St. Paul Fire Inspection: Certificate of Occupancy, Costs, and Appeals

If you own a rental, commercial building, or any other non-owner-occupied property in St. Paul, you need a Fire Certificate of Occupancy from the Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI) before the building can be legally occupied. The requirement comes from Chapter 40 of the Saint Paul Legislative Code, and DSI enforces it through scheduled fire-code inspections. Fees start at $239 for a single rental unit and climb with building size, and how often you’re inspected depends on your property’s classification.

Who Needs a Certificate

The program covers almost every building in the city. Rental houses, duplexes, apartment buildings, commercial offices, factories, storage facilities, schools, assembly halls, and mixed-use buildings all require a certificate. The only properties exempt are owner-occupied single-family homes and owner-occupied duplexes.¹

Live in half a duplex and rent out the other side? The building still needs a certificate. Home-based businesses in commercial-zoned space are also in scope. No building subject to Chapter 40 may be legally occupied without a valid certificate, and treating the requirement as optional invites enforcement action up to criminal citation.¹

What It Costs

Residential inspection fees scale with the number of dwelling units:

1 unit: $239
2 units: $280
3 units: $292
4 units: $306
5 units: $318
6 units: $330
7 units: $344
8 units: $356
9 units: $369
10–15 units: $381
16–20 units: $436
21–25 units: $545
26–30 units: $648
31–35 units: $749
36–40 units: $851
41–100 units: $931
100+ units: $1,099

Commercial fees run from $180 for buildings up to 13,999 square feet to a maximum of $828 for buildings over 118,000 square feet.³

Two other fees catch owners by surprise. If an inspector has to come back to verify that violations were corrected, you pay a re-inspection fee equal to 50% of your renewal fee. And if you miss a scheduled appointment and the inspector can’t get in, there’s an $89 no-entry charge.²

How to Apply

The application is on DSI’s Fire Safety and Habitability page. You can also call DSI at 651-266-8989 or visit 375 Jackson Street, Suite 220, Saint Paul, MN 55101.⁴

The form asks for the property address, building or business name, whether the space is commercial or residential or mixed, number of residential units, number of stories, and number of basement levels. You’ll also indicate whether the building has a fire alarm, sprinkler system, key box, fire service elevator, or emergency generator, and provide owner contact information along with property manager details if applicable.⁵

Once DSI processes the application and fee, it schedules the inspection. For renewals, DSI typically initiates scheduling based on your building’s inspection cycle, so you’ll usually receive a notice rather than needing to request one.

How Often You’ll Be Inspected

Residential properties get a classification based on a point system that reflects compliance history. Points come from violations found during inspections, so a clean building earns longer gaps between visits and a troubled one gets looked at more often.

Class A: fewer than 5 points per unit on average. Inspected every 6 years.
Class B: 5 to fewer than 11 points per unit. Every 4 years.
Class C: 11 to fewer than 40 points per unit. Every 2 years.
Class D: 40 or more points per unit. Every year.

⁶

Commercial and institutional properties follow a schedule based on occupancy type instead of points:

Assembly (A): every 2 years
Business (B): every 3 years
Education (E): every 3 years
Factory (F): every 3 years
Hazardous (H): every year
Institutional (I): every 2 years
Mercantile (M): every 3 years
Storage (S): every 3 years

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Getting Ready for the Inspection

Most of what trips owners up is predictable. A few hours of preparation can save you a re-inspection fee and keep points off your record.

Fire extinguishers need current service tags from a certified technician and should be mounted where they’re accessible and visible. Expired tags and extinguishers tucked behind storage are two of the easiest violations to avoid.

Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms belong in every sleeping room and on every level of a dwelling unit. Interconnected alarms give the best protection; all interconnected units should be from the same manufacturer so they’re compatible, whether the connection is hard-wired or wireless.⁷

Egress routes have to be clear. Hallways, stairwells, and exit doors can’t be blocked by storage or furniture. Doors on exit routes need to open, close, and latch, and self-closing doors on fire-rated stairwells must actually swing shut on their own. If yours doesn’t, fix it before the inspector arrives.

Pull together your paperwork too. Maintenance records and current certification for fire alarms and sprinkler systems should be organized and ready to hand over. The same goes for documentation on key boxes, fire service elevators, and emergency generators.

For multi-unit buildings, tell tenants about the scheduled visit. If an inspector can’t get into a unit, you’ll owe the $89 no-entry fee and still have to reschedule.²

If Violations Are Found

After the walkthrough, if everything checks out, the city issues your certificate. If not, you’ll get a written report listing each deficiency with a deadline. Timelines vary with severity: immediate life-safety hazards may require same-day correction, while less critical items can carry a 30, 60, or 90-day window.

When the deadline arrives, the inspector returns to verify the work. Violations still outstanding trigger the re-inspection fee for each additional visit. A single-unit property pays roughly $120 per re-inspection; a 100-plus-unit building pays around $550. Each violation also adds points to your record, which can push the building from Class A down into Class C or D and lock you into more frequent inspections going forward.²⁶

Revocation and Non-Compliance

Under Section 40.06 of the Legislative Code, the city can revoke a Fire Certificate of Occupancy when a building’s deficiencies go unaddressed. A revoked certificate means the building cannot be legally occupied until the problems are fixed and a new certificate issues. Fail to complete corrections or vacate after a revocation, and the city can pursue a criminal citation, which can affect future licensing, financing, and your ability to operate rental property in St. Paul.⁸

Insurance is another reason not to let the certificate lapse. If a building lacks a valid certificate or carries documented unresolved fire-code violations, an insurer reviewing a fire-loss claim has grounds to reduce or deny coverage.

Appealing an Order

If you believe a violation was issued in error or the required correction is unreasonable, you can appeal to the Legislative Hearing Officer through the Office of the City Clerk at 310 City Hall, 15 West Kellogg Boulevard, Saint Paul, MN 55102. The phone number is 651-266-8585.⁸

The deadline is 10 days from the date of the order. Miss that window and you lose the right to a hearing. Filing an appeal doesn’t automatically stay the order, so you may still need to proceed with corrections while the hearing is pending unless the hearing officer says otherwise. Before you file, gather photos, contractor estimates, and any alternative compliance plans you want to present.⁸

1
City of Saint Paul. Fire Certificate of Occupancy
2
City of Saint Paul. Details of the Fire Certificate of Occupancy Program
3
City of Saint Paul. Certificate of Occupancy Information Sheet
4
City of Saint Paul. Fire Safety and Habitability
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City of St. Paul. Certificate of Occupancy Application
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City of Saint Paul. Commercial Properties
7
NFPA. Installing and Maintaining Smoke Alarms
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City of Saint Paul. Revocation of Fire Certificate of Occupancy