The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) has kicked off a new program aimed at inspecting all multi-unit rental properties in the District of Columbia. Until now, all residential building-wide inspections were completed only after receiving a series of complaints from tenants. Now all 4,000 multi-family rental properties in the District of Columbia will be inspected whether or not DCRA ever receives a single complaint.

The Proactive Inspections program does not mean you cannot request inspections for your unit or your building. For more information on requesting an inspection for your unit or building immediately, please go back to Housing Code Inspections.

Consent Forms

To ensure your building is safe and meets city codes, it is essential that we get into as many units in your building as possible. If tenants cannot be present at the inspection, please complete the Proactive  Inspection Consent Form*. 

DCRA has also translated the Proactive Inspection form for property owners and managers:

• Spanish Proactive Inspections Consent Form*
• Korean Proactive Inspections Consent Form*
• Vietnamese Proactive Inspections Consent Form*
• Chinese Proactive Inspections Consent Form*
• Amharic Proactive Inspections Consent Form* 

Scheduling Your Inspection

All multi-family rental property owners will receive a letter and a proactive inspection date. The compliance inspection includes exterior, interior common area, and unit inspections.  As a building owner, you or your agent, are required to provide inspectors entry into a percentage of your building's units. 

• Proactive Inspection Schedule Information

You can also search the interactive proactive inspections map above.

• Red Thumbtacks represent properties inspected in May and June 2009 
• Blue Bubbles represent properties inspected in July and August 2009
• Yellow Thumbtacks represent properties inspection in September and October 2009
• Purple Thumbtacks represent properties inspected in November inspections 2009
• Aqua Thumbtacks represent properties scheduled for January 2010

Percentage of Units to be Inspected

Refer to the table below to determine how many units inspectors must enter. Inspectors must visit at least one unit from each floor and the basement (if applicable). If inspectors cannot access all common areas and the required number of units, the building will not pass the compliance inspection.

Total Units in Buildings	Total Unit Inspections Needed to Issue Certificate
3 to 4	50 percent
5 to 49	30 percent
50 +	15 percent

DCRA inspectors can only enter units for which building owners or managers have secured a tenant-signed Inspection Consent Form*. Building owners or managers are responsible for collecting signed tenant consent forms prior to unit inspections. Please call the Inspections Division at (202) 481-3524 between 9 am and 4 pm at least 15 days prior to your scheduled inspection to verify that you have signed consent forms for required unit inspections. 

Compliance inspections are valid for up to four years depending on the condition of the rental property. For an overview of what our inspectors will be looking for and a guide to common code violations, minor violations, and the compliance inspection process, visit our Housing Code Inspections page.

An owner or agent must be on the premises during the inspection.  If you cannot attend a scheduled compliance inspection, and do not reschedule the inspection within 24 hours of your appointment, your building will automatically fail the inspection and be placed on a 2 year proactive inspection cycle.

Is Your Property Licensed?

Part of the Proactive Inspections process is determining is the multi-family rental property has the appropriate business license. All multi-family rental properties with at least 3 units are required to have an Apartment House License.

DCRA has also created an online application for renters to see if their landlord is licensed - either by address or property owner.

• Start Your Online Search Here**

**Use drop down menu and select Apartment House

Proactive Inspection Fees

Beginning October 1, 2009, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs began charging all residential rental properties a $35.00 per unit fee up to a $2,000.00 maximum for the Proactive Inspections program. The fee funds the cost of the new program and not tied to a specific inspection. If you are the owner of a multi-family rental property, your property will be inspected at least once during the five year program. 

NOTICE: You may have recently received two bills for proactive inspections. Because of a technology glitch, we were forced to send out two set of bills. The correct bill states “CORRECTED NOTICE: PLEASE DISREGARD IF ALREADY PAID.” This is the correct bill and should be paid. We apologize for any confusion.

This new program is designed to ensure all rental units in the District of Columbia meets residential property maintenance and building codes.

Contact Us

To reschedule your inspection or discuss tenant consent issues, please contact DCRA Inspection Division:

Inspections Division
Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs
1900 Massachusetts Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 481-3524 phone
(202) 478-5751 fax