Buyer Notification & Certificate of Occupancy

Buyer Notification Inspections (BNI) and Occupancy Inspections are consumer protection programs that The City of Wilkes-Barre provides through the Code Enforcement Department to ensure public safety, and for informing present or future residents/businesses of the City of the code standards.

Residential & Commercial properties purchased are rated on an “Approved”, “Not-Approved”, or “Conditional” status. The sale of the property is usually authorized to proceed once the inspection is completed, unless otherwise indicated by the inspector. If the inspector prohibits the transfer of the property, the code violations must be corrected prior to moving forward. 

  • Properties given an “Approved” status are authorized to move forward with the transfer of the property.
  • Properties given a “Not-Approved” status are not authorized to move forward until the code violations have been corrected. Given certain circumstances, a written agreement between buyer and purchaser may be considered at the inspector’s discretion in order to allow the transfer of the property, but have an absolute timeline in regards to the correction of the code violations.

Once a Buyer Notification Inspection is completed, an inspection report will be issued that will indicate the inspection’s status along with any code violations that were identified during the inspection.  This inspection report may be required by a closing agent in order to proceed with a property closing. 


Download the Buyer Notification Inspection checklist here.

A Request for Buyer Notification Inspection form must be completed and submitted along with the payment for the inspection prior to setting an appointment. Inspections will not be scheduled without this application being submitted to Wilkes-Barre City. You will be notified by phone to arrange for an inspection.

Buyer Notification Inspection fee is $90.00 per unit. Please mail completed form with payment (check/money order only) to: Code Enforcement, 1st Floor, City Hall, 40 East Market Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711