AEC definitions
A temporary certificate of occupancy, or TCO, is the building department's permission to occupy part of a building before all work is complete. It lists conditions and an expiration date. Life safety for the occupied area has to be in place. A TCO is not a final certificate of occupancy, and it can be revoked if the conditions are missed.
Definition
Owners use a TCO to open a floor while another floor is unfinished, or to staff a building while punch remains. The fire marshal and the building inspector both may have to sign. Alarms, exits, fire protection for the occupied zone, and a safe separation from construction areas are typical conditions. The contractor still owes the final CO. Rent, hotel operations, or a school calendar may start on the TCO. The contract should say whether that starts warranties, insurance changes, or liquidated-damages relief. Those are different clocks.
In depth
The TCO may require a fire watch, a finished stair, temporary partitions, or a limited occupant load. Missing a condition can void the permission. Assign each condition to a contractor and a date before you invite the inspector.
The occupied area should be drawn, not described as 'the building.' Partial means partial.
Exits from the occupied floors must discharge without sending occupants through an open construction site. Alarms and sprinklers for those floors have to be accepted. A decorative lobby does not substitute.
The inspector is not approving the unfinished floors. Those stay under construction rules.
AIA and similar forms have a partial-occupancy process: inspection, a certificate, and an agreement about responsibility for the occupied part. Insurance and the correction period may start for that part. Liquidated damages may stop for that part if the clause says so.
Do not assume the TCO waived punch or retainage. The contract still holds those.
The date is real. Renew it before it lapses or finish the work and obtain the final certificate.
Operating on an expired TCO is occupying without a certificate. The closeout log should show both dates.
Examples
The city issues a TCO for floors one through three, expiring in 90 days, conditioned on a temporary stair enclosure. Floors four and five stay under construction.
The contract's partial-occupancy letter starts the warranty on the occupied floors only.
The team renews the TCO once, then receives the final certificate when punch and inspections close.
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