or the application number if the permit has not been issued yet), and the owner’s name and contact details. The permit number is what ties the form to the correct project file in the city’s system, so verify it against your permit application. If you are the owner’s authorized agent, such as the architect or engineer acting on the owner’s behalf, note that relationship on the form.

Description of Work and Inspection Schedule

The form contains a schedule where you list each type of structural work that needs special inspection and indicate whether each item requires continuous or periodic monitoring. Continuous inspection means the inspector is on-site for the whole operation; concrete placement and shotcrete work are typical examples. Periodic inspection means the inspector visits at defined intervals to spot-check progress, which is common for verifying reinforcement placement before a concrete pour.³ Your structural engineer’s plans dictate which level applies to each line item. This schedule is where most of the real work on the form happens. A vague or incomplete entry here is the quickest way to draw a revision request from the Building Division.

Three Signatures

The form is not valid until three parties sign it:

The property owner, or an authorized agent, acknowledging the obligation to hire the inspection agency and run the inspection program through the life of the project.
The registered design professional (the engineer or architect of record), confirming that the inspection plan matches the structural requirements shown in the approved drawings.
A responsible representative of the special inspection agency, certifying the agency’s qualifications and availability to perform the listed inspections.

The agency signature is usually the one that holds everything up. Secure the agency relationship early so you are not chasing a signature the day before your plan check deadline.

How to Submit

The completed form goes to the Building Division as part of plan check, before the permit is issued. For electronic plan review, upload it through SJePlans along with the project plans and other required documents.⁵ For in-person submittal, bring the signed form to the Development Services Permit Center at San José City Hall, 200 E. Santa Clara St., 1st Floor, San José, CA 95113. The center is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m., and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Service tickets are not issued between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. or after 3 p.m.⁶

Reviewers check three things: that the agency you named is currently on the recognized list, that the inspection schedule matches what the structural plans require, and that all three signatures are present. Once the form clears, it goes into the permanent permit record, and the field inspector refers to it during construction to confirm the required site visits are happening.

After the Form Is Approved

Approval of the form is the start of your inspection obligations, not the end. Once construction begins, the agency keeps records of every special inspection and test and sends reports to both the building official and the registered design professional in responsible charge. Each report has to state whether the inspected work conforms to the approved construction documents. If the inspector finds a discrepancy, the contractor gets the first chance to correct it; if it is not corrected, the agency must notify both the building official and the design professional before that phase of work is completed.³

At the end of the project, the agency submits a final report covering every required special inspection and test, together with confirmation that any discrepancies were resolved. The timing of that final report should be agreed on between the owner and the building official before construction starts. Without the final report on file, the Building Division will not sign off and the certificate of occupancy stays on hold.

When the Form Is Required at All

Not every permit needs this form. Chapter 17 of the California Building Code governs when construction requires special inspections and testing, and San Jose applies the 2025 California Building Codes to plans submitted on or after January 1, 2026.⁷ The trigger is work where installation quality depends on precise execution that a routine city inspection cannot fully monitor: structural steel welding and high-strength bolting, reinforced and post-tensioned concrete, masonry grouting, long-span wood trusses and mass timber, engineered fill and compaction, and deep foundations such as driven piles and cast-in-place piers. The building official can also require special inspections for alternative systems, unusual designs, or products that need manufacturer-specific installation procedures.³ If your structural plans call out any of this work, plan on completing the form before you submit for plan check.

1
City of San José. Building Bulletins and Forms
2
City of San José. Special Inspection and Testing Agencies Recognized by the City of San Jose
3
ICC. Chapter 17 Special Inspections and Tests – California Building Code
4
International Code Council. Special Inspector Certifications
5
City of San José. SJePlans – A Portal for Electronic Plan Submittal Review
6
City of San José. Development Services Permit Center
7
City of San José. Adopted Building Codes