It all begins with inspections. Everyone who is involved with buildings, or even a single building, whether as an owner, designer, constructor, operator, maintainer, buyer, or seller, will eventually have to conduct or have conducted facilities inspections. Throughout the United States, cities and counties have a building department. Sometimes they are named the Department of Buildings, sometimes Department of Safety and Buildings, and there may be other names too. But they have this in common: (1) Th e plan reviewers ensure code compliance and (2) the inspectors ensure that the construction is in accordance with the approved plans. Both plan reviewers and inspectors are usually knowledgeable of the local building codes (though rare, it's a problem when they are not), so, while at times these may seem difficult, these should be viewed as part of the project team. Th ere are checklists that will help you to prepare for the inevitable building department plan reviews and inspections.