Certificate of Occupancy (CO)
En español: Certificado de ocupación (CO)
A certificate of occupancy is the building department's written statement that a completed building meets code and may be legally occupied. It is issued after final inspections pass, and until it exists the building cannot lawfully be lived in, leased, or in most cases financed as a finished asset.
- It is the finish line for the construction loan and the starting line for the lease-up. Every month it slips is a month of debt service without rent.
- It is issued per building, and its conditions are specific. Read what use it certifies, because occupancy is granted for a use, not in general.
- An older building's CO says what it was legally built as, which is not always what is standing there now.
- No CO, no lease. A tenant in a building without one is a code case waiting to be opened.
Related terms
All termsTemporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO)
A temporary certificate of occupancy allows part of a building to be occupied before the whole project is finished, for a limited time and on stated conditions.
Ownership40-Year Recertification
The 40-year recertification is what everyone still calls Miami-Dade's building recertification program, and the name is now wrong.
DevelopmentPublic Works
Public Works is the part of a project that happens outside the property line: the sidewalk, the curb, drainage, paving, street trees, and the water and sewer connections, along with the permits to touch any of it.
Terms arrive with the writing.
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