The City of Arlington Building Inspections Division has issued a technical bulletin with guidance for converting residential buildings to commercial use.

The bulletin identifies many of the steps that must be taken in order for a Certificate of Occupancy to be issued. The property must be platted, zoned or re-zoned for the intended use, and all building code issues must be addressed. The bulletin is not intended to be all inclusive but rather a listing of the more common code issues. The Building Inspections Division is available to assist citizens in a comprehensive review of their development plan.

According to Planning and Development Services Director Karen Brophy, the technical bulletin is a customer service initiative to help people understand the magnitude of issues involved in converting a house to commercial use.

"We get many such requests, and, often, the citizen is too far into the process before they realize the ‘Pandora’s Box’ they’ve opened," Brophy said.

A copy of the Technical Bulletin can be obtained by calling the Building Inspections Division at 817-459-6500 or the document is available online at http://www.ci.arlington.tx.us/build/new_items.html#bulletins.