The Closing Permit’s Four Finals, No Comment

Case 23-009185 | Card 38 | 4880 T Street, Sacramento CA 95819

Across three permits carrying the inspector's own scope, the City's inspection records show one in-progress siding look [R.26-2487.4], two expirations, in the City's words, for "no inspections within the first 60 days" [R.26-3395.5] and "no requested inspections for 60+ days" [R.26-3395.5], and four finals approved with no comment [R.26-3395.3] in a visit the property's cameras put at six minutes [P10]; the one siding inspection called in on the permit the case closed on was cancelled as "Wrong inspection called in for." [R.26-3395.3] Permit RES-2603471 [R.26-2487.4] carried a "Nature of Work" the City's inspector had written for the applicant (Card 35): garage de-construction including electrical and plumbing, minor dry-rot and siding repair, minor rough plumbing, other non-structural plumbing, mechanical and electrical repairs "(Plans not required)", and a chimney material change. The City's inspection history for that permit [R.26-2487.4] is one line — 04/02/2026, "84 Bldg-Siding In Prog", Approved, Paul Lovato, no comment — and its status line reads "Current Status: Expired Permit" [R.26-2487.4].

The City's own log says what happened next (R.26-2487.2, image-only, read by eye): on 06/04/2026, "Permit RES-2603471 was requested expired by BI/CM Paul Lovato due to no requested inspections for 60+ days" [R.26-2487.2]; on 06/17/2026, PERMIT ISSUED — "New permit required to clear up expired permit RES-2603471 (Expired)" [R.26-2487.2] — the same garage, dry-rot, plumbing, mechanical and electrical items, minus the line about completing work under the earlier expired permit, plus "Carbon monoxide & Smoke alarms required." [R.26-2487.2]; on 06/18/2026, "Arrived onsite for 29 Bldg FINAL inspection on permit RES-2612571 and approved. Case closed." [R.26-2487.2] The File Summary Report of 06/23/2026 gives "Status: Closed", "Close Date: 06/18/2026", "Disposition: Work Completed" [R.26-2487.2] (Card 39: that day-old permit and the closure). The same report's Violations table closes B31 on 06/18/2026 with its comment unchanged: "Neither interior nor exterior has been completely inspected." [R.26-2487.2] Five days later, the City answered a request for "the most recent inspection report, and all completed inspection reports" [R.26-2487.5] with "The City has collected all documents that appear to be responsive to your request." [R.26-2487.5] and three files — a seven-page case-file segment, the Summary, and "Permit #RES-2603471 Inspection History.pdf" [R.26-2487.5] — an inspection history for the expired permit, and none for RES-2612571, the permit the case was closed on. The property's cameras recorded the 06/18/2026 visit (12:03:43 [P10], 12:09:10 [P11]; audio [V7.T]): two men in the covered side yard, one with a badge on a lanyard, six minutes. On August 28, 2026 the City released that report under Request 26-3395 [R.26-3395.2]: "Current Status: Finaled" [R.26-3395.3], and five lines, all dated 06/18/2026 — "29 Bldg FINAL" [R.26-3395.3], "39 Mech FINAL" [R.26-3395.3], "59 Plmg FINAL" [R.26-3395.3] and "79 Elect FINAL" [R.26-3395.3], each "Approved" [R.26-3395.3], each "No comment available" [R.26-3395.3]; and "84 Bldg-Siding In Prog" [R.26-3395.3], "Cancel" [R.26-3395.3], "Wrong inspection called in for." [R.26-3395.3]

What did the four finals of 06/18/2026 on RES-2612571, the permit the case was closed on, inspect — when the inspection history the City released for that permit on August 28, 2026 carries "No comment available" [R.26-3395.3] on each of them, the permit for the same work had one siding line [R.26-2487.4] and was expired for no requested inspections [R.26-2487.2], the visit ran six minutes [P10] on the property's cameras, and the City's own report closed B31 that day while the violation still read "Neither interior nor exterior has been completely inspected" [R.26-2487.2]?

IN PLAIN TERMS

The permit that carried the work named more than siding: dry-rot, plumbing, mechanical, and electrical. Its inspection record [R.26-2487.4] shows one approved siding inspection; the City then expired it for lack of inspections, issued a new permit on 06/17/2026, and the next morning approved a final on that new permit and closed the case — a visit the property's cameras put at six minutes [P10]. On August 28, 2026 the City produced the new permit's inspection history [R.26-3395.3]: four finals — building, mechanical, plumbing, electrical — approved on 06/18/2026, each marked "No comment available" [R.26-3395.3], and a siding inspection cancelled as "Wrong inspection called in for." [R.26-3395.3] The question for the City: what did those four finals inspect, when the City's own report closed violation B31 that day still saying neither interior nor exterior had been completely inspected?

RECORD CHAIN

  1. February 2026 — the permit's stated scope, in the inspector's own words. On a Thursday in February 2026 (the scan carries only the weekday; the helper's earlier message in the thread is dated 2/5/26), Paul Lovato emailed the owner's helper the text to enter in the application's scope box [S6] Card 35. RES-2603471 is listed Building / Residential / Housing-Minor / No Plans, Single Family, Current Status Expired Permit [R.26-2487.4], and its Nature of Work tracks the emailed text — garage de-construction (electrical and plumbing) [R.26-2487.4], "Minor Dry rot and Siding Repair," [R.26-2487.4] "Minor Rough Plumbing Install and repair [R.26-2487.4]," and "Other Minor Non-Structural, Plumbing, Mechanical, and Electrical Repairs(Plans not required) [R.26-2487.4]," plus a chimney material change [R.26-2487.4].
  2. April 2, 2026 — the single approved inspection: siding. The permit's INSPECTION DETAILS history is a single line [R.26-2487.4]: 04/02/2026, "84 Bldg-Siding In Prog [R.26-2487.4]," Approved, Paul Lovato. No electrical, plumbing, mechanical, dry-rot, structural, or final inspection is recorded on the permit [R.26-2487.4].
  3. June 4 – 18, 2026 — expired for lack of inspections; a new permit; a final the next day; case closed. The activities log (image-only, read by eye [R.26-2487.2]): 06/04/2026, "Permit RES-2603471 was requested expired by BI/CM Paul Lovato due to no requested inspections for 60+ days" [R.26-2487.2]; 06/17/2026, PERMIT ISSUED, "New permit required to clear up expired permit RES-2603471 (Expired)" [R.26-2487.2]; 06/18/2026, "Arrived onsite for 29 Bldg FINAL inspection on permit RES-2612571 and approved. Case closed." [R.26-2487.2] The City's File Summary Report closes case 23-009185 on 06/18/2026 [R.26-2487.2] — "Status: Closed" [R.26-2487.2], "Close Date: 06/18/2026" [R.26-2487.2], "Type: Work Without Permit" [R.26-2487.2], "Disposition: Work Completed" [R.26-2487.2]. Property CCTV frames carrying the recorder's burned-in "18/06/2026 12:03:43 THU" [P10] and "18/06/2026 12:09:10 THU" [P11] show two men in the covered side yard, one wearing a badge on a lanyard. Two driveway-camera clips of that date are identified by SHA-256 [V7.2], and one clip carries audio [V7.T]. The permit's inspection history records no entry on 06/18/2026 [R.26-2487.4]; its single line is 04/02/2026. The report's Violations table closes B31 (Open Date 03/20/2023) on 06/18/2026 with its comment as written: "This is not a complete Violation List of building code violations. Neither interior nor exterior has been completely inspected." [R.26-2487.2] and "Provide access for complete inspection." [R.26-2487.2]
  4. June 23, 2026 — the production that answers for the closing permit. Request 26-2487, filed 06/23/2026, asked for "the most recent inspection report, and all completed inspection reports, for Case 23-009185" [R.26-2487.5] and added: "If no completed inspection report exists for any item above, please state so expressly for that item." [R.26-2487.5] The City released three files the same morning — Case #23-009185 05.17-06.23.2026.pdf, Permit #RES-2603471 Inspection History.pdf, Case #23-009185 Summary_Redacted.pdf [R.26-2487.5] — wrote "The City has collected all documents that appear to be responsive to your request." [R.26-2487.5], pointed back to "Request 26-1965, for Code Case #23-009185 from it's inception to 05/17/2026" [R.26-2487.5], and closed the request: "All responsive records have been provided." [R.26-2487.5] The only inspection history in the release is the one printed 06/23/2026 for the expired permit RES-2603471 [R.26-2487.4]; the production under Request 26-2487 holds no such report for RES-2612571, and no statement that none exists.
  5. August 18 – 28, 2026 — the inspection history for RES-2612571, produced: four finals, no comment. Request 26-3395 [R.26-3395.2], received August 18, 2026, asked by date for "The completed inspection report, final inspection record, compliance verification, or sign-off for the inspection or site visit conducted at 4880 T Street on June 18, 2026" [R.26-3395.2] and for "The record relied upon to enter the disposition" [R.26-3395.2]. On August 28, 2026 at 11:36am the City released three files — "Inspection History RES-2612571.pdf" [R.26-3395.2], "Case #23-009185 06.23-08.18.2026.pdf" [R.26-3395.2] and "23-009185 Case Summary 08.18.2026_Redacted.pdf" [R.26-3395.2] — wrote "The City has collected all documents that appear to be responsive to your request." [R.26-3395.2], and closed the request at 11:37am: "All responsive records have been provided." [R.26-3395.2] The Inspection History [R.26-3395.3], printed 08/18/2026: Nature of Work "New permit required to clear up expired permit [R.26-3395.3] RES-2603471"; "Current Status: Finaled" [R.26-3395.3]; INSPECTION DETAILS, five lines, all 06/18/2026 — "29 Bldg FINAL" [R.26-3395.3], "39 Mech FINAL" [R.26-3395.3], "59 Plmg FINAL" [R.26-3395.3], "79 Elect FINAL" [R.26-3395.3], each "Approved" [R.26-3395.3], "Paul Lovato" [R.26-3395.3], "No comment available" [R.26-3395.3]; and "84 Bldg-Siding In Prog" [R.26-3395.3], "Cancel" [R.26-3395.3], "Wrong inspection called in for." [R.26-3395.3] The same morning the City closed Request 26-3405 [R.26-3405.1], for the expired permit's final inspection and certificate, with the permit application [R.26-3405.2], the planning form [R.26-3405.3] and "All responsive records have been provided." [R.26-3405.1]; the 06/05/2026 notice in the 26-3395 extract reads that permit RES-2603471 "has expired as of" [R.26-3395.4] 06/04/2026. The File Summary Report of 08/18/2026 released with it (R.26-3395.5) carries the 06/18/2026 entry as before — "Arrived onsite for 29 Bldg FINAL inspection on permit RES-2612571 and approved. Case closed." [R.26-3395.5] — and B31 closed that day with its comment as written.
  6. August 29, 2026 — the permit system's own record of the three permits. The City's public permit portal, captured August 29, 2026 (PP1), carries the three permits with their inspection entries. RES-2524445: "There are no completed inspections on this record." [PP1] RES-2603471: one — "84 Bldg-Siding In Prog" [PP1], "Result by: PL on 04/02/2026" [PP1]. RES-2612571, applied for and paid on 06/16/2026 ("Total paid fees: $525.76" [PP1]): five entries, each "Result by: PL on 06/18/2026" [PP1] — the siding call numbered 20278499 [PP1], the four finals 20282043 [PP1], 20282044, 20282045 and 20282046, consecutive, created after it. No document is attached to any of the three.

FULL CIRCLE

The City's first available answer is that the activities log already shows the inspection: "Arrived onsite for 29 Bldg FINAL inspection on permit RES-2612571 and approved. Case closed." [R.26-2487.2]

That is a log line, and this card links it. The record the City prints for a permit's inspections is the Inspection History report; the City printed one on 06/23/2026 for RES-2603471 [R.26-2487.4], the expired permit, and released it under a request for "all completed inspection reports" [R.26-2487.5]. The same release held no such report for RES-2612571, the permit the log says the case closed on, and the City closed the request with "All responsive records have been provided." [R.26-2487.5] On August 28, 2026 it produced that report under Request 26-3395 [R.26-3395.2] — four finals, each "No comment available" [R.26-3395.3] — and closed that request in the same words: "All responsive records have been provided." [R.26-3395.2] The approval is recorded on the log line and on the report; what was inspected is on neither. (Card 39 carries that permit; Card 2 the inspection the order recited at the start).

The City's second available answer is that a Housing-Minor, no-plans permit needs only a final, and no rule requires a per-trade entry or an inspector comment.

Granted, and the card does not say otherwise. The request was for the completed inspection reports the City holds, and the City's own report of 06/23/2026 closes B31 on the day of that final with the violation's text as written: "Neither interior nor exterior has been completely inspected." [R.26-2487.2] The same report lists the new permit's scope as the garage, dry-rot, plumbing, mechanical and electrical items plus a carbon-monoxide and smoke-alarm line [R.26-2487.2] — not "the same scope" in so many words, but the items the expired permit had carried since February with one siding inspection to show for them (Card 35).

What would defeat this card is an inspection record for RES-2612571 stating what the four finals of 06/18/2026 inspected — an inspector comment, a checklist, a result detail — or a B31 closure note recording a complete inspection. The August 28, 2026 production under Request 26-3395 [R.26-3395.2], closed with "All responsive records have been provided." [R.26-3395.2], carries the Inspection History with "No comment available" [R.26-3395.3] on each of the four lines and the File Summary Report of 08/18/2026 with B31's comment as written [R.26-3395.5]; neither is absent from the June 23, 2026 production under Request 26-2487, closed with "All responsive records have been provided." [R.26-2487.5]; the May 2026 file under Request 26-1965, closed with "All responsive records have been provided." [R.26-1965.1], ends on 05/17/2026, before either permit event. Card 4 is the completeness baseline (what the file the City produced means, and does not mean).

On August 29, 2026 Request 26-3617 [R.26-3617.1] asked for the inspection-request and inspection-result records for all three permits, and, for each of the five 06/18/2026 entries, who requested the inspection and when, the result code, the date and time the result was entered, the user account that entered it, and every comment, checklist, correction-notice, and result-detail field [R.26-3617.1], populated or not.

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