Earn a Certification

Contact:

vbca@dhcd.virginia.gov

804-371-7180

The state certification is a mandated program for all local governmental code enforcement personnel and independent third-party inspection agents who, per Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC) and Virginia Certification Standards (VCS), are required to obtain certification to ensure consistent and technically accurate code interpretation and application. The program, administered by DHCD on behalf of the Board of Housing and Community Development (BHCD), consists of two separate components, training and examination, with training delivered by the Jack A. Proctor Virginia Building Code Academy (VBCA) and examinations administered by various nationally recognized code testing organizations.

Certification Announcement:

DHCD issued Fire Prevention Inspector certification now has two paths to certification.

Candidates for the DHCD issued Fire Prevention Inspector certification who are seeking appointment as a Fire Marshal (§ 27-30 or § 27-36), will utilize the option 1 path to certification. Candidates will attend DHCD prerequisite Core class followed by the VDFP 1031 Inspector class. This option requires candidates to pass the VDFP 1031 exam.

Candidates seeking only the Fire Prevention Certification (will not seek Fire Marshal powers) will utilize the option 2 path. Candidates will attend the prerequisite DHCD Core class followed by VDFP Fire Inspector Bridge class. Candidates must pass both ICC exam #66 Fire Inspector I and ICC exam #67 Fire Inspector II.

All applications for Fire Prevention Certification are submitted to DHCD through the Online Registration System. Once certified, Fire Prevention Inspector certificate holders will comply with all DHCD certification maintenance requirements including continuing education requirements.

ACHIEVING CERTIFICATION

Establish a user profile on the VBCA Online Registration System.
Register for and attend the Code Academy’s prerequisite Core class and any other Academy classes required for certification – see the Virginia Certification Requirements for Code Officials resource.
Achieve passing score(s) on any required exam(s) through a recognized exam provider as indicated on Virginia Certification Requirements for Code Officials resource.
Submit a completed certification application to us within 12 months of your hire date for official positions (Building Official, Fire Official, or Property Maintenance Official) or within 18 months of your hire date for technical assistants.
- Submit Online (Recommended) via the VBCA Online Registration System.
- Submit via email or mail using the Certification Application Form

Maintaining Your Certification

In order to keep a DHCD certification active, certificate holders must attend any mandatory training as designated by DHCD (such as Code Cycle Change Training), as well as submit 16 hours of continuing education training every two years as approved by DHCD. For more information, visit our Continuing Education page and our Code Change Training page