Start with the report’s date and the address you are investigating. The City’s Code Compliance Reports page describes a property lookup for reports processed within the last 365 days. That is a window for this application, not the full life of a vacant building. If your question concerns an earlier report, identify the older document and ask where its existing copy can be found.
What the recent window can answer
A report belongs to a particular review at a particular point in time. The City says listed report deficiencies must be corrected and approved before inhabiting the building. When you read one, separate the report as issued from any later document that actually addresses each issue.
The page links a Property Look-Up System. That older link has redirected to the City’s PAULIE overview, which offers a separate Find Property Information link. Follow the current City route shown on the page, and don’t treat the redirect itself as a code-compliance result.
Why the vacant-building category decides which document you need
Saint Paul publishes code compliance reports as part of its vacant buildings program, and the City’s Vacant Buildings Program page sets different sale rules by category:
- Category I: pay registration and fees, notify the City of the new owner, restore utilities and comply with orders for legal occupancy, and obtain a Truth-in-Sale of Housing report. A code compliance report isn’t on this list.
- Category II: no sale without City approval. The buyer’s packet includes a code compliance report, a licensed contractor’s cost estimate for all repairs, a completion schedule and proof of financial capability.
- Category III: no sale without a Certificate of Code Compliance or a Certificate of Occupancy.
So the report and the certificate are different stages. The report lists what must be fixed; the Certificate of Code Compliance is the document that shows the City approved the corrections. The City has separate code compliance inspection applications for one- and two-family dwellings and for buildings with three or more units, commercial or mixed use, so the building type also tells you which inspection file to ask about. DSI’s vacant buildings staff are at 651-266-8989, and the City charges a fee for the sale review.
Keep the report and later evidence apart
A short case note makes a partial file useful. Write the exact labels shown on each item rather than filling gaps from memory:
- Subject: street address, unit or other location detail as the document itself states it. Note a mismatch instead of silently changing the address.
- Report: title, any identifier and every displayed date. Mark an unknown issue or processing date as unknown; the page’s 365-day description is not a date on your particular file.
- Deficiency: the item as written in the report. Beside it, name the later correction or approval record you need to verify; do not treat a plan to repair as an accepted repair.
- Separate outcome: keep permit, inspection and occupancy documents under their own numbers and dates. Link them to the report only where the paperwork supplies a connection.
The note cannot decide occupancy or correction approval; it keeps the record types distinct. Use the Saint Paul permit-record guide for the different PAULIE permit-file route. The permit-data limitations guide explains why a missing online result needs a narrower conclusion.
An older report and a newer row can describe different moments
Consider a fictional file in which a buyer has a code-compliance report from several years ago and later sees a more recent property row. The two dates do not cancel each other. First ask whether the row is the same report, a new report, or a different record class. Then compare the address and any identifiers printed on the older paper with those on the newer item. If the connection is absent, leave it unresolved and request the named earlier file or the document that links them.
When the address or an older report is missing
For a missing address, the City directs readers to Vacant Building Information: 651-266-9123 or dsiweb@ci.stpaul.mn.us. Use that as an information route. The page does not promise an older-copy order, a response time or retention. If you already have an old report title or number, ask which City unit holds that specific existing record and how to request a copy. If you only know the address, describe the approximate period and the particular code-compliance record you are trying to locate; do not ask for a conclusion about the entire building history.
A practical inquiry can say: “I have a code-compliance report dated [date shown, if known] for [address as printed]. Is there an existing copy of this report or a later document showing approval of its listed corrections? If this office does not hold it, which City unit should receive the named-record request?”
A report doesn’t prove correction approval, final permit status or occupancy authorization. For rental properties, the City’s separate Fire Certificate of Occupancy program has its own map and grades; our Saint Paul Fire CO map guide explains that record.
City of Saint Paul Code Compliance Reports and Vacant Buildings Program pages checked October 20, 2026.